Not “weird” but truly different: Cultural life scripts and autobiographical memory in indigenous Australia.

Abstract

This exploratory study examines the structure of cultural life scripts (CLS) and autobiographical memories in a group of 13 non-WEIRD (Western Educated Industrialized Rich Democratic) Nunggubuyu from Australia. Participants provided a CLS and reported the events' expected timing and valence; and their seven most important memories, the age at the events and their valence. The CLS and important memories consisted mainly of positive events happening in early youth, but there was also a notable bump with positive events later in life. Results provide evidence for the important role of grandmothers in the Nunggubuyu culture, as both in the CLSs and in autobiographical memories, many events related to learning about Nunggubuyu culture as a child, and grandmothers teaching the community and especially children. Importantly, the results highlight that societal and cultural structures that differ from those in WEIRD communities may result in differences in CLS and in autobiographical memory recall.

What does cultural research tell us about memory?

“…The topics range from the own-race memory bias in facial recognition (Leffers & Coley, 2021; Marsh, 2021) to false memory in the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm (J. Wang, Otgaar, Santtila, Shen, & Zhou, 2021); from episodic memory specificity (Leger & Gutchess, 2021) to semantic memory for facts (Stanley, Taylor, & Marsh, 2021); from vicarious memories and intergenerational narratives (Chen, Cullen, Fivush, Wang, & Reese, 2021) to the functions (Wasti, Aydin, Altunsu, & Beyhan, 2021), characteristics (Alea, Ali, & Ali, 2021), and lifespan retrieval of autobiographical memory (Bohn & Bundgaard-Nielsen, 2021); and from collaborative remembering in group settings (Pepe, Wang, & Rajaram, 2021) to living historical memory (Liu et al, 2021) and collective memory (Choi, Abel, Siqi-Liu, & Umanath, 2021). Together, the studies show that human mnemonic processes, including those closely tied to neurocognitive functioning, are deeply conditioned by the cultural experiences of the rememberers.…”

“…Individuals’ beliefs further interact with cultural expectations in shaping how people remember their personal experiences (Alea et al, 2021). Cultural life scripts (Berntsen & Rubin, 2004), shaped by the social ecology of a community (e.g., the important role of grandmothers in childrearing), influence the distribution of autobiographical memories across the lifespan (Bohn & Bundgaard-Nielsen, 2021). Furthermore, the cultural dynamics of a group setting influences memory performance (Pepe et al, 2021), and the relation between collective memory and national identity is complex and influenced by cultural and societal factors (Choi et al, 2021; Liu et al, 2021).…”

“…At the level of the individual, where researchers measure “cultural elements” and cultural identification in individuals, internalized cultural values and beliefs are associated with the characteristics and functions of autobiographical memory (Alea et al, 2021; Wasti et al, 2021). At the dyadic level, socialization agents play important roles in cultural learning and cultural transmission, such that memories for parents’ experiences are linked to adolescents’ well-being across cultures (Chen et al, 2021), and grandmothers’ active involvement in community and family lives shapes the structure of cultural life scrips and autobiographical memories (Bohn & Bundgaard-Nielsen, 2021). At the group level, racial essentialism goes hand-in-hand with bias in facial recognition memory (Leffers & Coley, 2021), memory accessibility and accuracy reflect distinct cultural values and perceptual styles (Leger & Gutchess, 2021; J.…”

“…Finally, at the temporal level, given culture being an ever-changing system of meaning (Greenfield, 2018; Varnum & Grossmann, 2017), a historical perspective is essential for understanding the influence of culture on memory. Several studies in the special issue consider societal, historical, and economic factors that transform the values and practices of cultural communities, which further influence what and how people remember in a manner specific to a historical moment in time and place (Alea et al, 2021; Bohn & Bundgaard-Nielsen, 2021; Choi et al, 2021; Liu et al, 2021).…”

“…narratives (Chen, Cullen, Fivush, Wang, & Reese, 2021) to the functions (Wasti, Aydin, Altunsu, & Beyhan, 2021), characteristics (Alea, Ali, & Ali, 2021), and lifespan retrieval of autobiographical memory (Bohn & Bundgaard-Nielsen, 2021); and from collaborative remembering in group settings (Pepe, Wang, & Rajaram, 2021) to living historical memory (Liu et al, 2021) and collective memory (Choi, Abel, Siqi-Liu, & Umanath, 2021). Together, the studies show that human mnemonic processes, including those closely tied to neurocognitive functioning, are deeply conditioned by the cultural experiences of the rememberers.…”