Mnemonics: Do Men and Women use different strategies for recalling autobiographical memory?
Piefke et al. (2005) compared the brain activity of men and women involved in autobiographical memory. They found that while both groups showed bilateral activation in the medial and lateral temporal areas, there were some differential activations. The authors suggest that this may represent a difference in the cognitive methods used to call up the memories. It has been suggested that men and women's socialization in gender may specifically play a role in their experience of memory. Agnieszka Niedzwienska (2003) believes that men and women remember different aspects of an event because they have been socialized to place priority on different aspects. Men, Niedzwienska claims, tend to remember aspects regarding "mastery and performance" while women focus on "affiliative themes." However, this may not be the whole puzzle. Frings et al. (2006), in their fMRI study of men and women performing a spatial memory task, suggest that women may be more likely than men to use verbal strategies to maintain memory, although whether this directly relates to autobiographical memory strategies is questionable.
It feels to me like a lot of my memory is verbal (which would be the female model), but the themes I remember seem to be mostly mastery and performance-oriented (the male model). Most of my life is not recalled as autobiographical episodes, but rather, as the stories I've told about the episodes. The stories have largely replaced the events, and artistic license becomes reality. The phrase "never let the truth get in the way of a good story" is thrown around a lot in my family (although it's largely in an accusatory way towards other family members). But I'll readily admit that the words stick in my mind far more than the actual experiences.
It feels to me like a lot of my memory is verbal (which would be the female model), but the themes I remember seem to be mostly mastery and performance-oriented (the male model). Most of my life is not recalled as autobiographical episodes, but rather, as the stories I've told about the episodes. The stories have largely replaced the events, and artistic license becomes reality. The phrase "never let the truth get in the way of a good story" is thrown around a lot in my family (although it's largely in an accusatory way towards other family members). But I'll readily admit that the words stick in my mind far more than the actual experiences.