Tekrarlanan olaylar ve otobiyografik bellek

Repeated events were suggested to produce a general memory without specific descriptions. However, one event cannot occur in exactly the same way for a second time. Thus, every instance of repeated events will include specific details. The aim of this study was to understand whether or not instances of a repeated event were remembered with details. In this study, the differences in memory details between five instances of a repeated event were examined. The sample of the present study comprised of 91 adults, between 19 and 57 years old (Mage= 27.2, SD= 8.6; 31 male). Vacation memories were used as the repeated event. Participants were asked to provide their memories from their vacations in the following order: last vacation, first vacation, random vacation, distinct vacation and typical vacation. They were also asked to provide a memory which is unrelated to the vacation memories. After that, they completed a memory questionnaire for all of these memories. Multivariate analysis of variance showed that the distinct instance is not remembered with script-like details, whereas, other instances include significantly more script-like details. Furthermore, the distinct instance and the first instance were remembered with less memory details in comparison to other instances. Planned contrasts revealed that repeated events are less important, less vivid and less detailed in comparison to the control event. Theoretical implications of the findings were discussed.