No abstract

Recent research suggests that remembering with a long-term partner may scaffold successful memory. To test whether collaboration reduces the episodic deficit shown by older adults, we created a social version of Addis, Musicaro, Pan, and Schacter's (2010) episodic memory paradigm. As predicted, in Experiment 1 20 long-married, older adult couples generated more "internal" -on topic, episodic -details when they remembered together versus alone, but the same amount of "external" -off-topic, semantic -details. In Experiment 2 this memory benefit did not extend to 20 young adult couples who generated high levels of internal details together or alone. Notably, however, young adults' self-reported relationship intimacy was related to their episodic recall across conditions. We discuss these findings in terms of possible benefits of collaboration in the face of ageing and cognitive decline as well as the development over time of "transactive memory systems" in intimate relationships.

In 2 experiments, the authors created a hypnotic analogue of delusions of misidentification and explored their impact on autobiographical memory. In Experiment 1, to establish the paradigm, high and low hypnotizable participants were given a suggestion to become someone similar or dissimilar to themselves. In Experiment 2, to further test the paradigm and to examine autobiographical remembering, highs were given a suggestion to become a same-sex sibling, administered 2 challenges to the temporary delusion, and asked to generate autobiographical memories. For high hypnotizable participants, the suggested delusions of misidentification were compelling and resistant to challenge. During these temporary delusions, participants generated specific autobiographical memories that reflected previously experienced events viewed from the perspective of the suggested identity. These findings highlight the instrumental value of hypnosis to the investigation and understanding of delusions and autobiographical memory.

These results suggest that hypnotic suggestion can recreate the mirrored-self misidentification delusion from its component factors. Notably, the hypnotic context, itself known to disrupt belief evaluation, can act as Factor 2.