Simpson Emma, Lee Katherine, Bauer Patricia J
Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Memory. 2023 Aug;31(7):962-977. doi: 10.1080/09658211.2023.2212924. Epub 2023 May 15.
The shape of the distribution of autobiographical memories over the first decade of life is characterised by a paucity of memories from the early years followed by a gradual increase in the number of surviving memories. Though many events and experiences from this period are forgotten, some are well remembered. To better understand why certain memories survive, we examined characteristics of events recalled by young adolescents (12 - to 14-year-olds), sampled over their first decade of life, and whether they predict consistency in recall. Characteristics were assessed via third-party observer ratings of event narratives. Events with more negative emotional valence, lower frequency of occurrence, and that were culturally shared were more likely to be recalled. The details of events with less positive emotional valence, shorter duration, fewer changes in location, and less predictability were more consistently recalled. The characteristics of reported events were largely similar across the decade, with significant differences in the representation of event characteristics only between earliest memories (1-5 years) and later periods (6-10 years and the previous year). The findings suggest that event characteristics play a role in how consistently events are remembered and how memories are distributed over the first decade of life.
在生命的第一个十年里，自传体记忆的分布形状具有这样的特点：早年的记忆较少，随后留存记忆的数量逐渐增加。尽管这一时期的许多事件和经历都被遗忘了，但有些却被清晰地记住。为了更好地理解为什么某些记忆能够留存下来，我们研究了青少年早期（12至14岁）回忆起的、在他们生命的第一个十年里经历的事件的特征，以及这些特征是否能预测回忆的一致性。通过第三方对事件叙述的观察者评分来评估这些特征。具有更多负面情绪效价、发生频率较低且为文化共享的事件更有可能被回忆起来。具有较少正面情绪效价、持续时间较短、地点变化较少且可预测性较低的事件的细节被更一致地回忆起来。在这十年间，所报告事件的特征大体相似，仅最早的记忆（1至5岁）与后期（6至10岁及前一年）在事件特征的呈现上存在显著差异。研究结果表明，事件特征在事件被记忆的一致性以及记忆在生命的第一个十年里如何分布方面发挥着作用。
