Specificity and detail in autobiographical memory retrieval: a multi-site (re)investigation

ABSTRACT

This investigation examined conflicting suggestions regarding the association between problems retrieving specific autobiographical memories and the tendency to retrieve the details of these memories. We also examined whether these tendencies are differentially related to depression symptoms. U.S., Belgian, Hong Kong and Japanese participants retrieved memories related to cue words. Responses were coded for if they referred to a specific event (i.e., an event lasting less than 24 h) and their details (What? Where? Who?). Across sites, and in meta-analyses, the retrieval of more specific memories was associated with retrieval of more details. Memories that were specific included more detail than non-specific memories. Across sites, retrieval of more specific memories and more detail was associated with less severe depression symptoms. Episodic specificity and detailedness are related but separable constructs. Future investigations of autobiographical memory specificity, and methods for alleviating problematic specificity, should consider measures of episodic detailedness.

KEYWORDS:

• Autobiographical memory
• episodic specificity
• episodic detail
• memory specificity
• depression
• meta-analysis
• detailedness

Acknowledgements

All authors were responsible for designing the study. D.J.H. and S.D. gathered and pre-processed the U.S. data, F.R., E.B. and K.T. gathered and pre-processed the Belgian data, T.J.B gathered and pre-processed the data in Hong Kong, K.T. and Y.N. gathered and pre-processed the data in Japan. E.B. and K.T. prepared the first R script. T.J.B. refined the script and conducted the analyses. D.J.H. and T.J.B. wrote the first draft. All authors reviewed subsequent drafts of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Open practices statement

The data and analysis scripts for each site are available at https://osf.io/xrjwn/?view_only=19db49492d98466dae8127309da6faba. The data presented here were part of other investigations and so these studies were not pre-registered.