1

History in Autobiography

Tia G. B. Hansen1, Norman R. Brown2, Louise Dilling1 & Mille Kjær1

1 Cognitive Psychology Unit, Aalborg University, Denmark2 Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, Canada

CROIC symposium, Nordic ISCAR, Klækken, Norway, June 2007

2

Theoretical background

Cognitive tradition Autobiographical Memory (AM) research

”Everyday memory”

Neisser: Different memoria AM = Memory for info related to the person themself This info comes nested

Inter-event relations i AM preserves some of that, i.e. the organisation of AM

Empirically: what cues what

3

Organisation of AM

NB Arbitrary example of AM model, not ours

Dating pers. exp:Find event or periodwith time known

I.e. employ associations- useful for research

Organisers alwayspersonal! (e.g., Shum)- ?!?

A few periods and eventsorganise the rest

FIRSTS, landmarks, …

Drawing snatched from a presentation (about smt else) that Conway happened to have on the net

4

Method

2-phased experiment

Phase 1: 18 cue-words personal specific memory (”when I x”)

Phase 2: Estimate year and month Think-aloud protocols

unjustified personal info only public/historical info included

(Young samples: 23-28 pts, age M=21.3-25.4)

5

Stimulus material: Mundane words Bag

BallBookBoxBreadCoatDogPencilPianoPillRadioRiver (In DK: Å)SnowSpoonStoneStreetTreeWindow

Window

I broke the window in my room

I broke a window in my old room at my parents home, with a knifeI had gotten when I was on a tourwith Per and his parents, and that was the tour in Norway, Sweden,Finland to see the midnight sun…etc.

1

2

6Estimated Year of Occurance

< 19

8519

8519

8619

8719

8819

8919

9019

9119

9219

9319

9419

9519

9619

9719

9819

9920

0020

0120

0220

0320

0420

05

Per

cent

age

of J

ustif

ied

Est

imat

es

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

PoliticalP/S/WPersonal In Bosnia-Hz, NO

1992-1995 civil war

Brown, 2005:”Living In History effect”

Re: Organisers always personal?

In Canada, yes

= traditionally assumed and found

Estimated Year of Occurance<

1985

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

Per

cent

age

of J

ustif

ied

Est

imat

es

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

PoliticalP/S/WPersonal

7

Old Danes study

RQ: LIH-effect for WWII?

36 pts (17 men + 19 women), mean age 80.1 Inclusion criteria:

75+ yearsmentally ok (subj) life-long resident12+ memories

8

LIH effect in old Danes

UnjustifiedPersonalPublic

Denmark# of participants = 36# of Protocols = 537Mean Age (yrs) = 80.1

1925 1930 1935 1940 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

Dated year

1%

2%

3%

4%

Unjustified Personal Public

Denmark# of participants = 36# of Protocols = 537Mean Age (yrs) = 80.1

1925 1930 1935 1940 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

Dated year

1%

2%

3%

4%

# of participants = 36# of protocols = 537Mean age (yrs) = 80.1

Old Danes(Occupied 1940-1945)

9

Alternative expl: national effect?

E.g., ”Denmark is small and dependent, so Danes do have the world in mind” or ”Danes are not self-absorbed, so Danes have the world in mind”, etc.

No, not a valid explanation. Young Danes show no LIH-effect.

Denmark# justified dates = 371

Protocoles w/ Public Info = 2.4%

Estimated Year of Occurance

< 198

519

8519

8619

8719

8819

8919

9019

9119

9219

9319

9419

9519

9619

9719

9819

9920

0020

0120

0220

0320

0420

05

Per

cent

age

of J

ustif

ied

Est

imat

es

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

10

Alternative 2: cohort effect?

E.g., ”previous generations were more oriented towards the collective than present post-modern youth”

No, not a valid explanation. The LIH-effect is not found in old Danes generally, only for the war period.

Of justified datings 1936-1948

67.00%

33.00%

Of justified datings 1922-1935 & 1949-2006

98.37% 1.63%

11

Alternative 3: Happens for all strong public events

No, an unlikely explanation. No LIH-effect of 911 in USA (even New York), and none of suicide bombings etc. in Israel. Terror doesn’t do it.

So, when?

Earthquake-related references in Turkey – but only by quake-locals, not in Ankara

And look at some Old Danes’ protocols…

12

Old Danes examples

Cue = coat

Pt #10: I once borrowed a coat for a wedding because my own was not neat enough. Err, that has been, err (…). It has been while I was young, it has probably been err. It has been, it has been during the war. In those days it was not that easy to get anything. (No). It has been in err, in err (…) it has been in March, 1945.

13

Old Danes examples

Cue = river [Danish: å]

Pt#18: And that one, that was, then (…). Tootelooteloo. Let me see that was of course before, it was, it was. During the war we were of course not allowed to assemble, and (…) yes… (…)Res: It’s fine if you think out loud.Pt#18: Yes. I wonder of course, when it was. Let’s see, I was competition rower in, and I was youth rower, and uhm uhm uhm. I left home of couse and was 19 then, and (…) when will I have been 19. I am born in ’25 (…).

14

Old Danes examples

Cue = piano

Pt#26: A piano. Then we also have to go back in time. (Uhm) The piano down at my uncle’s, where I learned to play Prinsesse Toben [melody] (Yes). And of course it actually was, it was my elder cousins who, who taught me that one (Uhm) at the piano there. And as I told before, it stays in your fingers, in mine, still. [section skipped]But err. Otherwise I have never done much piano playing, not at all (Uhmuhm). All kinds of other things. I am going back (Uhm) to err. The 40ies. Yes it’s actually during the occupation, 41, 42, about there (Uhm) I’ll guess. (Yes) (…) Yes.

15

Theoretical conclusions so far

Differentiate public memoria: Symbolic public events vs. Public events that alter the fabric of everyday life

(Brown, 2006)

Events which change the fabric of everyday life for a large number of people in a social group, for a prolonged period of time, becomes part of the organisational structure of their autobiographical memory

Symbolic events (e.g., 911) are well remembered and mean something for a large numbe of people in a population, too, but they do not become an organisational factor for personal memories

Fabric-changing events … ?

16

Practical issues?

War and natural disaster, if personally experienced for some time, leave a lasting impact on the organisation of autobiographical memory (remembered self)

Even mundane events from the period are often associatively linked

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Mundane words,but…? Most mundane words

can cue personal memories

which are associatively linked to the war

Does this have any practical significance?

Theoretical significance within a cultural-historical frame of reference?

BagBallBookBoxBreadCoatDogPencilPianoPillRadioRiver (In DK: Å)SnowSpoonStoneStreetTreeWindow

18

Thank you for the attention!

And thanks to:Peter J. Lee Mirna KrslakFrederick G.

Conrad Jelena Havelka John ReddonNenad Havelka

Bill Hirst Ilan YanivFrost HubbardAnne DannowStine Høyer Jane KjærAnne Christina

Møller

19

yt

20

Estimated Year of Occurance

< 19

8519

8519

8619

8719

8819

8919

9019

9119

9219

9319

9419

9519

9619

9719

9819

9920

0020

0120

0220

0320

0420

05

Pe

rce

nta

ge

o

f Ju

stifi

ed

Est

ima

tes

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

PoliticalP/S/WPersonal

Estimated Year of Occurance

< 19

8519

8519

8619

8719

8819

8919

9019

9119

9219

9319

9419

9519

9619

9719

9819

9920

0020

0120

0220

0320

0420

05

Pe

rce

nta

ge

o

f Ju

stifi

ed

Est

ima

tes

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

PoliticalP/S/WPersonal

Estimated Year of Occurance<

1985

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

Per

cent

age

of J

ustif

ied

Est

imat

es

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

PoliticalP/S/WPersonal

Estimated Year of Occurance

Pe

rce

nta

ge

o

f Ju

stifi

ed

Est

ima

tes

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

PoliticalQuake-relatedP/S/WPersonal

Estimated Year of Occurance<

1985

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

Pe

rce

nta

ge

o

f Ju

stifi

ed

Est

ima

tes

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

PoliticalQuake-related P/S/WPersonal

Bos-HzDK

NY

Turkey

Young samples

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Old Danes examplesCue = book

Pt#18: A book (yes). It must be ”Gone with the wind”. When it ended I cried because it didn’t go on (yes). I thought that it should have been exactly twice as long (yes). (…) yes I’ll probably have been. That, it has probably been err… let me see now. The war it ended when I was (…) Yes but that, the war it ended in ’41, right? (nnna) no it was, what rubbish. It was in ’41 because then was, I came over there in ’40, ’41, no, there of course I was not, I was 16 years, and I finished school, does that fit, in ’44? And then it has probably been in ’46 such about. No that doesn’t fit. It’s been before that. It has probably been (uhm). The war, it ended in ’45, in May ’45 and (…), but it does not fit because it must have been while I went to trade college, because I also read many books then. And I finished school in ’46 so I was out there. No but it can also have been in… it can have been in, yes ’47 didn’t I say that first?

22

General macrostructure of memory for historical events

Brown, N. R. (1990). Organization of public events in long-term memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 119(3), 297-314.

23

And as for (not) being self-absorbed… evt. protokollen med EM og nævne, det er den

eneste danske genganger lbandt de unge Evt sætte både den danske og den bosniske

ind, eller den bosniske på ny slide

24

absorbed 2

anyone remember why Denmark could even enter the finals that year?

We flunked the qualifications. But we got the vacant seat, when a country that did qualify, got otherwise (dis)enganged… (unge bosniere)

Bosinia-Herzogvinia# justified dates = 327

Protocols w/ Public Info = 26.9%Participants mentioning Public Info = 22/27

Estimated Year of Occurance

< 19

8519

8519

8619

8719

8819

8919

9019

9119

9219

9319

9419

9519

9619

9719

9819

9920

0020

0120

0220

0320

0420

05

Pe

rce

nta

ge

o

f Ju

stifi

ed

Est

ima

tes

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24PublicPersonal

Denmark# justified dates = 371

Protocoles w/ Public Info = 2.4%

Estimated Year of Occurance

< 19

8519

8519

8619

8719

8819

8919

9019

9119

9219

9319

9419

9519

9619

9719

9819

9920

0020

0120

0220

0320

0420

05

Pe

rcen

tage

of

Jus

tifie

d E

stim

ates

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

25

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

age (years)

nu

mb

er o

f re

call

ed m

emo

ries

c amn

bumprecent

Actual drawing snatched from Barry Deverauxwho happened to have his lecture slides lying about on the net

26

27

Young Danes examples

Cue = window

Pt #12: Yes, a window, I broke a window at the place where I lived in my old room home at my parents, and got wildly scolded for it (laughter). Err … I then did that with a knife I had gotten (laughter), and that knife that I had gotten, that was the one I got when I was on a tour with – again – Per and his parents, around in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and see the midnight sun, and we were up there seeing the midnight sun after Denmark had won EM [European championship in football]. And that was supposedly, as far as I remember 92, right? Now I really need to remember, that must surely be 92, because otherwise I am not very … very good at football any more. Ok the, 1992.