Ordering autobiographical experiences

Memory. 2000 Sep;8(5):323-32. doi: 10.1080/09658210050117744.

Abstract

This study examined individuals' memory for the temporal order of autobiographical events and for the components that constitute autobiographical events. Study 1 measured performance on an across-event ordering task that involved the chronological arrangement of cards that displayed event labels. Results indicated poor ordering ability across events, but a reasonable ability to order clusters of events. Study 2 compared within-event and across-event ordering using computer-presented digital photographs. Participants were better at ordering the photographs in their own across-event trials than in their within-event trials. The results are discussed in terms of the retrieval of temporal information under within- and across-event conditions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Chronology as Topic*
  • Cues
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Memory / physiology*
  • Middle Aged
  • Photography
  • Regression Analysis
  • Statistics, Nonparametric
  • Time Factors