Different routes to conversational influences on autobiographical memory

This review examines cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying social influence on autobiographical memory. We aim for this review to serve as a bridge between researchers who focus on veridicality (e.g., eyewitness memory) and those who give primacy to meaning, especially given the elusive nature of measuring veridicality in uncontrolled personal experiences. We assess whether mechanisms are similar for three aspects of memories, namely facts, interpretations, and autobiographical reasoning. We present a model of memory change in facts and interpretations that is incidental and time-bound, in contrast to change in autobiographical reasoning that is more deliberate and open to influence. We emphasize the empirical challenges of studying memory that is truly autobiographical alongside the compromise to experimental control required to answer certain questions. We finally argue that autobiographical memory represents a naturalistic domain where memory processes, reasoning processes, and conversational influences collide, with potential implications for applied research on veridicality

You’ll change more than I will:Adults’ predictions about their own and others’ future preferences

It has been argued that adults underestimate the extent to which their preferences will change over time. We sought to determine whether such mis-predictions are the result of a difficulty imagining that one’s own current and future preferences may differ or whether it also characterizes our predictions about the future preferences of others. We used a perspective- taking task in which we asked young people how much they liked stereotypically-young-person items (e.g., Top 40 music, adventure vacations) and stereotypically-old-person items (e.g., jazz, playing bridge) now, and how much they would like them in the distant future (i.e., when they are 70 years old). Participants also made these same predictions for a generic same-age, same-sex peer. In a third condition, participants predicted how much a generic older (i.e., age 70) same-sex adult would like items from both categories today. Participants predicted less change between their own current and future preferences than between the current and future preferences of a peer. However, participants estimated that, compared to a current older adult today, their peer would like stereotypically-young items more in the future and stereotypically-old items less. The fact that peers’ distant-future estimated preferences were different from the ones they made for “current” older adults suggests that even though underestimation of change of preferences over time is attenuated when thinking about others, a bias still exists

A systematic review on the effect of sweeteners on glycemic response and clinically relevant outcomes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The major metabolic complications of obesity and type 2 diabetes may be prevented and managed with dietary modification. The use of sweeteners that provide little or no calories may help to achieve this objective.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We did a systematic review and network meta-analysis of the comparative effectiveness of sweetener additives using Bayesian techniques. MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL and CAB Global were searched to January 2011. Randomized trials comparing sweeteners in obese, diabetic, and healthy populations were selected. Outcomes of interest included weight change, energy intake, lipids, glycated hemoglobin, markers of insulin resistance and glycemic response. Evidence-based items potentially indicating risk of bias were assessed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 3,666 citations, we identified 53 eligible randomized controlled trials with 1,126 participants. In diabetic participants, fructose reduced 2-hour blood glucose concentrations by 4.81 mmol/L (95% CI 3.29, 6.34) compared to glucose. Two-hour blood glucose concentration data comparing hypocaloric sweeteners to sucrose or high fructose corn syrup were inconclusive. Based on two ≤10-week trials, we found that non-caloric sweeteners reduced energy intake compared to the sucrose groups by approximately 250-500 kcal/day (95% CI 153, 806). One trial found that participants in the non-caloric sweetener group had a decrease in body mass index compared to an increase in body mass index in the sucrose group (-0.40 vs 0.50 kg/m², and -1.00 vs 1.60 kg/m², respectively). No randomized controlled trials showed that high fructose corn syrup or fructose increased levels of cholesterol relative to other sweeteners.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Considering the public health importance of obesity and its consequences; the clearly relevant role of diet in the pathogenesis and maintenance of obesity; and the billions of dollars spent on non-caloric sweeteners, little high-quality clinical research has been done. Studies are needed to determine the role of hypocaloric sweeteners in a wider population health strategy to prevent, reduce and manage obesity and its consequences.</p

Scrutinizing the grey areas of declarative memory: Do the self-reference and temporal orientation of a trait knowledge task modulate the Late Positive Component (LPC)?

Knowledge about the future self may engage cognitive processes typically ascribed to episodic memory, such as awareness of the future self as an extension of the current self (i.e., autonoetic awareness) and the construction of future events. In a prior study (Tanguay et al., 2018), temporal orientation influenced the Late Positive Component (LPC), an ERP correlate of recollection. The LPC amplitude for present traits was intermediate between semantic and episodic memory, whereas thinking about one's future traits produced a larger LPC amplitude that was similar to episodic memory. Here, we examined further the effect of temporal orientation on the LPC amplitude and investigated if it was influenced by whether knowledge concerns the self or another person, with the proximity of the other being considered. Participants verified whether traits (e.g., Enthusiastic) were true of themselves and the “other,” both now and in the future. Proximity of the other person was manipulated between subjects, such that participants either thought about the typical traits of a close friend (n = 31), or those of their age group more broadly (n = 35). Self-reference and temporal orientation interacted: The LPC amplitude for future knowledge was larger than for present knowledge, but only for the self. This effect of temporal orientation was not observed when participants thought about the traits of other people. The proximity of the other person did not modify these effects. Future-oriented cognition can engage different cognitive processes depending on self-reference; knowledge about the personal future increased the LPC amplitude unlike thinking about the future of other people. Our findings strengthen the notion of self-knowledge as a grey area between semantic and episodic memory

Maintaining a positive sense of self: distancing effects in autobiographical memory for negative events

Numerous lines of research have identified that individuals are motivated to remember past events in a way that supports a positive sense of self. Memories of negative events challenge a person’s positive sense of self by suggesting that stable, positive traits that a person considers a part of his or her sense of self may not accurately describe that person. Five possible contributors to the degree to which people find an autobiographical memory challenging to the positive sense of self were identified: when the event occurred, the perspective with which the event is remembered, the person’s age, the person’s gender, and how meaningful the memory was. Participants were asked to identify a positive trait that describes them, and then to write a narrative of an event in which they did not act according to the selected trait. Each participant reported one event, either from the past year or from more than two years ago, and either from the first- or third-person perspective. After reporting the memory, participants completed a brief questionnaire, and responded to three ethical dilemmas (two hypothetical, one actual) that were used to measure participants’ tendency to engage in self-enhancement behavior after reporting the memories. Results found significant differences between emerging adults (age 18-29) and older adults (age 30 and above), and between men and women in the older adult group on numerous measures. Additionally, reported meaning and narrative indicators, such as emotion word use and reported harm to others, predicted performance on self-enhancement measures in both age groups. Time and perspective effects were more equivocal, but these two variables influenced responses, especially through interactions with participant variables (time and gender). Results suggest that threats to a positive sense of self can be alleviated by self-enhancement behavior in unrelated domains. Furthermore, results encourage the practice of analyzing memory narrative content to gain a deeper understanding of the impact of recalling significant events. Finally, results support the practice of considering adult development, both regarding changes in the sense of self and regarding influences of gender at different ages as a variable that shapes the content of autobiographical memories.Ph. D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Azriel Grysma

Abstracting and extracting: causal coherence and the development of the life story

This study compared episodic memories of emerging adults (age 18-22) and early adolescents (age 13-15) for life story events and other memories, in an attempt to distinguish characteristics of the life story. Participants were also asked to describe the connection between the stories told. Stories were analyzed for three measures of causal coherence: 1) meaning making, 2) narrative complexity, and 3) the use of causal terms; and one measure of thematic coherence. Results show an impact of age in three measures (meaning making, narrative complexity, and thematic coherence) and of story type (life story vs. non-life story) in all measures. Effects of age show that young adults' narratives showed more evidence of self-related abstract thinking and the ability to see multiple dimensions. Effects of story type indicated that turning point narratives and event connections narratives contained more self-related lessons and insights, displayed greater recognition of complexity, and employed more causal terms. Descriptions of peak experiences and low points did not differ significantly from other episodic memories on these measures of coherence. As well, connections between narratives were more abstract and self-related in the older group and in the life story condition. Findings show that two important narrative characteristics, narrative complexity and reference to self-related lessons and insights develop in adolescence, and are more prevalent in turning point narratives.M.S.Includes bibliographical references (p. 24-28)by Azriel Grysma

Narrative Identity, Sense of Self and Meaning in Life in Emirati and U.S.-American Women

Coherent personal narratives employed for self-understanding (self function) and social proximity (social function) are theorized to inform life and the sense of self with meaning. Yet, it has not been tested whether this rather individualistic notion of narrative identity holds true across cultures. Therefore, this study investigates potential cultural differences in the extent to which narrative identity of Emirati and U.S.-American female undergraduates reflect and relate to meaning in life and the sense of self. Results showed that the U.S.-American narratives were more thematically coherent and served the self and social functions more than the Emirati narratives. Thematic coherence and self function related significantly to meaning in life in the Emirati subsample, but surprisingly not in the U.S.-American subsample. In both samples, the social function related to self-concept clarity and the sense of coherence. These results further our understanding on cultural differences in constructing meaning in life and the sense of self through narrative identity