SOCIAL MEMORY IN EVERYDAY LIFE - RECALL OF SELF-EVENTS AND OTHER-EVENTS

A self- and other-diary method was used to investigate the factors affecting memory for different aspects of real-world events. Ss kept a diary of unique events that happened to them during the course of an academic quarter and kept a 2nd diary of unique events that had happened to a close relative or acquaintance. At the end of the quarter, Ss provided both memory and date estimates for all events. When each diary entry was made, Ss provided ratings of the event's memorability, pleasantness, and person typicality. The impact of (a) these prerating factors, (b) the type of diary (self or other), and (c) the gender of the diary keeper on both memory for event content and memory for temporal aspects of the event was assessed. Implications for real-world memory and dating judgments and implications for the principles of social memory that have emerged from laboratory research in social cognition are discussed.