Lecture 5 Reminisscence Bump

Theories to explain the phenomenon- Evolutionary Theory

-Highest fertility rattes during years of rem. bump -good memory for this period would allow bonding with offspring, & the ability to teach younger generations how to do things better -mostly functional accounts, without explaining the mechanism behind phenomenon

Theories to explain the phenomenon- Cognitive Theory

-Time of many 1st & only events →eg learning to drive, marriage, 1st kid →many novel experiences- distinctive info is better remembered due to the effort extended to understand them -finally reach a stable period of life, which allows time for rehearsal

How are the serial position curve and reminiscence bump function different? How are they similar?

+Different: 1) the serial position curve shows a primacy effect, the reminiscence bump function does not. This difference may be related to childhood amnesia (we can recall very little of our earliest experiences). 2) Where you normally see the serial position curve trail downwards, in the reminiscence bump function it trails up. +Same: both curves show a recency effect (we tend to remember recent experiences better than distant experiences).

Theories to explain the phenomenon- Identity Formation Theory

-10-30 is the time when ones identity is being formed -better memories for the events are used as anchors in life story (get a lot of rehearsal)

Wider Applications

-applies not just to memories for events, but to preferences (Songs, NB:no recency effect for song preference) -When rating the importance of public events, rate events that occurred in young adulthood as most important →WW2, JFK assassination, or Vietnam war were respectively reported as the most important event depending on if the participant was 10-30 at the time of the event

What are some of the theories that have been proposed to account for the reminiscence bump?

-Cognitive Theories. -Life Scripts. -Evolutionary Theories. -Identity theories.

Theories to explain the phenomenon- Life script Theory

-Culturally based:we learn early in life when the most important events in our life should occur & what our life story should look like -Life script says important events should be during age 10-30 -theory i that when people come into the lab to recall memories, cultural Script is guiding recall, so they recall the most important memories -Empirical evidence that rem. bum is driven buy cultural scripts:children were asked to tell a story of hat their future life should be like.memories were over sampled from the rem. bump period of life →No special memory mechanisms at work, rem.bump is driven by cultural script

Rem. Bump Wider applications

-Do we get a rem. bump only for our own experiences? -memory for a autobiography's' content: should expect SPE for percentage of recall by chapter -experiments do show a SPE, but also a Rem. Bump effect for the chapters when the character was 20-30 yrs →NB: Also bump in recall for chpt 6, which is when the character changed jobs (significant event in life script)

Qualities of Bump Memories- Emotional Valence

-rate of emotional quality of memories as happy, sad or involuntary memories (memories that just come to mind) -Recall more happy memories in the reminiscence bump -sad events show recency effect -Involuntary memories show both a recency effect and a reminiscence bump →Emotional valence of reminiscence bump:generally happy

Qualities of Bump Memories- Accuracy

-reported to feel vivid & accurate (but difficult to test) -test for semantic knowledge across lifespan eg academy award winners or world series -more accurate for questions relating to the years when participant were 10-30 -Better factual semantic memory for reminiscence bump period →in old age, have many happy, vivid memories of youth

Theories to explain the phenomenon- Cognitive Theory (experimental support)

-testing for 1st time experience:recall events, & indicate whether the memory was the 1st time it happened or not -proportion of novel events by age at time of event shows novel experiences through out life -also plotting repetitive, regular experiences actually shows a rem. bump - Data doesn't support theory

Reminiscence bump

-the disproportionate # of memories, preferences, & knowledge that people remember & report from the time in their life that they were between 10-30 yrs

Older People have a bias towards

-the past -cherish adolescence/young adulthood -fashion/culture/music/...during this time

Experiment

-use key words to elicit memories in participants, & have participants date those memories -Would expect that the % of memories by age when event occurred to reflect a SPE curve(doesn't though) -Results(features of the graph) →0-3 = childhood amnesia →earliest decade= Recency effect, those memories are readily available →10-30= Reminiscence effect, people over-report memories from this era

What is the reminiscence bump?

The reminiscence bump is the disproportionate number of memories, preferences, and knowledge, that people remember and report from the time in their life that they were between 10 and 30 years old.