The Influence of Visual Perspective on the Emotional Aspects of Autobiographical Memories

• Author / Creator

  Kucuktas, Selen

• Remembering autobiographical memories (AMs) entails the visualization of events from a particular visual perspective. Own eyes perspectives, in which one visualizes the event through their own eyes, are associated with higher emotionality compared to observer-like perspectives, in which one visualizes the event by adopting an observer perspective as they could see themselves and their surroundings. Moreover, during AM retrieval, people can shift across these two visual perspectives. The current thesis focuses on the impact of visual perspectives during AM retrieval on the emotional aspects of events. Following a general literature review overviewing behavioral and functional neuroimaging studies focusing on the impact of visual perspective on emotion (Chapter 1), I conducted three studies investigating the role of visual perspective on AM retrieval. Chapter 2 reports a comprehensive meta-analysis that quantifies the impact of shifts in visual perspective on emotion and analyzes the moderators contributing to this effect. The results showed that shifting from an own eyes to an observer-like perspective decreased emotion, which was related to the reductions in the vividness of visual imagery. However, shifting in the reverse direction was ineffective in modifying emotional experiences. Chapter 2 also showed that the visibility of the self in an observer-like perspective determined the impact of the shifts in visual perspective on emotion, such that emotion decreased to a greater degree if the self was not visible when the rememberer visualized the event from an observer-like perspective. Chapter 3 investigates the impact of the shifts in visual perspective with an experimental paradigm in which maintaining the initial perspective was compared with shifting to an alternative visual perspective during retrieval. The results demonstrated that shifting visual perspectives –irrespective of shifting from an own eyes to an observer or vice versa- decreased vividness, reflecting that updating the initial perspective of an event with an alternative one reshapes AMs. Chapter 3 also showed that decreases in vividness predicted the reduction in emotional intensity while shifting from an observer-like to an own eyes perspective, but there was no relationship when shifting in the opposite direction or maintaining the initial perspective, highlighting the role of targeting AMs initially recalled from an observer-like perspectives. Finally, Chapter 4 examines whether visual perspective is a distinct retrieval orientation that influences pre-retrieval processes. In a functional neuroimaging study, I presented visual perspective cues prior to the onset of AM retrieval to investigate neural recruitment during the pre-retrieval phase. The results showed common angular gyrus recruitment when participants were presented with own eyes or observer cues before AM retrieval. Additionally, I demonstrated greater angular gyrus and precuneus recruitment when remembering the events from an observer, compared to an own eyes perspective. The results in Chapter 4 reflect that visual perspective orients retrieval by having people engage in a preparation phase before AM retrieval, thereby locating themselves in a potential scene layout to remember the events in a particular way. Limitations and implications for each study are discussed in the relevant chapters. Chapter 5 provides a general summary of the findings and discusses their importance and implications in the context of event memory and mnemonic emotion regulation. Overall, the findings reported in the current thesis provide insights regarding the role of visual perspective during the retrieval of emotional aspects of events. Importantly, the present findings shed light on the cognitive mechanisms supporting changes in emotion due to visual perspective and the neural basis of visual perspective that biases AM retrieval.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Autobiographical Memory
  • Visual Perspective
  • Emotion Regulation
  • Retrieval Orientation
  • fMRI

• Graduation date

  Fall 2024

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Doctor of Philosophy

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-7bs5-z513

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Library with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.