SEEING THE SILVER LININGS: AGE-RELATED SHIFTS IN THE RELATION BETWEEN MEMORY POSITIVITY AND DETAIL RETRIEVAL

Abstract

Recent research suggests that age is associated with an ability to view past events as more positive than were initial experienced, potentially due to an increased focus on the silver linings of otherwise highly negative events. In the current study, we examined how focusing on the silver linings during retrieval relates to the subjective vividness of the retrieval experience. Participants (57, ages 18–87) were presented with images related to the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombings and were asked to retrieve a memory associated with each image. In one condition, images were selected to evoke a complex emotional response, where individuals reported some negative emotions (i.e., fear, destruction, sadness) as well as some positive emotions (i.e., hope, resilience, support). Participants reported the positive and negative emotion associated with both the image and the memory, as well as degree of memory detail. Consistent with prior studies, ratings of negative memory valence were associated with greater detail across all ages. Ratings of positive memory valence interacted with age, where young adults who reported memories with more positive elements also reported greater memory detail, but more positive older adults reported less memory detail. This negative correlation in older adults may reflect a reallocation of limited cognitive resources away from detail search functions toward emotion regulation. Future work will examine whether emotional positivity and detail retrieval rely on similar neural networks during autobiographical memory retrieval and, if so, whether older adults may be able to switch between the two functions across trials.