Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 29 in total

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  1. Introduction to the Cognitive Abilities Account for the Reminiscence Bump in the Temporal Distribution of Autobiographical Memory
    Janssen SMJ
    Psychol Rep, 2020 Feb;123(1):12-42.
    PMID: 31039675 DOI: 10.1177/0033294119843221
  2. Relations Between Cultural Life Scripts, Individual Life Stories, and Psychological Distress
    Anne M, Janssen SMJ
    Psychol Rep, 2021 Apr;124(2):521-542.
    PMID: 32208807 DOI: 10.1177/0033294120913490
    Cultural life scripts are shared knowledge about personal events expected to be experienced by individuals within a society and used as a framework for life story narration. Differences in cultural life scripts for individuals with depression and trauma, and their relations to anxiety, stress, and well-being, have not been investigated. Malaysian participants (N = 120) described and rated seven significant events most likely to be experienced by a prototypical infant from their culture, and seven significant events they had experienced or expected to experience in their own life. Participants then answered questionnaires about depression and trauma symptoms and about anxiety, stress, and well-being. The subclinical depression group listed less typical cultural life scripts events, whereas the subclinical post-traumatic stress disorder group listed less positive individual life story events. The findings indicate that, although individuals with depression and trauma possess knowledge of the cultural life scripts, there may be small differences in the cognitive processing of cultural life scripts and individual life story events.
  3. The transmission and stability of cultural life scripts: a cross-cultural study
    Janssen SMJ, Haque S
    Memory, 2018 01;26(1):131-143.
    PMID: 28585471 DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2017.1335327
    Cultural life scripts are shared knowledge about the timing of important life events. In the present study, we examined whether cultural life scripts are transmitted through traditions and whether there are additional ways through which they can be attained by asking Australian and Malaysian participants which information sources they had used to generate the life script of their culture. Participants hardly reported that they had used cultural and religious traditions. They more often reported that they had used their own experiences and experiences of relatives and friends. They also reported the use of comments of relatives and friends and the use of newspapers, books, movies and television programmes. Furthermore, we examined the stability of life scripts and similarities and differences across cultures. We found that life scripts are stable cognitive structures and that there are, besides cross-cultural differences in the content, small cross-cultural differences in the valence and distribution of life script events, with the Australian life script containing more positive events and more events expected to occur before the age of 16.
  4. A Brief Overview of Research into the Forgot-It-All-Along Effect
    Anthony K, Janssen SMJ
    Top Cogn Sci, 2023 Jun 05.
    PMID: 37272657 DOI: 10.1111/tops.12670
    People often have difficulties remembering prior episodes of remembering, a phenomenon known as the forgot-it-all-along (FIA) effect. Although the effect was first discovered among victims of spontaneously recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse, laboratory paradigms of the FIA have shown that difficulties in remembering "remembering" can be elicited when the memory was previously recalled in a different context. Although much attention has been paid to establishing the robustness of the FIA phenomenon, little emphasis has been placed on the cognitive mechanisms underlying the effect. The goal of the present review is, therefore, to organize the literature surrounding the FIA effect and to discuss cognitive mechanisms that may explain the effect: source monitoring errors, the Encoding Specificity principle, and dating inaccuracies. By providing a brief overview of the literature surrounding the FIA phenomenon, this review can serve as a guide for how future studies may approach the FIA effect in the context of recovered memories.
  5. Memory and time: Backward and forward telescoping in Alzheimer's disease
    El Haj M, Janssen SMJ, Antoine P
    Brain Cogn, 2017 10;117:65-72.
    PMID: 28629646 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2017.06.005
    Backward and forward telescoping are opposite timing biases. The former refers to misattributing events to earlier dates, whereas the latter refers to misattributing events to later dates. The present study investigated both biases in participants with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and healthy older adults, matched on age, sex, and education level. Participants were asked to recall the years when five remote and five recent public events had occurred. They were also assessed with a cognitive and clinical battery that included a context memory task on which they had to associate letters and locations. Results showed backward telescoping for recent events and forward telescoping for remote events in AD participants and older adults. Furthermore, poorer context recall was observed in AD participants and older adults displaying backward telescoping than in those displaying forward telescoping. These findings suggest an association between the amount of contextual information recalled and the direction of the timing bias. Backward telescoping can be associated with deficiencies in retrieving context characteristics of events, which have been associated with retrograde amnesia and pathological changes to the hippocampus in AD.
  6. Don't stare, unless you don't want to remember: Maintaining fixation compromises autobiographical memory retrieval
    Lenoble Q, Janssen SMJ, El Haj M
    Memory, 2019 02;27(2):231-238.
    PMID: 30021485 DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2018.1501068
    This study has developed an original approach to the relationship between eye movements and autobiographical memory, by investigating how maintained fixation could influence the characteristics of retrieved memories. We invited participants to retrieve autobiographical memories in two conditions: while fixating a cross at the centre of a screen and while freely exploring the screen. Memories retrieved during the maintained fixation condition were less detailed and contained less visual imagery than those retrieved during the free-gaze condition. Memories retrieved during the maintained fixation condition were retrieved slower and took less time to describe than those retrieved during the free-gaze condition. As for the characteristics of eye movements, analysis showed fewer and longer fixations as well as fewer saccades in the maintained fixation than in the free-gaze condition. Maintaining fixation is likely to tax cognitive resources that are necessary for the reconstruction of autobiographical memory. Our findings demonstrate how maintained fixation may result in a more effortful construction of autobiographical memory and memories with lower spatiotemporal specificity and poorer mental images.
  7. Exploring the temporal dynamics of inhibition of return using steady-state visual evoked potentials
    Lim A, Janssen SMJ, Satel J
    Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci, 2020 12;20(6):1349-1364.
    PMID: 33236297 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-020-00846-w
    Inhibition of return is characterized by delayed responses to previously attended locations when the interval between stimuli is long enough. The present study employed steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) as a measure of attentional modulation to explore the nature and time course of input- and output-based inhibitory cueing mechanisms that each slow response times at previously stimulated locations under different experimental conditions. The neural effects of behavioral inhibition were examined by comparing post-cue SSVEPs between cued and uncued locations measured across two tasks that differed only in the response modality (saccadic or manual response to targets). Grand averages of SSVEP amplitudes for each condition showed a reduction in amplitude at cued locations in the window of 100-500 ms post-cue, revealing an early, short-term decrease in the responses of neurons that can be attributed to sensory adaptation, regardless of response modality. Because primary visual cortex has been found to be one of the major sources of SSVEP signals, the results suggest that the SSVEP modulations observed were caused by input-based inhibition that occurred in V1, or visual areas earlier than V1, as a consequence of reduced visual input activity at previously cued locations. No SSVEP modulations were observed in either response condition late in the cue-target interval, suggesting that neither late input- nor output-based IOR modulates SSVEPs. These findings provide further electrophysiological support for the theory of multiple mechanisms contributing to behavioral cueing effects.
  8. Developments in the functions of autobiographical memory: An advanced review
    Sow F, Dijkstra K, Janssen SMJ
    Wiley Interdiscip Rev Cogn Sci, 2023;14(3):e1625.
    PMID: 36165349 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1625
    In this advanced review, the development of the three most commonly used functions of autobiographical memory-directing behavior, social bonding, and self-continuity-and the support they have received in the literature are discussed. Support for this tripartite model often comes from correlational studies that use self-report measures, but participants in these studies may not be aware that they retrieved autobiographical memories to fulfill certain goals. Not only is more experimental research needed to confirm the findings from correlational studies, this kind of research needs to be more rigorous. Moreover, the functions of the tripartite model may not be the only autobiographical memory functions that can be distinguished. For example, there is already substantial support for the emotion-regulation function. Although memories can be used for multiple functions, patterns between aspects of the event (e.g., emotional valence) or memory (e.g., specificity) and their functionality have been found. In addition, individual differences (e.g., cultural background, depression symptoms) and situational factors (e.g., is there a goal that needs to be fulfilled) may regulate the functional deployment of autobiographical memories. Future research should therefore extend its focus on the conditions in which these functions can be observed. This article is categorized under: Psychology > Memory.
  9. Eye movements of recent and remote autobiographical memories: fewer and longer lasting fixations during the retrieval of childhood memories
    El Haj M, Boutoleau-Bretonnière C, Janssen SMJ
    Psychol Res, 2021 Sep;85(6):2466-2473.
    PMID: 32862309 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-020-01403-3
    There is an increased interest in the study of eye movements during the retrieval of autobiographical memories. Following this trend, the aim of the current study was to evaluate eye movements during the retrieval of remote and recent autobiographical memories. We instructed 71 participants to retrieve memories of personal events from early childhood (6-10 years), late childhood/early adolescence (11-14 years), late adolescence (15-18 years), and the last month. During the retrieval of these memories, participants wore eye-tracking glasses. Analyses showed that early childhood memories triggered fewer fixations and fixations with longer durations than memories from the last month. However, no significant differences were observed for the number of saccades, saccade durations, or total amplitude of the saccades. The fewer and longer lasting fixations during the retrieval of early childhood memories can be attributed either to the visual system reconstructing remote memories from an observer perspective or to difficulties when reconstructing remote memories.
  10. An in-depth review of the methods, findings, and theories associated with odor-evoked autobiographical memory
    Hackländer RPM, Janssen SMJ, Bermeitinger C
    Psychon Bull Rev, 2019 Apr;26(2):401-429.
    PMID: 30406397 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-018-1545-3
    Over the past nearly 35 years, there has been sporadic interest in what has commonly come to be known as the Proust phenomenon, whereby autobiographical memories are retrieved and experienced differently when evoked by odors as compared with other types of cues, such as words, images or sounds. The purpose of this review is threefold. First, we provide a detailed analysis of the methods used to investigate Proust effects. Second, we review and analyze the various findings from the literature and determine what we feel to be the most important and stable findings. Third, we provide a series of previously postulated and new hypotheses that attempt to account for the various findings. Given the early stage of research, the current review aims to provide a measure of organization to the field, as well serve as a guide for how future investigations may address the topic. We conclude with the recommendation that research in this area shift its focus from establishing the phenomenon towards explaining its causes.
  11. Amnesia in your pupils: decreased pupil size during autobiographical retrieval in a case of retrograde amnesia
    El Haj M, Lamy E, Janssen SMJ, Boutoleau-Bretonnière C
    Neurocase, 2021 04;27(2):155-159.
    PMID: 33739239 DOI: 10.1080/13554794.2021.1902539
    We investigate whether retrograde-amnesia can be indexed with pupil activity. We present the case of L, 19-year-old, without neurological or psychiatric disorders except for retrograde-amnesia. We invited L to retrieve retrograde and anterograde memories while his pupil size was monitering with eye-tracking glasses. Results demonstrated impaired retrograde retrieval but successful anterograde retrieval in L. He also attributed lower emotional value and visual imagery to his retrograde compared to his anterograde memories. Critically, smaller pupils were observed during retrograde than during anterograde retrieval. Our study provides the first evidence on the value of pupillometry as a potential physiological marker of amnesia.
  12. Looking at remembering: Eye movements, pupil size, and autobiographical memory
    Janssen SMJ, Foo A, Johnson SN, Lim A, Satel J
    Conscious Cogn, 2021 03;89:103089.
    PMID: 33607423 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2021.103089
    To examine the relationship between visual imagery and autobiographical memory, eye position and pupil size were recorded while participants first searched for memories and then reconstructed the retrieved memories (Experiment 1), or only searched for memories (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, we observed that, although recollective experience was not associated with the number of fixations per minute, memories that took longer to retrieve were linked to increased pupil size. In Experiment 2, we observed that directly retrieved memories were recalled more quickly and were accompanied by smaller pupils than generatively retrieved memories. After correcting for response time, retrieval mode also produced an effect, showing that decreased pupil size is not simply due to directly retrieved memories being recalled more quickly. These findings provide compelling evidence that objective measures, such as pupil size, can be used alongside subjective measures, such as self-reports, to distinguish between directly retrieved and generatively retrieved memories.
  13. Time course of inhibition of return in a spatial cueing paradigm with distractors
    Eng V, Lim A, Janssen SMJ, Satel J
    Acta Psychol (Amst), 2018 Feb;183:51-57.
    PMID: 29328938 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2017.12.011
    Studies of endogenous and exogenous attentional orienting in spatial cueing paradigms have been used to investigate inhibition of return, a behavioral phenomenon characterized by delayed reaction time in response to recently attended locations. When eye movements are suppressed, attention is covertly oriented to central or peripheral stimuli. Overt orienting, on the other hand, requires explicit eye movements to the stimuli. The present study examined the time course of slowed reaction times to previously attended locations when distractors are introduced into overt and covert orienting tasks. In a series of experiments, manual responses were required to targets following central and peripheral cues at three different cue-target intervals, with and without activated oculomotor systems. The results demonstrate that, when eye movements are suppressed, behavioral inhibition is reduced or delayed in magnitude by the presence of a distractor relative to conditions without distractors. However, the time course of behavioral inhibition when eye movements are required remains similar with or without distractors.
  14. Sensory adaptation and inhibition of return: dissociating multiple inhibitory cueing effects
    Lim A, Eng V, Janssen SMJ, Satel J
    Exp Brain Res, 2018 05;236(5):1369-1382.
    PMID: 29520444 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-018-5225-3
    Inhibition of return (IOR) refers to an increase in reaction times to targets that appeared at a previously cued location relative to an uncued location, often investigated using a spatial cueing paradigm. Despite numerous studies that have examined many aspects of IOR, the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying IOR are still in dispute. The objective of the current research is to investigate the plausible mechanisms by manipulating the cue and target types between central and peripheral stimuli in a traditional cue-target paradigm with saccadic responses to targets. In peripheral-cueing conditions, we observed inhibitory cueing effects across all cue-target onset asynchronies (CTOAs) with peripheral targets, but IOR was smaller and arose later with central targets. No inhibition was observed in central-cueing conditions at any CTOAs. Empirical data were simulated using a two-dimensional dynamic neural field model. Our results and simulations support previous work demonstrating that, at short CTOAs, behavioral inhibition is only observed with repeated stimulation-an effect of sensory adaptation. With longer CTOAs, IOR is observed regardless of target type when peripheral cueing is used. Our findings suggest that behaviorally exhibited inhibitory cueing effects can be attributed to multiple mechanisms, including both attenuation of visual stimulation and local inhibition in the superior colliculus.
  15. Fulltext A more featural based processing for the self-face: An eye-tracking study
    Lee JKW, Janssen SMJ, Estudillo AJ
    Conscious Cogn, 2022 Oct;105:103400.
    PMID: 36030615 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2022.103400
    Studies have suggested that the holistic advantage in face perception is not always reported for the own face. With two eye-tracking experiments, we explored the role of holistic and featural processing in the processing and the recognition of self, personally familiar, and unfamiliar faces. Observers were asked to freely explore (Exp.1) and recognize (Exp.2) their own, a friend's, and an unfamiliar face. In Exp.1, self-face was fixated more and longer and there was a preference for the mouth region when seeing the own face and for the nose region when seeing a friend and unfamiliar faces. In Exp.2, the viewing strategies did not differ across all faces, with eye fixations mostly directed to the nose region. These results suggest that task demands might modulate the way that the own face is perceived and highlights the importance of considering the role of the distinct visual experience people have for the own face in the processing and recognition of the self-face.
  16. Exploration of human cognitive universals and human cognitive diversity
    Basnight-Brown D, Janssen SMJ, Thomas AK
    Mem Cognit, 2023 Apr;51(3):505-508.
    PMID: 36859524 DOI: 10.3758/s13421-023-01410-w
    In this editorial, the editors briefly introduce the aims of the Special Issue. If the goal of the scientific field of Cognitive Psychology is to improve our understanding of human cognition, then research needs to be conducted on a much broader slice of humanity than it has mostly been doing. The first aim of this Special Issue was to examine cognitive processes in populations that are different from the typical Western young adult samples often used in previously published studies. Studies in this issue therefore included both non-WEIRD participants as well as WEIRD participants who process information using different sensory experiences (e.g., individuals who are deaf). The second aim was to amplify - where possible - the research of scholars from less well-represented regions. The authors of the studies were affiliated with a diverse range of academic institutes and frequently included partnerships between Western and non-Western investigators.
  17. Replicating remembering "remembering"
    Janssen SMJ, Anthony K, Chang CYM, Choong EL, Neoh JY, Lim A
    Memory, 2020 Dec 31.
    PMID: 33382346 DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2020.1868525
    When examining spontaneously recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse, victims report that there had been periods in which they had forgotten the abuse. However, there are sometimes people with whom the victim had spoken about the abuse during the period in which the victim had supposedly forgotten the abuse, suggesting the victim had not forgotten the abuse but the prior recall of the abuse. The underestimation of previous knowledge is termed the forgot-it-all-along effect. The goal of the present study was replicating the results of a laboratory study that had provided a theoretical understanding for the forgot-it-all-along effect by showing that people have difficulties remembering "remembering" when the memory had previously been recalled in a different context. The effect was replicated by using the same neutral context sentences, suggesting the finding was robust. We also extended the experimental design by using positive and negative context sentences, but it did not become smaller when the positive sentences provided the different context or larger when the negative sentences provided the different context. Although the sample sizes were sufficiently large to provide statistical power for the forgot-it-all-along effect, they may not have been sufficiently large to observe the moderation effects of emotional context.
  18. Fulltext Response Priming with Horizontally and Vertically Moving Primes: A Comparison of German, Malaysian, and Japanese Subjects
    Bermeitinger C, Kalbfleisch L, Schäfer K, Lim A, Goymann H, Reuter L, et al.
    Adv Cogn Psychol, 2020;16(2):131-149.
    PMID: 32665804 DOI: 10.5709/acp-0291-y
    Response priming refers to the finding that a prime preceding a target influences the response to the target. With German subjects, horizontally moving dots as primes, and static arrows as targets, there are typically faster responses to compatible (i.e., prime and target are associated with the same response) as compared to incompatible targets (i.e., positive compatibility effect, PCE) with short stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs). In contrast, with longer SOAs, subjects respond faster to incompatible as compared to compatible targets (i.e., negative compatibility effect, NCE). In the present study, we extended the evidence by adding vertically oriented materials. Furthermore, we tested subjects from Malaysia and Japan, where the vertical orientation is more present in daily life, and compared them to German subjects to investigate whether the amount of experience with one orientation influences the compatibility effects on this orientation. Overall, we found pronounced PCEs in the short SOA (i.e., 150 ms) but only reduced PCEs in the longer SOAs (i.e., 350, 550, and 750 ms) across all countries and orientations. There were no differences between the German and Malaysian samples, but the Japanese sample showed larger PCEs in the longer SOAs compared to both other samples. Furthermore, we found larger PCEs for horizontal than vertical materials in the short SOA and larger PCEs for vertical than horizontal materials in the longer SOAs. We discuss our findings in light of theories and findings on compatibility effects as well as attentional mechanisms.
  19. Stimulus-response incompatibility eliminates inhibitory cueing effects with saccadic but not manual responses
    Eng V, Lim A, Kwon S, Gan SR, Jamaluddin SA, Janssen SMJ, et al.
    Atten Percept Psychophys, 2017 May;79(4):1097-1106.
    PMID: 28229429 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-017-1295-8
    There are thought to be two forms of inhibition of return (IOR) depending on whether the oculomotor system is activated or suppressed. When saccades are allowed, output-based IOR is generated, whereas input-based IOR arises when saccades are prohibited. In a series of 4 experiments, we mixed or blocked compatible and incompatible trials with saccadic or manual responses to investigate whether cueing effects would follow the same pattern as those observed with more traditional peripheral onsets and central arrows. In all experiments, an uninformative cue was displayed, followed by a cue-back stimulus that was either red or green, indicating whether a compatible or incompatible response was required. The results showed that IOR was indeed observed for compatible responses in all tasks, whereas IOR was eliminated for incompatible trials-but only with saccadic responses. These findings indicate that the dissociation between input- and output-based forms of IOR depends on more than just oculomotor activation, providing further support for the existence of an inhibitory cueing effect that is distinct to the manual response modality.
  20. The eyes of the past: larger pupil size for autobiographical memories retrieved from field perspective
    El Haj M, Janssen SMJ, Lenoble Q, Robin F, Gallouj K
    Neurol Sci, 2022 Jan;43(1):661-666.
    PMID: 33959825 DOI: 10.1007/s10072-021-05297-w
    BACKGROUND: Visual perspective during memory retrieval has mainly been evaluated with methodologies based on introspection and subjective reports. The current study investigates whether visual perspective can be evaluated with a physiological measurement: pupil dilation.

    METHODS: While their pupil diameter was measured with an eye-tracker, forty-five participants retrieved one memory from a field perspective (i.e., as viewed through our own eyes) and one memory from an observer perspective (i.e., as viewed from a spectator's standpoint). After retrieval, participants rated the emotional intensity of the memories.

    RESULTS: Analysis demonstrated larger pupils during the retrieval of memories from a field perspective and higher emotional intensity for memories retrieved from a field perspective.

    DISCUSSION: The larger pupils for memories recalled from a field perspective could, however, not be attributed to their higher emotional intensity. These findings suggest that pupil dilation could be used as a physiological assessment of visual perspective during memory retrieval.

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