To view our current projects scroll down to browse:


Getting  the Gist
The Empathy function of Autobiographical Memory
Story-telling II
Self-Reported Functions of Autobiographical Memory
Life Events in the Life Story
Development of Wisdom
Meaning-Making and Well-Being Across Cultures
“In Memoriam:” Identity Strivings in Emerging Adulthood






Getting the Gist

Recalling  and  telling  autobiographical  memory  stories  in everyday  life  requires  basic
memory,   reasoning,  and   verbal   skills.  Some  basic  cognitive  abilities  tend  to   show
decreases  in later life.  How might changes  in basic cognitive  abilities across the  lifespan
impact  the recall of  autobiographical memories?  Past research  has indicated that  despite
differences   in narrative  recall between  younger and older  adults, older adults  generally
recall the gist of fictional stories as well as, or better than, younger adults. But what about
recalling one's own personal memory stories?

Participants were randomly assigned to recall either a fictional text passage  or a  personal
autobiographical  memory  story,  and  completed  standardized  tests  of cognitive  ability
(memory,  reasoning,  verbal  ability).  All  narratives  were   recorded,  transcribed   and
content-coded for each of five categories of story gist: what happened, who was involved, 
where  did it  take place, when did  it  occur,  and  why  did the  event  occur.  Classic  age
differences in basic cognitive  abilities emerged, but these differences  did not affect recall
of  the  gist  of  either  the   fictional  or  autobiographical  memory stories.  The  only  age
difference was  that older  adults did not recall  the why of  autobiographical  memories as
often as younger adults. It appears that regardless of deficits in basic cognitive abilities that
can occur with aging, older adults can tell stories that  include all of the main  components
necessary in everyday social interaction. Lack of the inclusion of the why gist is not central
to a story  through  leaving  out  why  an  event  occurred  might  affect  how believable or
interesting a story is to potential listeners.

The Empathy Function of Autobiographical Memory

Previous  research   has  suggested   there   are   three   distinct   categorical   functions   of
autobiographical memory (AM): social bonding  (communicative), directive  (preparation
for  current   and   future   behaviors)  and   self-continuity.   (Bluck  &  Alea, 2002).   One
theorized  social function of AM is  eliciting empathy.  The current study  investigates  the
role of AM sharing in increasing empathy towards individuals perceived as in chronic pain.
Participants empathy levels were  assessed  after reading a  journal entry  narrative written
by a person of varying age (25 or 85) in chronic pain  (pre-test) and again  after assignment
to one of two conditions  (post-test). Conditions were set as either sharing one's own AM
of having  been in pain,  or  as  a comparison,  thinking  aloud about the author by recalling
the pain narrative. Personality, memory characteristics, and  memory  functions were also
assessed. Findings  indicate  that empathy  levels  (i.e., Perspective-taking) increased after
sharing an autobiographical memory but not in the comparison condition. Participants did
not show age biases but reported equal empathy for the young and old narrator. Regression
analyses  identified frequency of functional use of memory and the personal significance of
the  shared  memory  as  predictors  of  post-test  empathy.  Findings  are  discussed in the
context  of  the functional  uses of autobiographical memory and  in relation to formal and
informal care-giving for younger and older adults in chronic pain.

Story Telling II

Nearly all humans tell stories, but whether a person recalls a good story can have outcomes
for both the storyteller and listener. Previous research on story quality has not employed a
standard toold for measuring quality, and has not reported whether men and women raters
of  different  ages  judge  story  quality  similarly.  The current  study  addresses  whether
dimensions  of story  quality represent  a unitary  index that  is consistent  across  men and
women of different ages. The first specific aim is to determine whether lay-raters of different
ages and genders use a newly developed rating tool reliably (i.e., consistently) to evaluate
story quality.  The second specific aim is to assess whether the identified  dimensions form  a
general factor of  global story  quality such that  the  ratings can be  combined  into a  story
quality index.  Dimensions of story quality were drawn from the existing literature as well
as through use of a structured focus group (age and  gender balanced). The materials were
autobiographical and fictional stories  provided by 129 older and younger men and women
about a date with a partner.  Findings have shown that young and old men and women lay-
raters did indeed judge the quality of the memory stories consistently. Results also showed
that  multidimensional  story ratings  hang together to form an index of  story quality that
hold  for  both types  of stories, and is  maintained in group of men and  women, and older
and  younger  adults.   The  Story  Quality  Index is  a  useful  new  tool  for  the standard
assessment of story quality across different types of stories and different individuals.

Self-Reported Functions of Autobiographical Memory

Autobiographical memory serves  three broad functions: self, social, and as a  directive for
behavior.  The  Talking  About  Life  Experiences (TALE) questionnaire was developed to
assess the frequency of reflecting on the past to serve these three functions. American and
German young adults completed the questionnaire. Results indicate that young adults self-
report  using  autobiographical  memory to  serve the three  hypothesized  functions (self,
social, directive). We are currently examining whether an older adult sample will report a
similar pattern of results.

Related readings:

Bluck, S., Alea, N., Habermas, T., & Rubin, D.R. (2005). A TALE of three functions:
the self-reported uses of autobiographical memory. Social Cognition.

Bluck, S. (2003). Autobiographical memory: exploring its functions in everyday life.
Memory, 11, 113-123.

Bluck, S., & Alea, N. (2002). Exploring the functions of autobiographical memory: why
do I remember the autumn? In J.D. Webster and B.K. Haight (Eds). Critical Advances in
Reminiscence: From Theory to Application (pp. 61-75). New York:

Life Events in the Life Story

This  study  is being  completed in  collaboration with  researchers at  the  University of
Vienna as  part of the European Study  of Adult Well-being.  Participants (N = 800) from 
50-90 years of age completed a questionnaire in  which they report the significant life 
events that have been markers in their life story from birth to the present day. Each event
is then rated on a number of dimensions including how positive or negative it was, and 
how much it influenced the path that their life has taken. Participants also reported at
least one wisdom event and one regretted  event. Data  analyses are currently underway 
to examine the structure and content of individual's life stories.

Development of  Wisdom

There are many human virtues- for example, honesty, intelligence, and bravery. Wisdom
is a unique virtue revered across all cultures. What is wisdom and how does one develop
it?  This  study, in collaboration with  Dr. Judith Gluck, University of  Vienna, Austria,
examines  these  questions  through  use  of  a  survey appearing in the German-language
magazine GEO. The study involves 2,276 participants ranging in age from 13 to 93 years
old   who   responded   to   a   questionnaire  in    the  magazine. To examine how people
conceptualize wisdom (i.e. implicit theories of wisdom) rated  various concepts, such as
empathy, intelligence, and self-reflection on a 5-point Likert-type scale, indicating the
extent to which each is considered an essential aspect to wisdom. To assess how people
believe that one becomes wise, that is, how wisdom develops, participants also judged
the effectiveness of possible methods of becoming wise using similar scales. Items include
such "roads to wisdom"  as  studying  philosophy,  having  faced  uncertainty  and learning 
from wise people. The final question asked participants to evaluate  their own perceived
level of wisdom. The data are currently being analyzed to examine what people believe
wisdom  is and,  perhaps  more  importantly,  how  one  can  gain  this  revered  virtue.
Differences  in conception of wisdom and  how it develops will be examine across age and
gender groups, and in relation to self-rated wisdom.

Meaning-Making and Well-Being Across Cultures