Date of Award

Spring 2024

Project Type

Dissertation

Program or Major

Psychology

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

First Advisor

Michelle D Leichtman

Second Advisor

David B Pillemer

Third Advisor

Jolie Wormwood

Abstract

This dissertation explores the reminiscence bump phenomenon through an investigation of four theoretical accounts—cognitive, identity formation, cultural life scripts, and life stories. Through a novel combination of the life history timeline method and emotional cueing technique, factors proposed to explain the reminiscence bump—such as novelty, identity-relevance, commonality, and perceived-control of personal event memories—were directly measured across three life periods (Pre-Reminiscence Bump, Reminiscence Bump, Post-Reminiscence Bump). Findings indicate partial support for each account to varying degrees, with the life stories account demonstrating the strongest empirical evidence relative to the other accounts. Most factors were able to differentiate the reminiscence bump from the pre-bump period, while only perceived-control differentiated the bump from the post-bump period; effects were always in the direction of higher values during the bump. These differences were particularly marked for positive emotions like happiness and excitement. A different set of memory qualities emerged as reliable predictors of memory recall and sharing frequencies across three time periods and different emotion categories. These findings underscore the complexity of lifespan memory distribution patterns and suggest the need for further refinement of existing theoretical frameworks to better explain temporal and affective variations in personal memories across the lifespan.

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