Differences in Autobiographical Memories Reported using Text and Voice during Everyday Life

Abstract

Autobiographical memories frequently occur during everyday life. One of the most common approaches to measuring memories in everyday life is a diary method: Participants record memories as they occur by writing down these memories in a paper diary or typing them on a smartphone. Conversely, many laboratory-based studies of autobiographical memory require participants to describe their memories out loud in a spoken manner. Here, we sought to directly compare memories recorded via typing to those spoken out loud in a smartphone diary study. Participants reported or, autobiographical memories that occurred over a period of four days either by typing (n = 43) or recording themselves orally describing memories (n = 39) using a smartphone app. Results indicated that the audio recording group reported memories more frequently and these memories contained a greater number of words, while the text group reported memories more promptly after they occurred. Additionally, the typing group reported memories that were episodically richer and contained a greater proportion of perceptual details. This work has important implications for future autobiographical memory studies in the lab, online, and using diary methods, and suggests that certain reporting modalities may be advantageous depending on the specific research focus.

Department(s)

Psychological Science

Comments

National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health, Award Number R15AG075609 and the Missouri S&T Center for Biomedical Research

Keywords and Phrases

Autobiographical Memory; Everyday Life; Involuntary; Naturalistic

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1464-0686; 0965-8211

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2023 Taylor and Francis Group; Routledge, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jan 2023

Link to Full Text

Share

 
COinS