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      What characterizes the reminiscence bump in autobiographical memory? New answers to an old question.

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          Abstract

          The reminiscence bump represents one of the most robust findings in autobiographical memory research. As such, it has led to a number of different explanatory accounts that aim to elucidate it. Because most of these accounts have received some empirical support, it has been assumed that they may equally contribute to the explanation of the reminiscence bump phenomenon. In the present study, we used a multilevel multinomial mixed-effects model to examine the predictive power of explanatory variables selected from different accounts simultaneously. Analyses were based on 2,813 autobiographical memories that 97 older adults aged between 60 and 88 years reported in response to 31 cue words. Overall, the predictor variables (i.e., first-time experience, importance and emotional valence) meaningfully distinguished memories from the reminiscence bump from memories from life periods before and after. These effects, however, did not always go into the hypothesized directions. In addition, results of a Commonality Analysis indicated that although the explanatory accounts considered in the present study draw on qualities of autobiographical memories (within-person effects), they might be more useful in explaining why individuals differ in the number of autobiographical memories reported from the reminiscence bump period (between-person effects). Taken together, our findings are in line with a more integrative view on the reminiscence bump that, additionally, emphasizes the individual (e.g., the life-story account).

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          Author and article information

          Journal
          Mem Cognit
          Memory & cognition
          Springer Science and Business Media LLC
          1532-5946
          0090-502X
          May 2020
          : 48
          : 4
          Affiliations
          [1 ] Developmental Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Albert-Einstein-Allee 47, 89081, Ulm, Germany. tabea.wolf@uni-ulm.de.
          [2 ] Developmental Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Albert-Einstein-Allee 47, 89081, Ulm, Germany.
          Article
          10.3758/s13421-019-00994-6
          10.3758/s13421-019-00994-6
          31981114
          25153b71-290d-4f5d-a3a5-a260ca20ad77
          History

          Autobiographical memory,Reminiscence bump,Life-story account,Multilevel multinomial model

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