Autobiographical memories and self‐schemata

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Abstract
Self‐schemata associated with dependency were assessed in a group of nine adults. Subjects subsequently kept diary‐type records of the three most memorable events occurring in their daily lives during a 3‐week period. Free and cued recall memory tests for reported events were given approximately 5½ weeks after the completion of record keeping. A priori assessments of self‐schemata were correlated with the kinds of daily events reported: independent subjects evaluated their events as more independent than did dependent subjects, and vice‐versa. Free recall results suggested that the degree of schematicity found in assessment, and the nature of reported events, were correlated with memory. In cued recall no significant memory differences were found between independent and dependent subjects for schema‐consistent or inconsistent events. Self‐schemata apparently function as an effective retrieval environment in the absence of observable mnemonics. The data support the view that autobiographical recollections are reconstructions driven, in part, by self‐schemata derived from life experiences.

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