No description available.

No description available.

Individuals with schizophrenia exhibit marked impairments on tasks assessing theory of mind (ToM) and autobiographical memory (AM) qualities, and preliminary research has indicated a positive link between these abilities. This study is the first to systematically explore this relationship in the related personality trait of schizotypy. In a study of 47 undergraduate students (23 males) reporting a wide continuous range of schizotypy, we found that females, but not males, exhibited a negative correlation between ToM and schizotypy, and an unexpected positive correlation between AM qualities and schizotypy. Factor score analysis within females indicated that disorganized schizotypy was the strongest correlate of both ToM (i.e., affective ToM; ability to infer emotions), and AM qualities (i.e., mental imagery vividness). Finally, independent of schizotypy and sex, ToM was negatively correlated with AM qualities. This negative association between ToM and AM as well as the positive relationship between schizotypy and AM (in females) distinguish findings in schizotypy from those in schizophrenia. Although, the qualities of AM in schizotypy are relatively unexplored in schizotypy, overlapping and AM-related constructs (e.g., mental image vividness, creativity) are enhanced in schizotypy. This phenomenon is theorized to occur due to a reduced latent inhibition process, which also reveals distinct patterns of sexual dimorphism in schizotypy. In sum, the current study found sex to be a critical variable in each hypothesis, demonstrating a unique pattern in females, but not males. It could be that distinct underlying mechanisms account for sex differences on ToM and AM tasks in schizophrenia-related disorders.

Socioemotional theories posit that the experience of overcoming unique life challenges over a lifetime enhances self-efficacy and emotional resilience among older adults. Older adults demonstrate greater emotional well-being and motivation to regulate emotions than younger adults, but specific regulatory mechanisms supporting late-life emotional resilience remain unclear. Cognitive reappraisal is an effective but cognitively demanding emotion regulation strategy and shows mixed efficacy in later-life. While a growing repertoire of autobiographical memories may be a resource with age, the role of autobiographical recall in momentary reappraisal has never been tested empirically. In this online study, older and younger adults were trained to reappraise the meaning of negative images as more positive by associating them either to any relevant autobiographical memory from the past (n=153), a specific cued autobiographical memory (reappraisal, n=118), or without autobiographical reference (n=156). Results revealed all strategies to be effective in regulating negative image intensity across age. While older adults outperformed younger adults in the non-AM condition, the opposite was observed for uncued AM reappraisals, and no age differences were found for cued AM reappraisals. Non-AM reappraisal was easiest to employ for all participants, and older adults reported all reappraisal strategies as easier than younger adults. While older adults found their AMs more helpful and more similar to reappraised images than younger adults, AM- image similarity was surprisingly associated with lower reappraisal efficacy. Findings suggests that AM reappraisal benefits are mixed for older adults, likely due to efficacy but higher associated cognitive burden of AM recall. We posit that older adults may sacrifice immediate hedonic relief, to engage with challenging but helpful emotion regulation strategies. We discuss limitations of this study, and areas for future directions to substantiate interpretations further.

Methods A standardised measurement tool was developed by identifying aspects of self that can be measured, and research methods that are effective at investigating self in people without dementia. The measure consists of three sets of illustrated ‘I am…’ statements representing Activities, Traits and Physical Characteristics, and Relationships and Occupations. Participants were asked to (i) sort these according to whether each was ‘just like me’, ‘a bit like me’ or ‘not at all like me’ (ii) sort their ‘just like me’ choices to identify the statement most like them; (iii) describe memories associated with this statement. The measure was tested with 20 people with dementia to inform refinement. The refined measure was tested for reliability and validity by comparing results from five people with dementia and six age-matched people without dementia. Results Outcome measures were strength, complexity and quality of self and an ‘episodicity’ score reflecting the descriptive richness of memories. The initial administration to 20 people indicated that the measure was suitable for people with mild to moderate dementia, and the outcomes were meaningful and reliable. An ‘Observational Framework’ was developed to enable measurement of self via gestures and expressions of people with limited verbal abilities. The second study indicated that the new measure has good test-retest reliability, but convergent validity was not demonstrated. Participants with dementia demonstrated strength, complexity and quality of self scores comparable to participants without dementia. The results suggest that providing visual cues bypasses the cognitive processes required for effortful recall. / Alzheimer’s Society

No description available.

No description available.

Language plays a crucial role in remembering, storing, maintaining, accessing, and sharing of memories. This evidence comes from the disciplines of psychoanalysis (Javier et al., 1993; Schwaneberg, 2010), developmental psychology (Fivush, 2011; Nelson, 2004), and bilingual memory (Larsen et al., 2002; Marian & Neisser, 2000). Some of the most telling examples come from bilingual psychotherapy where therapist switch to the patient’s native language in order to access childhood memories (e.g., Aragno & Schlacher, 1996). The loss of language, therefore, may have a detrimental effect on memory storage and recall. Until now, however, this possibility has not been tested. The purpose of the present study is to address this gap by investigating autobiographical memory in speakers undergoing L1 attrition. The study is grounded in the dual-coding theoretical framework (Paivio, 1971; 2014). According to the dual-coding theory, memories that are encoded with multiple memory traces (audio, visual, etc.) are remembered better and a weakening of a memory trace due to its inactivation might lead to forgetting. Therefore, memories that were encoded in a language that is no longer available might show signs of deterioration. Twelve non-attriters ages 18-28 (M=22.08; SD=3.73), 13 moderate attriters ages 18-33 (M=24.29; SD=5.43), and 10 advanced attriters ages 18-30 (M=23.1; SD=3.7) shared autobiographical memories with the help of free recall and cued-recall procedures (Marian & Neisser, 2000; Schrauf & Rubin, 2000). The pool of 420 free recall memories were analyzed for amount of detail (Levine et al., 2002) and the set of 1,988 cued recall memories were analyzed for phenomenological properties of vividness, significance, emotionality, and confidence in the event (Schrauf, 2009; Schrauf & Rubin, 2004). The results revealed that moderate attriters who had vague L1 Russian memories recalled memories with lower confidence rating in comparison to non-attriters, which suggests a negative L1 attrition effect on bilingual autobiographical memory. However, the advanced attriters were able to recall vivid and detailed L1 Russian memories. The aforementioned finding did not support the study’s hypothesis that memories might be forgotten if the language of encoding is no longer available. This can be explained by the following observation. Advanced attriters recalled their L1 Russian memories very frequently which insured a preservation of these memories. This rehearsing of L1 memories in their dominant L2 English also caused re-encoding of these memories into the dominant language. This was observed qualitatively (participants commenting on how L1 Russian memories were coming to them with L2 English words) and quantitatively (L1 Russian memories were reported to be accompanied by L2 English words). These findings have several theoretical implications for the discipline of bilingualism. L1 attrition may have a negative effect on bilingual autobiographical memory, at least as far as the phenomenological properties are concerned. However, this negative effect can be reversed by frequent rehearsing of memories that were encoded in an attrited language. Rehearsing may lead to re-encoding of L1 memories into the L2 which suggests that memories may be malleable. This demonstrates flexibility of bilingual mind and how it can adjust to L1 attrition. / Applied Linguistics

Filled with both painful and joyful memories, curious turning point moments, strange epiphanies and numerous significant others, this autobiographical sketch is the story of an oppressed young man from Appalachia who shunned his roots searching for answers. Ethnographically, it is the study and story of a disadvantaged student who struggled with learning only to teach himself to read and write and, in doing so, found himself caught between two divergent worlds, one of inherited Appalachian values, the other of earned middle class status. It is the personal narrative of an elementary school teacher and administrator who time after time attempted to escape an oppressive pedagogy only to be sucked helplessly back in at each new experience. And, it is the anecdote of an individual who eventually returned to his roots, his history, his culture, sensing more distinctly that when perplexed one must always try to discover where his or her soul lies and then go from there. The answers lie within us; they are part of who we are as individuals; for, they have been shaped by our "life history" (Goodson, 1992, p. 6) inside of which is hidden our "life story" (Goodson, 1992, p. 6). / Ed. D.

INTRODUCTION: (Study A) Trauma-Related Nightmares (TRNs) are a core feature of Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). We explored linguistic and somatic-experience differences between self-reports of trauma and those of nightmares related to the trauma. (Study B) Neurotic personality features are associated with many psychological disorders, including PTSD. Based on this relationship, we explored whether neuroticism predicts the rate of nightmares and bad dreams as well as the number of replicative nightmares (TRNs similar or exactly like their traumatic experience), above and beyond PTSD severity. METHODS: (Study A) Seventeen participants with varying severity of PTSD symptoms reporting recurring TRNs (mean age 27.47 years, SD = 10.33, 14 females) recalled a traumatic experience and nightmares related to that trauma. Trauma reports were written by participants, while nightmare reports were transcribed from audio recordings made as they were recalled following nightmares. Following both types of reports, participants indicated co-occurring somatic experiences by choosing from a list of 51 selections. Choices were later grouped into cardiovascular, respiratory, interoceptive, and tension categories. Linguistic content was measured using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) program and positive emotion, negative emotion, and somatosensory category words were totaled. Since trauma reports had significantly higher word counts than TRNs (p=0.0495), LIWC categories were normalized for total word count. Total and symptom- cluster severities of PTSD were assessed using the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Tests and Spearman Correlations were used for statistical analysis, as Shapiro-Wilk tests showed that data were non-normally distributed. (Study B) 126 participants who had experienced a traumatic event within the past two years were recruited (mean age 24.13 years, SD = 4.994, 69% female) and, for an average of 14.89 nights, completed a dream questionnaire on which occurrence of nightmares (causing awakening) and bad dreams were reported and ranked based on their similarity to their recent traumatic experience. PTSD symptoms were assessed using the PCL-5 and personality features such as neuroticism were measured using the NEO Personality Inventory Revised (NEO PI-R), a questionnaire based on the Five Factor Model of personality. The combined number of nightmares and bad dreams was divided by the total number of nights reported and expressed as a rate, while a replicative nightmare count was generated by summing “similar to traumatic experience” and “exactly like traumatic experience” ratings. Hierarchical regressions were used to determine whether neuroticism predicted the rate of nightmare and bad dreams as well as the number of replicative nightmares above and beyond PTSD severity. Pearson correlations were used to check for relationships between variables and possible collinearity. RESULTS: (Study A) There were significantly more somatic experiences of interoception (p=0.0084) and tension (p=0.024) in trauma vs nightmare reports. The intrusion cluster of the PCL-5 was associated with cardiovascular (rho=0.592, p=0.0156) and respiratory (rho=0.619, p=0.0109) experiences in trauma reports, and interoception (rho=0.718, p=0.0033) and tension (rho=0.556, p=0.0224) experiences in nightmare reports. (Study B) In two hierarchical regression models, neuroticism predicted neither nightmare and bad dream rate nor number of replicative nightmares over and above total or PTSD symptom cluster severity (p=0.596; p=0.886). Collinearity checks did demonstrate a moderate positive relationship between these variables (r=0.317, p<0.001). CONCLUSION: (Study A) More somatic experiences of interoception and tension were recalled from traumas than TRNs. Because the brain is deafferented from sensory input during dreaming, we expected, but did not find, state differences in other somatic experiences. Word categories in narratives also did not show state differences. Only the intrusion symptoms of PTSD predicted bodily sensations in trauma as well as TRN reports. (Study B) We found that neuroticism did not predict either nightmare and bad dream rate or the number of replicative nightmares above and beyond PTSD severity, when taking demographic factors into account. The positive correlation between PTSD and neuroticism could explain this lack of significance. SUPPORT: R21MH128619