A tetrahedral model of autobiographical memory research design.

The field of autobiographical memory can do more to be representative of global populations experiencing and recollecting diverse events across the lifespan. To inspire such work, I present a general model for designing autobiographical memory studies. The tetrahedral model (based on Jenkins, 1979) has at its vertices context (e.

When does a wedding mark the beginning of a new chapter in one's life?

Life story chapters may be formed in relation to substantial and enduring changes in material circumstances, and we explored this idea by capitalizing on naturally occurring variations in the change of material circumstances associated with marriage. In two studies, we asked participants to report whether they cohabitated before marriage and whether they relocated in connection with marriage, using these as proxies for material change. Participants described their wedding and rated it on memory characteristics along with scales measuring material change, psychological change, and centrality to identity.

Replicating autobiographical memory research using social media: a case study.

The durability of memories for personally experienced events and the effectiveness of naturalistically generated cues of those events were investigated via a case study using Timehop to re-present information from Facebook, Twitter, and the iPhone photograph archive from the past six years to generate autobiographical memories. Replicating prior longitudinal self-studies of remembering, recency predicted successful recall of specific events. Prior research showing images to be more evocative of autobiographical remembering than text was also replicated here.

The role of event relevance and congruence to social groups in flashbulb memory formation.

Flashbulb memories are vivid, confidently held, long-lasting memories for the personal circumstances of learning about an important event. Importance is determined, in part, by social group membership. Events that are relevant to one's social group, and furthermore, are congruent with the prior beliefs of that group, should be more likely to be retained as flashbulb memories.

Are mnemonic failures and benefits two sides of the same coin?: Investigating the real-world consequences of individual differences in memory integration.

Theories of reconstructive memory have long been influenced by investigations of false recognition errors, in which old/new judgements are compromised by spontaneous activation of associated but nonpresented concepts. Recent evidence similarly suggests that reconstructive memory processes (so-called memory integration) also support positive learning behaviors, such as inferential reasoning. Despite prevailing hypotheses, the question of whether a common integration process underlies these seemingly disparate mnemonic outcomes is not well understood.

Registered Replication Report: Strack, Martin, & Stepper (1988).

According to the facial feedback hypothesis, people's affective responses can be influenced by their own facial expression (e.g., smiling, pouting), even when their expression did not result from their emotional experiences.

Orphan Nuclear Receptor Nur77 Inhibits Cardiac Hypertrophic Response to Beta-Adrenergic Stimulation.

The orphan nuclear receptor Nur77 plays critical roles in cardiovascular diseases, and its expression is markedly induced in the heart after beta-adrenergic receptor (β-AR) activation. However, the functional significance of Nur77 in β-AR signaling in the heart remains unclear. By using Northern blot, Western blot, and immunofluorescent staining assays, we showed that Nur77 expression was markedly upregulated in cardiomyocytes in response to multiple hypertrophic stimuli, including isoproterenol (ISO), phenylephrine (PE), and endothelin-1 (ET-1).

Metamemory appraisals in autobiographical event recall.

Two studies examined whether belief in the occurrence of events, recollecting events, and belief in the accuracy of recollections are distinct aspects of autobiographical remembering. In Study 1, 299 student participants received a cue to recall five childhood events, after which they rated each event on these constructs and other characteristics associated with remembering. Structural equation modelling revealed that variance in ratings was best explained by the three anticipated latent variables.

Temporal and gefitinib-sensitive regulation of cardiac cytokine expression via chronic β-adrenergic receptor stimulation.

Chronic stimulation of β-adrenergic receptors (βAR) can promote survival signaling via transactivation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) but ultimately alters cardiac structure and contractility over time, in part via enhanced cytokine signaling. We hypothesized that chronic catecholamine signaling will have a temporal impact on cardiac transcript expression in vivo, in particular cytokines, and that EGFR transactivation plays a role in this process. C57BL/6 mice underwent infusion with vehicle or isoproterenol (Iso)±gefitinib (Gef) for 1 or 2 wk.

β-adrenergic receptor-dependent alterations in murine cardiac transcript expression are differentially regulated by gefitinib in vivo.

β-adrenergic receptor (βAR)-mediated transactivation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has been shown to promote cardioprotection in a mouse model of heart failure and we recently showed that this mechanism leads to enhanced cell survival in part via regulation of apoptotic transcript expression in isolated primary rat neonatal cardiomyocytes. Thus, we hypothesized that this process could regulate cardiac transcript expression in vivo. To comprehensively assess cardiac transcript alterations in response to acute βAR-dependent EGFR transactivation, we performed whole transcriptome analysis of hearts from C57BL/6 mice given i.

β-Adrenergic receptor-mediated transactivation of epidermal growth factor receptor decreases cardiomyocyte apoptosis through differential subcellular activation of ERK1/2 and Akt.

β-Adrenergic receptor (βAR)-mediated transactivation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has been shown to relay pro-survival effects via unknown mechanisms. We hypothesized that acute βAR-mediated EGFR transactivation in the heart promotes differential subcellular activation of ERK1/2 and Akt, promoting cell survival through modulation of apoptosis. C57BL/6 mice underwent acute i.

Indirect cueing elicits distinct types of autobiographical event representations.

Studies that distinguish among believed memories, believed-not-remembered events (e.g., family stories), and nonbelieved memories (i.

The role of belief in occurrence within autobiographical memory.

This article examines the idea that believing that events occurred in the past is a non-memorial decision that reflects underlying processes that are distinct from recollecting events. Research on autobiographical memory has often focused on events that are both believed to have occurred and remembered, thus tending to overlook the distinction between autobiographical belief and recollection. Studying event representations such as false memories, believed-not-remembered events, and non-believed memories shows the influence of non-memorial processes on evaluations of occurrence.

A comparison of dimensional models of emotion: evidence from emotions, prototypical events, autobiographical memories, and words.

The intensity and valence of 30 emotion terms, 30 events typical of those emotions, and 30 autobiographical memories cued by those emotions were each rated by different groups of 40 undergraduates. A vector model gave a consistently better account of the data than a circumplex model, both overall and in the absence of high-intensity, neutral valence stimuli. The Positive Activation - Negative Activation (PANA) model could be tested at high levels of activation, where it is identical to the vector model.

Freshman flashbulbs: memories of unique and first-time events in starting college.

Students from the Lafayette Class of 2011 (N=100) described events that occurred during their transition to college. Three were unique events (receiving their acceptance letter, being left alone on campus, and taking the class photograph) and three were first-time experiences (first seeing their dorm room, meeting their roommate, and attending their first college class). The definitional criteria for flashbulb memories (FBM) was met for all six events; memory reports included what participants were doing, where they were, who they were with, the emotions they experienced, and other idiosyncratic details.

POSITIVE EMOTIONS ENHANCE RECALL OF PERIPHERAL DETAILS.

Emotional arousal and negative affect enhance recall of central aspects of an event. However, the role of discrete emotions in selective memory processing is understudied. Undergraduates were asked to recall and rate autobiographical memories of eight emotional events.

Emotional intensity predicts autobiographical memory experience.

College students generated autobiographical memories from distinct emotional categories that varied in valence (positive vs. negative) and intensity (high vs. low).

Confidence, not consistency, characterizes flashbulb memories.

On September 12, 2001, 54 Duke students recorded their memory of first hearing about the terrorist attacks of September 11 and of a recent everyday event. They were tested again either 1, 6, or 32 weeks later. Consistency for the flashbulb and everyday memories did not differ, in both cases declining over time.