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Autobiographical fluency: A method for the study of personal memory.
Authors:
Dritschel, B.H., Williams, J.M.G., Baddeley, A.D. & Nimmo-Smith, I.
Reference:
Memory and Cognition, 20, 133-140.
Year of publication:
1992
CBU number:
2637
Abstract:
Fifty-five subjects recalled autobiographical episodes or personal facts such as names of friends and teachers, from different life-time periods. In each case subjects were given 90 seconds in which to retrieve as many items as possible. Also tested was subjects' fluency in generating items from semantic categories (animals, vegetables, British Prime Ministers and U.S. Presidents). Results of cluster analysis on the fluency tasks showed a dissociation between subjects' ability to retrieve personal episodes, personal semantic and non-personal semantic information. The dissociations observed in the fluency tasks are interpreted in terms of the different retrieval strategies required for the different types of information sought.