The survey of autobiographical memory (SAM): A novel measure of trait mnemonics in everyday life
Palombo, D. J., Williams, L. J., Abdi, H., & Levine, B. (2013). The survey of autobiographical memory (sam): a novel measure of trait mnemonics in everyday life. Cortex, 49(6), 1526–1540. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2012.08.023
Abstract
A new measure called the Survey of Autobiographical Memory (SAM) measures self-reported memory function in everyday life. SAM includes questions about autobiographical, semantic, spatial, and future memory. It helps researchers understand how memory abilities differ among individuals and how they relate to other factors like personality, mental health, and brain function. SAM can be a useful tool to study memory in a naturalistic context.
Authors
- Daniela J. Palombo3
- Lynne J. Williams1
- Hervé Abdi1
- Brian Levine5
Overview/Introduction
A new tool, the Survey of Autobiographical Memory (SAM), has been developed to measure how people perceive their memory functions in daily life. This survey focuses on different types of memory, including autobiographical, semantic, spatial, and future memory. The SAM aims to help researchers understand individual differences in memory abilities and their connections to personality, mental health, and brain function. By using the SAM, researchers can study memory in a more natural context, outside of laboratory settings.
Methodology
The SAM was tested on a large group of participants to ensure its reliability and validity. Researchers used a statistical method called Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) to analyze the data. This method is particularly useful for handling data from surveys like the SAM, which use scales where responses have a rank order but not equal intervals. The analysis identified key dimensions of memory ability and assessed the survey's validity by comparing it to other memory tests and factors like depression and sex differences.
Key Findings
- Four Key Dimensions: The analysis revealed four main dimensions of memory ability. The first two dimensions represented general memory abilities, while the third and fourth focused on spatial and future memory abilities, respectively.
- Depression and Memory: People with a history of depression scored lower on certain memory dimensions, particularly those involving episodic autobiographical memory.
- Sex Differences: Men and women showed differences in memory dimensions, with men scoring higher on spatial memory tasks.
- Memory and Recognition: The SAM's results correlated with laboratory tests of memory, particularly in recognizing scenes and objects, supporting its validity.
Implications
The SAM provides a new way to study memory in everyday life, offering insights into how memory abilities vary among individuals and relate to other aspects of life, such as mental health and gender differences. This tool can be particularly useful for large-scale studies and in understanding how different factors influence memory.
Limitations
While the SAM is a promising tool, it relies on self-reported data, which can be subject to biases. The findings are based on healthy adults, and further research is needed to confirm these results in diverse populations. Additionally, the effect sizes observed were modest, which may be due to genuine differences in memory constructs or measurement errors inherent in self-reporting.
In summary, the SAM is a valuable new tool for exploring memory in real-world settings, with potential applications in research on mental health, cognitive differences, and more.