Clinical Psychology, University of Graz, BioTechMed, Universitätsplatz 2/III, 8010, Graz, Austria.
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor, Slomškov trg 15, 2000, Maribor, Slovenia.
Psychol Res. 2023 Apr;87(3):862-871. doi: 10.1007/s00426-022-01701-y. Epub 2022 Jul 5.
The retrieval of autobiographical memories is influenced by several factors, such as sensory modality and the emotional salience of memory cues. This study aimed at investigating the interaction between sensory modalities (olfaction, vision) and emotional dimensions (valence, arousal) of imagery cues, on the frequency, quality, and age distribution of the autobiographical memories (AMs) elicited.
A total of 296 females (aged between 18 and 35 years) received one out of eight brief instructions for olfactory or visual imagery. The participants were asked to create a mental image with either high arousal/positive valence, high arousal/negative valence, low arousal/positive valence, or low arousal/negative valence (e.g., 'imagine an unpleasant and arousing odor/scene'); no specific stimulus was mentioned in the instruction.
The approach used elicited imagery with autobiographical content in the majority of participants (78%). In terms of frequency, odor imagery, compared to visual imagery, turned out to be more effective at retrieving either unpleasant memories associated with experiences in adulthood, or pleasant childhood memories. In terms of quality, the imagery was rated as less vivid in the olfactory compared to the visual condition (irrespective of valence and arousal of the imagery instruction). Visual imagery was associated with the experience of more diverse emotions (happiness, sadness, anxiety, anger) than odor imagery, which was related primarily with disgust and happiness.
Our findings indicate that nonspecific imagery induction is a useful approach in accessing AM.
This approach presents promising clinical applications, such as in working with autobiographical memory narratives in psychotherapy.
自传体记忆的提取受到多种因素的影响，例如感觉模态和记忆线索的情绪显著性。本研究旨在探讨感觉模态（嗅觉、视觉）和意象线索的情绪维度（效价、唤醒度）之间的相互作用，对引发的自传体记忆（AMs）的频率、质量和年龄分布的影响。
共有 296 名女性（年龄在 18 至 35 岁之间）接受了八种嗅觉或视觉意象简短指令中的一种。要求参与者用高唤醒/正性效价、高唤醒/负性效价、低唤醒/正性效价或低唤醒/负性效价创建一个心理意象（例如，“想象一种令人不快且令人兴奋的气味/场景”）；指令中未提到特定的刺激。
所采用的方法在大多数参与者（78%）中引发了具有自传体内容的意象。就频率而言，与视觉意象相比，嗅觉意象更有效地提取与成年期经历相关的不愉快记忆或愉快的童年记忆。就质量而言，与视觉条件相比，嗅觉条件下的意象被评为不那么生动（无论意象指令的效价和唤醒度如何）。视觉意象与更多不同的情绪（幸福、悲伤、焦虑、愤怒）的体验相关，而嗅觉意象主要与厌恶和幸福相关。
我们的发现表明，非特定意象诱导是一种访问 AM 的有用方法。
这种方法具有有前景的临床应用，例如在心理治疗中使用自传体记忆叙述。
