Moral development and reconstructive memory: Recalling a decision to terminate an unplanned pregnancy.

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between cognitive development, as measured by changes in Kohlberg's moral development schema, and long-term reconstructive memory in adolescent and adult women. The hypothesis that the past is reconstructed to conform with current developmental stages was examined, and the results indicated that (a) when developmental gains were made over a 1-year interval, women used a higher stage perspective to reconstruct the decision making involved in resolving a problematic pregnancy and, hence, reconstructed the events in different terms than were originally presented; (b) when developmental gains were not made over a 1 -year interval, women reconstructed the events in the same terms as originally presented. Further analysis of the data indicated that those subjects who made developmental gains also referred to a phenomenon of "memory loss." These results support the hypothesis that memory is reconstructive rather than reproductive.This study explores the relationship between structural development in adolescence and adulthood and long-term autobiographical memory. Two schools of thought-the Ebbinghaus tradition and the Bartlett approach (Baddeley, 1976)-describe the ways that past events are remembered. The first assumes that memory is reproductive. Here the intervention of a code for processing an event being committed to memory is assumed. The qualities of the coding process, as seen by researchers in this tradition, are probably best understood by using the metaphor of photography: The person is likened to a video camera that faithfully, but unselectively, commits the passing scene to memory. The person, like the camera, is not seen as changing his or her nature and capacityThe authors would like to thank Dan Wagner, who served as a guide to the memory literature, Dana Jack for her inspiration and help in the formulation of this article, Anita Lancia for her editorial expertise and guidance, Clark Power, who scored and coded the responses to the Kohlberg dilemmas, and Peter Salovey for his guidance and work in editing this manuscript and for his knowledge in the field of social cognition and behavior.

Making a "major" real-life decision: College students choosing an academic major.

“…These results replicate those of a previous study (Galotti, 1995b) of high school students choosing a college. They lend further support to the idea that one's recall is filtered through one's current cognitive framework, supporting the assertions of Ross (1989), andBlackburne-Stover et al (1982). These results show that filtered recall applies not only to narratively structured, autobiographical memories (Bonhannon, 1988;Pillemer, Goldsmith, Panter, & White, 1988;Robinson & Swanson, 1990) but also to memories for specific pieces of personal, self-generated information as well.…”

“…Their recall of criteria was affected by their current view of the criteria that they should have used. This result, that a person's current cognitive framework affects memory, has been widely reported (e.g., Blackburne-Stover, Belenky, & Gilligan, 1982;Dellarosa & Bourne, 1984;Ross, 1989). Svenson, Rayo, Andersen, Sandberg, and Svahlin (1994) argue for a process that they call postdecision consolidation, in which a decision maker may (among other things) distort his or her memory of both the chosen and the nonchosen options.…”

Emotion and autobiographical memory

“…The occurrence of vivid memories is not limited to the domain of public events, either; individuals can retain vivid memories of personal events as well (e.g., Blackburne-Stover, Belenky, & Gilligan, 1982; Pillemer, Koff, Rhinehart, & Rierdan, 1987; Pillemer et al, 1988; Rubin & Kozin, 1984; Yuille & Cutshall, 1986). For instance, individuals vividly recall injuries that they sustained (Peterson & Bell, 1996; Peterson & Whalen, 2001).…”

Autobiographical memory: The next phase

“…Just how much of this topic should be included within the domain of autobiographical memory is a fuzzy problem. However, studies of perceived change in academic skills and performance (Ross, 1989) and of conflictful decisions such as to have an abortion (Blackburne-Stover, Belenky, and Gilligan, 1982) are clearly relevant. Both show that past perceptions and beliefs are reconstructed from the perspective of current beliefs.…”