RETROSPECTIVE LIFE HISTORY SURVEY REVEALED AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORY BUMP

Abstract The reminiscence bump is a well-documented autobiographical memory phenomenon characterized by middle-aged and older adults reporting a disproportionate number of memories from adolescence and early adulthood (Rubin, Wetzler, & Nebes, 1986). It is typically assessed through either cue word or important memory techniques. The Life History Mail Survey (LHMS) in the Health and Retirement Study affords unique data to investigate this phenomenon among a representative US sample of older adults. At the beginning of the LHMS, participants (N=3088, M age=70, range 50-107) completed a calendar noting the important things that happened to them in seven life decades, starting with ages 0-9 and ending by ages 70-79 (or their actual age). For each life period, we coded the number of events respondents reported. We observed significantly more memories reported for the age decade 20-29, compared with other life periods (80% vs 47-66%). Our results are consistent with previous findings in the autobiographical memory literature. Follow-up analyses evaluated existing theoretical accounts of the bump, such as cultural life script theory which suggests that life events occur in a specific order and are characterized by a prototypical life course. For example, we determined whether respondents’ sociodemographic characteristics, such as age cohort, gender, marital and educational histories (information available in LHMS) influenced the size and temporal location of the reminiscence bump. We also analyzed the content of reported important life events to investigate whether types of events included in each decade of life are consistent with the cultural life script account of the phenomenon.

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Some personal life events are more prominent than others: Younger and older adults agree on which life events matter most

Memory Studies ◽

10.1177/1750698017754250 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 551-569

Author(s):

Sharda Umanath ◽

Dorthe Berntsen

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Autobiographical Memory ◽

Life Events ◽

Life Experience ◽

Life Story ◽

Personal Life ◽

Younger Adults ◽

Cultural Life ◽

Life Script

Some important life events are part of the cultural life script as expected transitional events with culturally sanctioned timing. However, not all personally important events align with the cultural life script, including some events that are widely experienced. Here, we ask whether there are specific characteristics that define the events that become part of a culture’s life script and what role life experience plays. In Experiment 1, younger adults rated life events on different measures tapping central event dimensions in autobiographical memory theories. Cross-culturally extremely frequent cultural life script events consistently received higher ratings than other commonly experienced life story events. Experiment 2 demonstrated that these findings did not interact with age. Both younger and older adults rated the extreme cultural life script events most highly. In addition, older adults rated all types of life events more highly than younger adults, suggesting a greater appreciation of life events overall.

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Introduction to the cognitive abilities account for the reminiscence bump in the temporal distribution of autobiographical memory

10.31234/osf.io/nk94j ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Steve M. J. Janssen

Keyword(s):

Autobiographical Memory ◽

Cognitive Abilities ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Memory Function ◽

Early Adulthood ◽

Temporal Distribution ◽

Alternative Account ◽

Reminiscence Bump ◽

Significant Events ◽

Cue Words

People tend to recall more specific personal events from adolescence and early adulthood than from other lifetime periods, a finding known as the reminiscence bump. Several explanations have suggested that events from the reminiscence bump are especially emotional, important, or positive, but studies using cue words have not found support for these claims. An alternative account postulates that cognitive abilities function optimally in adolescence and early adulthood, which may cause more memories to be stored in those lifetime periods. Although other studies have previously discussed the cognitive abilities account as a possible explanation for the reminiscence bump, it was only recently shown that cognitive abilities are indeed related to autobiographical memory performance. When this recent finding is combined with previous findings that cognitive abilities as well as autobiographical memory function optimally in adolescence and early adulthood, they suggest that the cognitive abilities account is a promising explanation for the reminiscence bump in the temporal distribution of word-cued memories. However, because the account does not aim to explain the reminiscence bump in the distribution of highly significant events, it should be regarded as complementary to the existing accounts.

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Cultural life script theory and the reminiscence bump: A reanalysis of seven studies across cultures

Nordic Psychology ◽

10.1080/19012276.2013.807667 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 65 (2) ◽

pp. 103-119 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Alejandra Zaragoza Scherman

Keyword(s):

Script Theory ◽

Reminiscence Bump ◽

Cultural Life ◽

Life Script

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The influence of life events on physical activity patterns of Dutch older adults: A life history method

Psychology and Health ◽

10.1080/08870446.2014.934687 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 30 (6) ◽

pp. 627-651 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Elise J. Kenter ◽

Winifred A. Gebhardt ◽

Irene Lottman ◽

Mariët van Rossum ◽

Margreet Bekedam ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Older Adults ◽

Life History ◽

Life Events ◽

Activity Patterns ◽

Physical Activity Patterns

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Remembering Positive and Negative Life Events

GeroPsych ◽

10.1024/1662-9647/a000017 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 23 (3) ◽

pp. 137-147 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Anja K. Leist ◽

Dieter Ferring ◽

Sigrun-Heide Filipp

Keyword(s):

Gender Differences ◽

Autobiographical Memory ◽

Old Age ◽

Life Events ◽

Time Perspective ◽

Negative Life Events ◽

Future Time Perspective ◽

Future Time ◽

Reminiscence Bump ◽

Positive Life Events

We examined distributions of remembered negative and positive life events across the lifespan in a sample of adults in middle and old age. Distributions of positive, but not negative, life events showed a significant reminiscence bump, replicating earlier findings. Gender differences occurred with respect to distribution of memories of positive life events of the first four decades of life. Furthermore, we found substantial associations of number and valence of remembered life events with future time perspective and functions of autobiographical memory to create meaning, which remained significant after controlling for age and health. The number and valence of negative and positive life events across the lifespan reflect, to a certain extent, the age and time perspective of the remembering individual.

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The cultural life script and life story chapters contribute to the reminiscence bump

Memory ◽

10.1080/09658210802010497 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. 420-435 ◽

Cited By ~ 70

Author(s):

Dorthe Kirkegaard Thomsen ◽

Dorthe Berntsen

Keyword(s):

Life Story ◽

Reminiscence Bump ◽

Cultural Life ◽

Life Script

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The Cue-dependency of the “Reminiscence Bumps” in Autobiographical Memory and Memory for Public Events

The organization and structure of autobiographical memory ◽

10.1093/oso/9780198784845.003.0009 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 160-182

Author(s):

Jonathan Koppel ◽

Dorthe Berntsen

Keyword(s):

Autobiographical Memory ◽

Early Adulthood ◽

Large Role ◽

Autobiographical Memories ◽

Public Events ◽

Reminiscence Bump ◽

Retrieval Processes ◽

Temporal Location ◽

Disproportionate Number ◽

Cue Words

The reminiscence bump most commonly refers to the disproportionate number of autobiographical memories, in adults aged ≥40 years, dating from youth and early adulthood. Whereas the bump in autobiographical memory has primarily been studied by psychologists, it has been paralleled in the sociology literature in a spike in recall for public events that occurred at a similar period of the lifespan. This chapter reviews findings illustrating that the temporal location of the bump (in autobiographical memory) and the frequency with which it is found (in memory for public events) vary according to the cueing method used to elicit the memories. For instance, in autobiographical memory, the bump is earlier when memories are elicited through cue words than when memories are elicited through requests for important memories. In memory for public events, the bump is more frequently attained when recall is tested through open-ended recall than when it is tested through knowledge tests. It is argued that these findings indicate that retrieval processes play a large role in the bump in each domain, and therefore challenge most existing theoretical accounts, which stress encoding processes. The relevant retrieval processes in each domain are then discussed. Finally, the implications of the reviewed findings, in particular those concerning autobiographical memory, are discussed as they relate to models of the organization of autobiographical memory.

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The reminiscence bump for salient personal memories: Is a cultural life script required?

Memory & Cognition ◽

10.3758/s13421-011-0082-3 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 39 (6) ◽

pp. 977-991 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Ryan A. Dickson ◽

David B. Pillemer ◽

Elizabeth C. Bruehl

Keyword(s):

Reminiscence Bump ◽

Cultural Life ◽

Life Script

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The Reminiscence Bump Effect in Autobiographies

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.1182 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 367-367

Author(s):

Hannah Benz ◽

Thomas Pierce ◽

Grace Flood

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Life Events ◽

Life Story ◽

Laboratory Studies ◽

Chi Square ◽

Reminiscence Bump ◽

A Value ◽

The Mean

Abstract The reminiscence bump effect refers to the tendency for older adults to recall more life events from their late teens through early thirties than from other periods of life. Participants in laboratory studies are often encouraged to recall events quickly and spontaneously, with the intention of eliciting those life events that come most easily to mind. The purpose of this study was to determine if a reminiscence bump effect is observed in accounts of life events that are carefully organized and narrated over prolonged periods of time; specifically, those presented in published autobiographies. 1911 life events were collected from the autobiographies of 16 authors. Four authors were female and 12 were male. The mean age of authors at the time of publication was 65.88 (SD = 13.94). 45.52% of life events reported in autobiographies occurred when authors were between 18 and 32 years of age, a value significantly higher than expected by chance [Chi-square (1, N = 1911) = 457.70, p < .001] and consistent with those found in laboratory studies supporting the reminiscence bump effect (e.g., Rubin, Wetzler, & Nebes, 1986). In addition, the 15-year reminiscence bump period represented an average of 22.77% of the authors’ lives at the time they published their autobiography; however, events from the reminiscence bump period took up an average of 42.52% of the pages in their autobiographies. These data provide evidence for a reminiscence bump effect in carefully considered life story narratives which required months or years to complete.

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