Autobiographical memories are memories from one's personal past. They are distinguished from other forms of memory by their self-referent nature. studies of voluntary autobiographical memory recall have repeatedly found that individuals with depression are prone to retrieve fewer specific autobiographical memories than non-depressed controls (for a review see Williams et al, 1996). This phenomenon Is commonly referred to as the over- generality effect. Over-general recall has been found to be highly correlated with failure to recover from depression. It has been found to be present prior to the onset of a depressive episode and also after the depression remits. It seems that over-generality may be a trait marker which could possibly be indicative of vulnerability to persistent depression (Brittlebank, Scott, Williams & Ferrier, 1993). The over-generality effect therefore appears to be a clinically relevant feature of depression.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:494282 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Chatters, Kate Elizabeth |
| Publisher | University of Hertfordshire |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
Page generated in 0.0066 seconds