Jing Helen G, Madore Kevin P, Schacter Daniel L
Department of Psychology, Harvard University.
J Exp Psychol Gen. 2016 Apr;145(4):402-18. doi: 10.1037/xge0000142. Epub 2016 Jan 28.
Previous research has demonstrated that an episodic specificity induction--brief training in recollecting details of a recent experience--enhances performance on various subsequent tasks thought to draw upon episodic memory processes. Existing work has also shown that mental simulation can be beneficial for emotion regulation and coping with stressors. Here we focus on understanding how episodic detail can affect problem solving, reappraisal, and psychological well-being regarding worrisome future events. In Experiment 1, an episodic specificity induction significantly improved participants' performance on a subsequent means-end problem solving task (i.e., more relevant steps) and an episodic reappraisal task (i.e., more episodic details) involving personally worrisome future events compared with a control induction not focused on episodic specificity. Imagining constructive behaviors with increased episodic detail via the specificity induction was also related to significantly larger decreases in anxiety, perceived likelihood of a bad outcome, and perceived difficulty to cope with a bad outcome, as well as larger increases in perceived likelihood of a good outcome and indicated use of active coping behaviors compared with the control. In Experiment 2, we extended these findings using a more stringent control induction, and found preliminary evidence that the specificity induction was related to an increase in positive affect and decrease in negative affect compared with the control. Our findings support the idea that episodic memory processes are involved in means-end problem solving and episodic reappraisal, and that increasing the episodic specificity of imagining constructive behaviors regarding worrisome events may be related to improved psychological well-being.
先前的研究表明，情景特异性诱导——即对近期经历的细节进行简短回忆训练——能提高在各种后续任务中的表现，这些任务被认为依赖于情景记忆过程。现有研究还表明，心理模拟对情绪调节和应对压力源有益。在此，我们着重于理解情景细节如何影响对令人担忧的未来事件的问题解决、重新评估及心理健康。在实验1中，与未聚焦于情景特异性的对照诱导相比，情景特异性诱导显著提高了参与者在后续手段-目的问题解决任务（即更多相关步骤）和涉及个人担忧的未来事件的情景重新评估任务（即更多情景细节）中的表现。通过特异性诱导想象具有更多情景细节的建设性行为，与焦虑、不良结果感知可能性及应对不良结果感知难度的显著更大降低相关，也与良好结果感知可能性的更大增加以及与对照相比主动应对行为的更多使用相关。在实验2中，我们使用更严格的对照诱导扩展了这些发现，并发现了初步证据，表明与对照相比，特异性诱导与积极情绪增加和消极情绪减少有关。我们的研究结果支持这样一种观点，即情景记忆过程参与手段-目的问题解决和情景重新评估，并且增加对令人担忧事件想象建设性行为的情景特异性可能与改善心理健康有关。
