Vivid Memories of Vivid Loves Gone by

Abstract

A study was conducted to investigate vivid memories of a target past close relationship and the effects on vivid memories of the subject's sex, single/divorced status and level of mood depression. It was expected that females, divorced persons and persons high in mood depression wotild report relatively more vivid recall. Thirty-nine subjects between twenty-five and forty-five years of age were administered the Beck Depression Inventory and then a questionnaire pertaining to their recall of a target past close relationship and events associated with that relationship. The results supported the predictions that females and persons high in depression would report relatively vivid memories of a target past relationship; divorced persons did not differ from single persons in such reported recall. The contents of reported memories could be categorized into memories associated with beginnings, special occasions and endings; for example, a common beginning memory pertained to the first sexual encounter. Overall, the work is discussed in relation to previous research on `flashbulb' and autobiographical memory. The data generally are interpreted as revealing meaningful reflections on lost loves that may or may not contain a high degree of accuracy but that serve as benchmarks in people's constructions of their lives.