Graduation Year
2016
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
M.A.
Degree Name
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Degree Granting Department
Psychology
Major Professor
Jonathan Rottenberg, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Chad Dube, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Edelyn Verona, Ph.D.
Keywords
Affect regulation, cognition, mindfulness, retrieval, memory accuracy
Abstract
The recall of positive autobiographical memories is an effective strategy for improving negative mood among healthy persons, yet individuals with a history of depression often fail to derive emotional benefits. Depressed and depression-vulnerable individuals also exhibit deficits in their autobiographical memory characteristics. Scholars have implicated deficits during autobiographical memory retrieval as a cause of mood repair and memory impairments, however the role of memory encoding has largely been overlooked. The current study manipulated encoding style to examine subsequent effects on mood repair efficacy, memory characteristics, and memory accuracy. Fifty-five formerly depressed and 68 never-depressed participants were assigned to employ either a concrete or natural encoding style while engaging in a positive event staged in the laboratory. After a negative mood induction, participants were given the opportunity to improve their moods by recalling details of the positive event. Results failed to support the hypothesized interaction of depression status and encoding style. Interpretations of the null findings are provided and implications of the study are discussed.
Scholar Commons Citation
Begovic, Ena, "Encoding Style of Positive Autobiographical Memories: Relationship to Mood Repair, Memory Functioning, and Depression" (2016). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/6464
