Why do we have autobiographical memory and how is it useful? Researchers have proposed a directive function; our experiences guide our behavior, particularly when faced with an open-ended problem. Two experiments (one between-participant and one mixed design) were therefore conducted to test whether success autobiographical memories - any experience when the participant felt successful and competent - are helpful for generating solutions to problem scenarios. One research aim was to experimentally test the directive function as current experimental evidence is limited and results are mixed. Consequently, it is unclear if and how autobiographical memory is helpful for open-ended problem solving. Another aim was to test whether self-efficacy is an important factor that supports open-ended problem solving and thus the directive function. Although success memories enhanced self-ratings of self-efficacy across both experiments, in samples of undergraduate students there was no experimental effect of success autobiographical memories on problem solving. Instead, some participants across the memory and control conditions in both experiments, even when not instructed, recalled autobiographical memories related to the problem scenarios presented in the problem-solving task, and these participants did better at problem solving than those who did not. This may hint to a directive function and is perhaps one reason why there is no experimental effect. Sample and experimental design differences are discussed as potential factors that may contribute to non-significant effects in this study but significant effects in others. Our results highlight the complexity of the directive function, and the difficulty of experimentally testing how autobiographical memory directs behavior.

Although research findings show that the personal memories of people who are depressed are characterized by sparse episodic detail, under some circumstances, the opposite pattern emerges. Specifically, a recent study (Salmon et al., 2021) has shown that for community youth, greater episodic detail in a highly self-relevant narrative (a life turning point) predicted increased depressive symptoms concurrently and one year later. In a new longitudinal study of young people (N = 320 at Time 1, M = 16.9 years; 81% female) followed up over six months, we aimed to replicate and extend this finding. In Study A, we compared the turning point with a narrative about a conflict event, to establish whether the detail in a turning point memory uniquely predicted depressive symptoms. Supporting the first hypothesis, at both time-points, greater episodic detail was concurrently positively associated with depressive symptoms for turning point narratives only. Contrary to our second hypothesis, greater detail did not predict increased depressive symptoms longitudinally. The reverse pattern was significant, however, in that greater initial depressive symptoms predicted greater detail uniquely in the turning point narrative six months later. In Study B, we determined that the concurrent association between episodic detail and depressive symptoms in turning points (but not conflict events) was exacerbated by linguistic markers of self-focus (greater I-talk and lower distancing language). These findings suggest that greater detail in a turning point narrative may uniquely signify risk of psychological distress when youth narrate the experience with heightened self-focus.

This pre-registered online study aimed to measure the effect of environmental support on age-differences in autobiographical memory alongside memory for images. Young and older adults reported autobiographical memories about which they regularly thought (high environmental support through practice) or that were experimentally cued to be mundane (low environmental support). The support manipulation was also applied to descriptions of images that were produced whilst images remained on screen (high support) or produced from memory (low support). In line with existing theory, support disproportionately benefitted older adults in the quantity of information produced. However, analysis of the autobiographical descriptions showed no age deficit in reporting episodic detail, in contrast to much of the existing literature. A second group of young and older adults also evaluated the descriptions produced, and older adults\' descriptions were consistently rated as higher quality than young adults\' descriptions across several dimensions, such as vividness and clarity. An unplanned meta-analysis was conducted to assess if a publication bias existed in the literature favoring the reporting of age-deficits in producing episodic detail in autobiographical memory: there was no evidence for a bias and the modal result of age deficits was generally supported. A key distinction is that the current study was conducted online - evidence is presented to argue that older adults may perform better at autobiographical memory tasks outside the lab.

This investigation examined conflicting suggestions regarding the association between problems retrieving specific autobiographical memories and the tendency to retrieve the details of these memories. We also examined whether these tendencies are differentially related to depression symptoms. U.S., Belgian, Hong Kong and Japanese participants retrieved memories related to cue words. Responses were coded for if they referred to a specific event (i.e., an event lasting less than 24 h) and their details (What? Where? Who?). Across sites, and in meta-analyses, the retrieval of more specific memories was associated with retrieval of more details. Memories that were specific included more detail than non-specific memories. Across sites, retrieval of more specific memories and more detail was associated with less severe depression symptoms. Episodic specificity and detailedness are related but separable constructs. Future investigations of autobiographical memory specificity, and methods for alleviating problematic specificity, should consider measures of episodic detailedness.

Episodic future thinking (EFT) refers to the mental simulation of future events that might be personally-experienced; a crucial mental process in adaptation. Psychiatric disorders are associated with deficits in recalling episodic memory, however, no study has reviewed the empirical literature to assess for similar deficits in EFT. A systematic review comparing psychiatric groups with control groups on the specificity and episodic detail of EFT returned 19 eligible studies. An overall effect of g = -0.84 (95%CI = -1.06, - 0.62, p < .001) indicated individuals with a psychiatric diagnosis have significantly less specific and detailed EFT. Publication bias was not detected, but heterogeneity was. No methodological characteristics were significant moderators. Subgroup analyses showed significant effects for depression (g = -0.79, p < .001, k = 7), bipolar disorder (g = -1.00, p < .001, k = 2), and schizophrenia (g = -1.06, p < .001, k = 6), but not posttraumatic stress disorder (g = -1.04, p = .260, k = 2) or complicated grief (g = -0.41, p = .08, k = 2). Deficits in EFT are apparent in some psychiatric disorders. However, many clinical groups are understudied, and the causal mechanisms and remediation of these deficits require further research attention.