Gençlerin ve Yaşlıların Otobiyografik Bellek Özellikleri Açısından Karşılaştırılması: Betimsel Bir Çalışma

Abstract

Bu araştırmada otobiyografik anı özellikleri
(içeriği, bakış açısı ve zamanı) ergen, erken yetişkin
ve yaşlı gruplar açısından betimsel olarak
incelenmiştir. Araştırmaya 80 ergen, 80 erken
yetişkin ve 80 yaşlı olmak üzere toplam 240 gönüllü
katılmıştır. Katılımcılara İpuçlu Hatırlama
Tekniğine dayanan bir otobiyografik bellek testi
uygulanmış ve verilerin betimsel analizi yapılmıştır.
Buna göre, yaşlılar olumlu kelimelerle
ilgili olarak diğer gruplara göre en fazla sosyal
takdirle ilgili anı anlatmıştır. Olumsuz kelimelerde
ise, ergenlerin en çok arkadaş anlaşmazlıklarıyla,
erken yetişkinlerin en çok aile ve özel ilişkilerle,
yaşlıların ise hem aile içi ve özel ilişkilerle hem de
hastalıklarla ilgili olumsuzlukları anlatmayı tercih
ettikleri gözlenmiştir. Anıların bakış açısına bakıldığında,
olumlu kelimelerde, alan bakış açısını en
fazla erken yetişkinler, gözlemci bakış açısını ise
en fazla yaşlılar kullanırken; olumsuz kelimelerde
alan bakış açısını en fazla yaşlılar, gözlemci bakış
açısını ise en fazla ergenler kullanmıştır. Bu sonuç
yaşlılardaki “bilgelik eğilimiyle” açıklanmıştır.
Anıların zamanı incelendiğinde, hem olumlu hem
de olumsuz kelimeler için, son 5 yıla ait anılarını
daha çok ergenler, son 5 yıldan önceki anılarını
ise daha çok yaşlılar anlatmıştır. Ayrıca, araştırmada
kullanılan kelimeler semantik açıdan
değerlendirildiğinde ise, tüm grupların olumlu
kelimelerdeki değerlendirmeleri olumsuzlara göre
daha yüksekken, yaşlılar olumsuz kelimeleri de
daha fazla olumlu olarak değerlendirerek bir tür
“olumluluk yanlılığı” göstermiştir.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Bilişsel yaşlanma, otobiyografik
bellek, duygusal bellek.

Keywords

• Bilişsel yaşlanma, otobiyografik bellek, duygusal bellek.

A Comparison With Respect To Features Of Autobiographıcal Memories Between Young And Elderly People: A Descriptive Study

Abstract

In the present research, features of autobiographical memory (content, point of view and time) were examined with respect to adolescent, early adult and elderly groups. 240 volunteers composed of 80 adolescents, 80 early adults and 80 elderly people participated in the research. An autobiographical memory test (4 positive and 4 negative adjectives) depending on cued-recall technique was applied to the subjects and the data were analysed descriptively. Consequently, the elderly recalled more memories related to positive words from social admiration category than the other groups. On the other hand, with respect to negative words, while adolescents recalled the most memories from friend controversy category, early adults recalled related to family and private relationships and the elderly people prefered remembering negative memories related to both family & private relationships and diseases categories. When the point of view of the memories was examined, for the positive words early adults used field point of view mostly, the elderly used observer point of view; for the negative words the elderly utilized field point of view, adolescents utilized observer point of view mostly. The given result can be explained by “wisdom tendency” in the elderly people. When the time of memories was examined, for both positive and negative words adolescents told their memories concerning the last five years mostly; the elderly told their memories relating to before the last five years mostly. Furthermore, when the words used in the research were considered in terms of semantics while the evaluations of all the groups for the positive words were higher than those for the negative words, the elderly evaluated the negative words more positive, so they showed a “positivity effect.”

Keywords

• Cognitive aging, autobiographical memory, emotional memory.

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