Third-person perspectives in photographs influence visual and spatial perspectives during subsequent memory retrieval

The influence of shifts in visual perspective on emotion in event memories: A meta-analytical review

Memories for events can be remembered from an own-eyes perspective, which mimics the original experience by visualizing the event through our own eyes, or from an observer-like perspective, such that we can visualize ourselves and our surroundings in the memory. Shifting across these two visual perspectives during retrieval influences how the emotional aspects of the events are recalled, although the effect differs based on the direction of shifting. While shifting from an own-eyes to an observer-like perspective reduces emotion, shifting from an observer-like to an own-eyes perspective does not. The current meta-analysis aimed to quantify this asymmetrical pattern of shifting perspectives on emotion in event memories. A multilevel model of 12 publications with 49 individual effects revealed a small effect (Hedges's g = -.255, 95% CI [-.359, -.151]), reflecting a reduction in emotion when shifting to a novel visual perspective compared with the initial viewpoint adopted. Moderator analyses revealed that this effect was significant when shifting from an own-eyes to an observer-like perspective but not when shifting in the reverse direction. This asymmetrical pattern was associated with differences in the subjective vividness between initial and shifted conditions. Together, these results reveal that shifting perspective is a powerful way to reduce the emotions elicited in event memories by reshaping event characteristics. However, there are also limits in the effectiveness of this strategy in regulating emotional experiences.

Update on "Emotion and autobiographical memory": 14 years of advances in understanding functions, constructions, and consequences

Holland and Kensinger (2010) reviewed the literature on "Emotion and autobiographical memory." They focused on two broad ways that emotions influence memory: (1) emotion during an event influences how the event is remembered, and (2) emotion and emotional goals during memory retrieval influence how past events are remembered. We begin by providing a brief update on the key points from that review. Holland and Kensinger (2010) also had noted a number of important avenues for future work. Here, we describe what has been learned about the functions of autobiographical memory and their reconstructive nature. Relatedly, we review more recent research on memory reconstruction in the context of visual perspective shifts, counterfactual thinking, nostalgia, and morality. This research has emphasized the reciprocal nature of the interactions between emotion and autobiographical memory: Not only do emotions influence memory, memories influence emotions. Next, we discuss advances that have been made in understanding the reciprocal relations between stress, mood, and autobiographical memory. Finally, we discuss the research that is situating emotional autobiographical memories within a social framework, providing a bedrock for collective memories. Despite the many advances of the past 14 years, many open questions remain; throughout the review we note domains in which we hope to see advances over the next decades.

Individuals who rarely adopt observer perspectives report richer scene-based autobiographical memories

For most people, the capacity to adopt alternative visual perspectives when remembering emerges spontaneously due to the reconstructive nature of memories. Particularly as memories become more remote and are vulnerable to distortions, there is a shift in the perspective of memories from own eyes to observer-like views. Yet not all individuals report adopting novel perspectives in memories. The current study examines how self-reported differences in adopting an observer-like perspective influences autobiographical memory retrieval. Participants who reported rarely adopting an observer-like perspective had a diminished shift in perspective with memory remoteness and reported richer scene-related aspects of remembering. Additionally, the reduced tendency to use observer-like perspectives during autobiographical memory retrieval was linked to more accurate spatial visualization on a standardized objective test. Together these findings offer insights into individual differences in the malleability of memories, and the central role that maintaining our original perspective plays in preserving the personal past.

Fade In, Fade Out: Do Shifts in Visual Perspective Predict the Consistency of Real-World Memories?

Memories of our personal past are not exact accounts of what occurred. Instead, memory reconstructs the past in adaptive-though not always faithful-ways. Using a naturalistic design, we asked how the visual perspective adopted in the mind's eye when recalling the past-namely, an "own eyes" versus "observer" perspective-relates to the stability of autobiographical memories. We hypothesized that changes in visual perspective over time would predict poorer consistency of memories. Young adults (N = 178) rated the phenomenology of and freely recalled self-selected memories of everyday events at two time points (10 weeks apart). Multilevel linear modeling revealed, as expected, that greater shifts in visual perspective over time predicted lower memory consistency, particularly for emotional details. Our results offer insight into the factors that predict the fidelity of memories for everyday events. Moreover, our results may elucidate new metrics that are useful in interpreting eyewitness testimony or experiences relayed in clinical contexts.

How shifting visual perspective during autobiographical memory retrieval influences emotion: A change in retrieval orientation

Visual perspective during autobiographical memory (AM) retrieval influences how people remember the emotional aspects of memories. Prior research in emotion regulation has also shown that shifting from an own eyes to an observer-like perspective is an efficient way of regulating the affect elicited by emotional AMs. However, the impact of shifting visual perspective is also dependent on the nature of the emotion associated with the event. The current review synthesizes behavioral and functional neuroimaging findings from the event memory and emotion regulation literature that examine how adopting particular visual perspectives and actively shifting across them during retrieval alters emotional experience, by primarily focusing on emotional intensity. We review current theories explaining why shifts in perspectives may or may not change the emotional characteristics of memories, then propose a new theory, suggesting that the own eyes and observer-like perspectives are two different retrieval orientations supported by differential neural activations that lead episodic details to be reconstructed in specific ways.

Jacques PL. The influence of shifting perspective on episodic and semantic details during autobiographical memory recall

Shifting to a novel visual perspective during retrieval influences autobiographical memories (AM) and can lead to persistent changes in memories. Adopting an observer-like compared to an own eyes perspective reduces episodic information during AM recall, but less is known regarding how viewpoint influences semantic information. In the current study, we investigated how shifting from an own eyes to an observer-like perspective during narrative recall of AMs influences episodic and semantic information. Shifting perspective reduced the number of episodic details associated with emotions and thoughts, and also led to similar reductions in personal semantics. We replicated prior research showing that shifting perspective reduces emotional intensity in subsequent memories, but these subjective changes were not coupled with objective changes in a narrative recall. Our findings suggest that shifting perspective influences the interplay between episodic and semantic information during proximate recall and subjective changes when memories are later recalled.