Does overgeneral autobiographical memory result from poor memory for task instructions?

Abstract

Considerable previous research has shown that retrieval of overgeneral autobiographical memories (OGM) is elevated among individuals suffering from various emotional disorders and those with a history of trauma. Although previous theories suggest that OGM serves the function of regulating acute negative affect, it is also possible that OGM results from difficulties in keeping the instruction set for the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) in working memory, or what has been coined “secondary goal neglect” (Dalgleish, 2004). The present study tested whether OGM is associated with poor memory for the task's instruction set, and whether an instruction set reminder would improve memory specificity over repeated trials. Multilevel modelling data-analytic techniques demonstrated a significant relationship between poor recall of instruction set and probability of retrieving OGMs. Providing an instruction set reminder for the AMT relative to a control task's instruction set improved memory specificity immediately afterward.

Acknowledgements

We thank Jennifer Read and Stephen Tiffany for helpful comments and suggestions on an earlier draft of this manuscript.

Notes

¹Additional analyses were conducted that included valence of cue word as a covariate. Results were similar to those reported above, with the one exception. In these analyses the effect of Trial was only marginal, β=.06, t(1004) = 1.73, p = .08. To explore this difference further we examined the effect of Trial in each word type separately. There were significant main effects of Trial for positive, β=.10, t(251) = 2.34, p < .05, and negative words, β=.17, t(251) = 3.54, p < .001, but not for neutral words, β=.04, t(251) = 1.01, p = .31.

²When analyses were restricted to only the participants who received an instruction set reminder for the AMT we obtained similar results. Specifically, there was a statistically significant effect of Trial, β=.11, t(518) = 3.02, p < .005, and a marginal trend for Instruction Set Recall, β=.22, t(62) = 1.57, p = .12. Futhermore, including valence of cue word as a covariate had no effect on the results.