Research in the area of personality and memory interactions has focused mainly on memorization of word lists and has been conducted mainly in the laboratory. A growing interest in how memory for everyday events effects personality and how one chooses to respond to present and future situations is occurring. / This study investigated the effect that one's cognitive (field dependence/independence) has on one's autobiographical memory of events in a person's life. Two hundred and one undergraduate psychology students at Florida State University were administered the Group Embedded Figures Test (Witkin, Oltman, Raskin, & Karp, 1971). Subjects were then shown one two videotapes of a two-minute counseling interaction. The videotapes were similar in dialogue. However, one was of an emotionally-neutral interaction and the other was emotionally-charged. / After viewing the videotape, subjects completed recall and recognition items about their memory of the event. They also were asked to generate hypotheses about what the client and counselor may be feeling and thinking. After scoring the instruments the data were analyzed using the BMDP-4V Univariate and Multivariate ANOVA Program. A 2 (cognitive style) x 2 (treatment) factorial design with nine dependent variables (a recall and a recognition score for the areas of dialogue, background, actors, and action, and a hypothesis generation score) was utilized. / It was found that no significant difference exists between field dependent and field independent subjects in their ability to recall and recognize information in the areas of dialogue, background, actors, and action. It was also found that subjects in the emotionally-charged treatment were able to recall more information for the variables of actors and action, and to recognize more information in the background variable than subjects in the emotionally-neutral treatment condition. Results show that there is no significant difference between field dependent and field independent subjects in their ability to recall and recognize information in either treatment condition. It was also found that field independent subjects in the emotionally-charged condition generated fewer hypotheses in the emotionally-charged treatment condition. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-03, Section: B, page: 0936. / Major Professor: F. Donald Kelly. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_76265 |
| Contributors | Consolvo, Camille Ann., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 163 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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