Clare J Rathbone

Publications of Clare J Rathbone

• Self-images and related autobiographical memories in schizophrenia.

  Authors: Mehdi Bennouna-Greene, Fabrice Berna, Martin A Conway, Clare J Rathbone, Pierre Vidailhet, Jean-Marie Danion

  Consciousness and cognition. 03/2012; 21(1):247-57.

  Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness, which affects sense of identity. While the ability to have a coherent vision of the self (i.e., self-images) relies partly on its reciprocal relationshipsSchizophrenia is a severe mental illness, which affects sense of identity. While the ability to have a coherent vision of the self (i.e., self-images) relies partly on its reciprocal relationships with autobiographical memories, little is known about how memories ground "self-images" in schizophrenia. Twenty-five patients with schizophrenia and 25 controls were asked to give six autobiographical memories related to four self-statements they considered essential for defining their identity. Results showed that patients' self-images were more passive than those of controls. Autobiographical memories underlying self-images were less thematically linked to these self-images in patients. We also found evidence of a weakened sense of self and a deficient organization of autobiographical memories grounding the self in schizophrenia. These abnormalities may account for the poor cohesiveness of the self in schizophrenia.

• Autobiographical memory and the self in a case of transient epileptic amnesia.

  Authors: Nathan A Illman, Clare J Rathbone, Steven Kemp, Chris J A Moulin

  Epilepsy & behavior : E&B. 05/2011; 21(1):36-41.

  Transient epileptic amnesia (TEA) is characterized by deficits in autobiographical memory (AM). One of the functions of AM is to maintain the self, suggesting that the self may undergo changes as aTransient epileptic amnesia (TEA) is characterized by deficits in autobiographical memory (AM). One of the functions of AM is to maintain the self, suggesting that the self may undergo changes as a result of memory loss in temporal lobe epilepsy. To examine this, we used a modification of a task used to assess the relationship between self and memory (the IAM task) in a single case, E.B. Despite complaints of AM loss, E.B. had no difficulty in producing a range of self-images (e.g., I am a husband) and collections of self-defining AMs in support of these statements. E.B. produced fewer episodic memories at times of self-formation, but this did not seem to impact on the maintenance of self. The results support recent work suggesting the self may be maintained in the absence of episodic memory. The application of tasks such as that used here will further elucidate AM impairment in temporal lobe epilepsy.

• Remembering and imagining: the role of the self.

  Authors: Clare J Rathbone, Martin A Conway, Chris J A Moulin

  Consciousness and cognition. 03/2011; 20(4):1175-82.

  This study investigated whether temporal clustering of autobiographical memories (AMs) around periods of self-development (Rathbone, Moulin, & Conway, 2008, 2009) would also occur when imaginingThis study investigated whether temporal clustering of autobiographical memories (AMs) around periods of self-development (Rathbone, Moulin, & Conway, 2008, 2009) would also occur when imagining future events associated with the self. Participants completed an AM task and future thinking task. In both tasks, memories and future events were cued using participant-generated identity statements (e.g., I am a student; I will be a mother). Participants then dated their memories and future events, and finally gave an age at which each identity statement was judged to emerge. Dates of memories and future events were recoded as temporal distance from the identity statement used to cue them. AMs and future events both clustered robustly around periods of self-development, indicating the powerful organisational effect of the self. We suggest that life narrative structures are used to organise future events as well as memories.

• Autobiographical memory, Autonoetic Consciousness, and Identity in Asperger Syndrome.

  Authors: Tilait Tanweer, Clare J Rathbone, Celine Souchay

  Neuropsychologia. 11/2009;

  Previous results from research on individuals with Asperger syndrome (AS) suggest a diminished ability for recalling episodic autobiographical memory (AM). The primary aim of this study was toPrevious results from research on individuals with Asperger syndrome (AS) suggest a diminished ability for recalling episodic autobiographical memory (AM). The primary aim of this study was to explore autobiographical memory in individuals with Asperger syndrome and specifically to investigate whether memories in those with AS are characterised by fewer episodic 'remembered' events (due to a deficit in autonoetic consciousness). A further aim was to examine whether such changes in AM might also be related to changes in identity, due to the close relationship between memory and the self and to the established differences in self-referential processes in AS. Eleven adults with AS and fifteen matched comparison participants were asked to recall autobiographical memories from three lifetime periods and for each memory to give either a Remember response (autonoetic consciousness) or a Know response (noetic consciousness). The pattern of results shows that AS participants recalled fewer memories and that these memories were more often rated as Known, compared to the comparison group. AS participants also showed differences in reported identity, generating fewer social identity statements and more abstract, trait-linked identities. The data support the view that differences in both memory and reported personal identity in AS are characterized by a lack of specificity.

• Self-centered memories: The reminiscence bump and the self.

  Authors: Clare J Rathbone, Chris J A Moulin, Martin A Conway

  Memory & cognition. 01/2009; 36(8):1403-14.

  The self-memory relationship is thought to be bidirectional, in such a way that memories provide context for the self, and equally, the self exercises control over retrieval (Conway, 2005).The self-memory relationship is thought to be bidirectional, in such a way that memories provide context for the self, and equally, the self exercises control over retrieval (Conway, 2005). Autobiographical memories are not distributed equally across the life span; instead, memories peak between ages 10 and 30. This reminiscence bump has been suggested to support the emergence of a stable and enduring self. In the present study, the relationship between memory accessibility and self was explored with a novel methodology that used generation of self images in the form of I am statements. Memories generated from I am cues clustered around the time of emergence for that particular self image. We argue that, when a new self-image is formed, it is associated with the encoding of memories that are relevant to that self and that remain highly accessible to the rememberer later in life. This study offers a new methodology for academics and clinicians interested in the relationship between memory and identity.

• Autobiographical memory, autonoetic consciousness, and identity in Asperger syndrome

  Authors: Tilait Tanweer, Clare J. Rathbone, Celine Souchay

  Neuropsychologia.

  Previous results from research on individuals with Asperger syndrome (AS) suggest a diminished ability for recalling episodic autobiographical memory (AM). The primary aim of this study was toPrevious results from research on individuals with Asperger syndrome (AS) suggest a diminished ability for recalling episodic autobiographical memory (AM). The primary aim of this study was to explore autobiographical memory in individuals with Asperger syndrome and specifically to investigate whether memories in those with AS are characterized by fewer episodic ‘remembered’ events (due to a deficit in autonoetic consciousness). A further aim was to examine whether such changes in AM might also be related to changes in identity, due to the close relationship between memory and the self and to the established differences in self-referential processes in AS. Eleven adults with AS and fifteen matched comparison participants were asked to recall autobiographical memories from three lifetime periods and for each memory to give either a remember response (autonoetic consciousness) or a know response (noetic consciousness). The pattern of results shows that AS participants recalled fewer memories and that these memories were more often rated as known, compared to the comparison group. AS participants also showed differences in reported identity, generating fewer social identity statements and more abstract, trait-linked identities. The data support the view that differences in both memory and reported personal identities in AS are characterized by a lack of specificity.