CHANGES IN THE SUBJECTIVE PROPERTIES OF AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORIES WITH THE PASSAGE OF TIME

This study was an investigation of how the subjective properties of au tobiographical memories change over time. Over the 25 weeks after Than ksgiving, undergraduates rated the quality of their memories for Thank sgiving dinner on three global scales and six other scales referring t o specific kinds of information (conversations, people, food, and clot hing). Global ratings declined rapidly in the first 12 weeks but showe d little change in the subsequent 12 weeks. The highest ratings and th e least decline were found for information that could be reconstructed from general knowledge of Thanksgivings (food and people present). Ra tings for non-schematic information showed patterns of decline consist ent with previous studies and with humans' ability to discriminate the temporal distances of past events.