Multiple and interacting contextual (culture, life phase) and person-specific predictors (i.e., personality, tendency to think-talk about the past) of the functions of autobiographical memory were examined using the Thinking about Life Experiences scale. American (N = 174) and Trinidadian (N = 182) young and older adults self-reported how frequently they remembered the personal past to serve self, social, and directive functions, how often they thought and talked about their past overall, and completed a measure of trait personality. Independent contextual and person-specific predictors were found for using memory to serve a social-bonding function: Americans, young adults, those higher in extraversion, lower in conscientiousness, and individuals who frequently think and talk about the past more often use autobiographical memory for social-bonding. Across cultures, younger adults report more frequently using memory to serve all three functions, whereas Trinidadians who think more often about the past compared with those who reflect less often, are more likely to use it for self and directive functions. Findings are discussed in terms of the individual’s embeddedness in cultural and life phase contexts when remembering.

The study examined the life-script account for a reminiscence bump in a Trinidadian sample (N = 100; range: 31-59 years old). The cue-word technique elicited memories, and events (n = 809) were content-coded as life scripted (e.g., marriage), considering normative ages from a preliminary study, unusual (e.g., traumatic events), or ordinary (e.g., a day at the beach). Two reminiscence bumps were found: one between 6 and 15 years old and another in the mid-twenties, for both positive and negative events. The early bump was comprised mostly of ordinary events, regardless of participant's age. The second bump period was mostly unusual events, regardless of valence, although people ≥40 years old were producing this bump for negative life events. Life-scripted events were found only in the early negative reminiscence bump. The discussion focuses on other theoretical interpretations for the findings (e.g., life-story account), methodological considerations for future work, and cultural considerations.

The quality of functional autobiographical memories was examined in young, middle-aged, and older adult Trinidadians ( N = 245). Participants wrote about an event that served a self, social, and directive function, and reported on the memory’s quality (e.g., significance, vividness, valence, etc.). Across age groups, directive memories were the most negative, and social function memories were the most positive. Social function memories were also talked about most. Compared to younger adults, older adults’ functional memories, regardless of the type of function, were positive and talked about often, and middle-aged adults’ memories were significant and vivid. The discussion encourages researchers to continue to simultaneously consider both why humans remember so much of their life, and what they remember when doing so.

Individual-level values play a role in cultural group differences in autobiographical memory. The current study (N = 192) used a Caribbean sample to examine whether individual-level values (self-transcendence, self-enhancement, conservation) were a mediator or moderator of ethnic group differences (Afro-, Indo-, and Mixed-Trinidadian) in the characteristics (emotional intensity, vividness, thinking and talking about the memory) of positive autobiographical memories. Values were not a mediator, but were a moderator. At high levels of conservation or self-transcendence values, Indo-Trinidadians had autobiographical memories that were more emotionally intense, vivid, and thought and talked about compared to Afro-Trinidadians. Mixed-Trinidadians had autobiographical memories that were more emotionally intense than the other ethnic groups, in general, and more often talked about when self-enhancement values were low. The discussion proposes that the alignment of individual-level values with cultural-group expectations matters for autobiographical remembering, suggests that sociohistorical circumstance may play a role, and addresses the study limitations.

Objective: This paper examined the psychometric properties of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ; Gross and John 2003) in an adult lifespan Trinidadian sample. Validity and reliability of the ERQ has been established in predominantly, White, European, developed countries, but never in a Caribbean under-developed country, like Trinidad.Method: One hundred and ninety-one participants, aged 18 to 81 years-old, were recruited from university and community settings. As part of a larger study, participants filled out a demographics questionnaire, followed by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), the ERQ, and the Big Five Inventory (BFI), which assess affective responding, emotion regulation, and personality, respectively.Results: Confirmatory factor analysis was used and the two-factor structure of the ERQ was replicated (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression were the two subscales). The measure was reliable. Age, gender, personality, and affective responding were used to determine concurrent and discriminant validity. Age was the only variable that did not follow expected patterns. Older adults used suppression more often than expected. Conclusion:The ERQ was determined to be a valid and reliable measure of emotion regulation for Trinidadians. However, sociohistorical circumstances may need to be considered when using the ERQ in Trinidad where suppression may be an adaptive emotion regulation strategy.