Individual Differences in Autobiographical Memory: The Autobiographical Recollection Test Predicts Ratings of Specific Memories Across Cueing Conditions

• Published in: Journal of applied research in memory and cognition Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 85 - 96
• Main Authors: Gehrt, Tine B., Nielsen, Niels Peter, Hoyle, Rick H., Rubin, David C., Berntsen, Dorthe
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washigton Educational Publishing Foundation 01-03-2022; Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition
• Subjects: Affective Valence; Autobiographical Memory; Construct Validity; Female; Human; Individual Differences; Male; Memory and Learning Measures; Rating; Test Reliability; Test Validity; recollective experience; Autobiographical Recollection Test; autobiographical memory; individual differences
• ISSN: 2211-3681; 2211-369X
• DOI: 10.1037/h0101869

The Autobiographical Recollection Test (ART; Berntsen et al., 2019) measures individual differences in autobiographical memory. We here examined whether the ART correlates with characteristics of people's specific autobiographical memories. Participants (Ns ≥ 475) completed the ART and rated recollective qualities of autobiographical memories cued by words (Study 1), by positive and negative emotional valence (Study 2), and by future and past temporal direction (Study 3). Scores on the ART consistently correlated with recollective qualities of specific memories and future thoughts, both immediately and after a 1-week delay. The magnitude of these correlations was at the same level as the correlations between individual memory items, underscoring the ability of the ART, as a trait measure to predict ratings of individual memories. The findings support the construct validity of the ART and demonstrate that people's evaluation of their autobiographical memory, in general, is reliably related to how they remember specific events.
General Audience Summary
Autobiographical memory is the kind of memory that allows us to remember events in our personal past. People often claim their memory for their past is better or worse than the one of others. Some seem to remember their past vividly and as coherent stories, while for others, memories of their personal past may seem vague and fragmented. Until recently, the field was lacking a viable and easily administered tool for studying such individual differences. To meet this need, the Autobiographical Recollection Test (ART) was introduced as a test of individual differences in the subjective experience of autobiographical memory. The ART has been shown to have good psychometric properties and thus is a reliable test of how people generally remember their past-for example, whether they generally consider their memories to be vivid and detailed. However, it remained to be tested if scores on the ART predict how people remember specific events from their past. In three studies, we examined this question by having participants complete the ART and rate characteristics of several specific memories from their past. We found a consistent association between scores on the ART and the characteristics of specific memories, even after a 1-week delay. The findings establish the validity of the ART and demonstrate the scale as a reliable indicator of how people experience their autobiographical memories. Because the ART is a valid, robust, and easily administered test of individual differences in autobiographical memory, it can help to integrate autobiographical memory research with fields generally concerned with measuring stable tendencies and preferences, such as personality, educational, and clinical psychology.