Fade in, fade out: Do shifts in visual perspective predict the consistency of real-world memories?

Wardell, Victoria; Jameson, Taylyn J.; Bontkes, Oliver; Le, M. Lindy; Duan, Tz-yu; St. Jacques, Peggy L.; Madan, Christopher R.; Palombo, Daniela

Abstract

Memories of our personal past are not exact accounts of what occurred. Instead, memory reconstructs the past in adaptive–though not always faithful–ways. Using a naturalistic design, here we asked how the visual perspective adopted in the mind’s eye when recalling the past–namely, an “own” eyes versus “observer” perspective–relates to the stability of autobiographical memories. We hypothesized that changes in visual perspective over time would predict poorer consistency of memories. Young adults (N=178) rated the phenomenology of and freely recalled self-selected memories of everyday events at two time points (10 weeks apart). Multilevel linear modeling revealed, as expected, that greater shifts in visual perspective over time predicted lower memory consistency, particularly for emotional details. Our results offer insight into the factors that predict the fidelity of memories for everyday events. Moreover, our results may elucidate new metrics that are useful in interpreting eye-witness testimony or experiences relayed in clinical contexts.

Citation

Wardell, V., Jameson, T. J., Bontkes, O., Le, M. L., Duan, T.-Y., St. Jacques, P. L., …Palombo, D. Fade in, fade out: Do shifts in visual perspective predict the consistency of real-world memories?

• Working Paper Type: Working Paper
• Deposit Date: Jun 30, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 18, 2023
• Publisher: Association for Psychological Science
• Keywords: Autobiographical Interview, Autobiographical Memory, Memory Consistency, Visual Perspective
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/11472547
• Publisher URL: https://psyarxiv.com/j2kbv/