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How thinking about what could have been affects how we feel about what was
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 13:22 authored by Felipe De Brigard, Eleanor Hanna, Peggy St Jacques, Daniel L SchacterEpisodic counterfactual thoughts (CFT) and autobiographical memories (AM) involve the reactivation and recombination of episodic memory components into mental simulations. Upon reactivation, memories become labile and prone to modification. Thus, reactivating AM in the context of mentally generating CFT may provide an opportunity for editing processes to modify the content of the original memory. To examine this idea, this paper reports the results of two studies that investigated the effect of reactivating negative and positive AM in the context of either imagining a better (i.e., upward CFT) or a worse (i.e., downward CFT) alternative to an experienced event, as opposed to attentively retrieving the memory without mental modification (i.e., remembering) or no reactivation. Our results suggest that attentive remembering was the best strategy to both reduce the negative affect associated with negative AM, and to prevent the decay of positive affect associated with positive AM. In addition, reactivating positive, but not negative, AM with or without CFT modification reduces the perceived arousal of the original memory over time. Finally, reactivating negative AM in a downward CFT or an attentive remembering condition increases the perceived detail of the original memory over time.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Accepted version
Journal
Cognition and EmotionISSN
0269-9931Publisher
Taylor & FrancisExternal DOI
Issue
4Volume
33Page range
646-659Department affiliated with
- Psychology Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2018-05-18First Open Access (FOA) Date
2019-06-01First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2018-05-17Usage metrics
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