Autobiographical memory specificity and emotional disorder.
Science Oxford · University of Oxford · +3 more institutions
Abstract
The authors review research showing that when recalling autobiographical events, many emotionally disturbed patients summarize categories of events rather than retrieving a single episode. The mechanisms underlying such overgeneral memory are examined, with a focus on M. A. Conway and C. W. Pleydell-Pearce's (2000) hierarchical search model of personal event retrieval. An elaboration of this model is proposed to account for overgeneral memory, focusing on how memory search can be affected by (a) capture and rumination processes, when mnemonic information used in retrieval activates ruminative thinking; (b) functional avoidance, when episodic material threatens to cause affective disturbance; and (c) impairment…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 60.67
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 212
Authors
7Topics & keywords
- Autobiographical memory
- Psychology
- Cognitive psychology
- Emotional disorder
- Clinical psychology
- Developmental psychology
- Recall
- Psychiatry