Abel, Magdalena and Berntsen, Dorthe (2021) How do we remember public events? Pioneering a new area of everyday memory research. COGNITION, 214: 104745. ISSN 0010-0277, 1873-7838
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Although most of us consume news reports about public events day by day, little is known about how memories of public events are remembered in everyday life. Across three studies, we examined voluntary (deliberately retrieved) and involuntary (spontaneously arising) public event memories by directly comparing them with voluntary and involuntary personal event memories. In particular, we examined the relative frequency of public event memories, correlations with individual differences measures, the emotional tone of remembered public events, phenomenological characteristics associated with remembering, and functions of public event memories. Against a background of replications of well-established findings from the autobiographical memory literature, several novel findings on public event memories emerged: Public event memories arose both deliberately and spontaneously in daily life, but they were less frequent and less positive than memories of personal events. Similar to personal memories, frequency estimates for involuntary public event memories correlated significantly with individual differences measures of daydreaming as well as depressive and PTSD symptoms. The phenomenological characteristics of public event memories showed large differences to personal event memories. For example, they were judged to be more emotionally negative, less specific, less vivid and to come with a lower sense of reliving. Moreover, public event memories seemed to predominantly serve a social function. The results suggest that deliberate and involuntary memory retrieval of public events in daily life may support the formation and maintenance of collective memories.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | INVOLUNTARY AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORIES; MENTAL TIME-TRAVEL; REMINISCENCE BUMP; COLLECTIVE MEMORY; PROACTIVE-INTERFERENCE; FLASHBULB MEMORIES; TELEVISION-NEWS; REMOTE MEMORY; WORLD-HISTORY; VOLUNTARY; Autobiographical memory; Involuntary memory; Memory retrieval; Public events; Collective memory; Event memory |
| Subjects: | 100 Philosophy & psychology > 150 Psychology |
| Divisions: | Human Sciences > Institut für Psychologie > Lehrstuhl für Psychologie IV (Entwicklungs- und Kognitionspsychologie) - Prof. Dr. Karl-Heinz Bäuml |
| Depositing User: | Dr. Gernot Deinzer |
| Date Deposited: | 17 Aug 2022 05:24 |
| Last Modified: | 17 Aug 2022 05:24 |
| URI: | https://pred.uni-regensburg.de/id/eprint/46441 |
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