The Dependence of Phenomenological Characteristics of Mnemonic Image from the Motivational-Semantic Dynamics of Activity

The study develops ideas of P. I. Zinchenko on activity (motivational) regulation of mnemonic processes. The study was carried out on the memories of the Moscovites about terrorist attacks in Moscow in September 1999. The data was collected with the semiyear interval in April and October 2002. Findings indicate that characteristics of mnemonic image are not stable over time. Some parameters of the «sensory fabric» of the mnemonic image (subjective vividness and completeness) and its meanings (evaluation of the historical significance of a past event) vary in accordance with the semantic saturation dynamics of recollected material. These dynamics are associated with the occurrence of events with similar semantic content — the capture of hostages in the theater center on Dubrovka in October 2002. The effect is interpreted based on the following. Increasing the meaning of mnemonic content by its actualization in the framework of a more highly motivated activity irradiates on the other elements of consciousness — the sensory fabric and meaning.

1. Asmolov A. G. Psichologiya lichnosti: kul'turno-istoricheskoe ponimanie razvitiya cheloveka. M., 2007.
2. Bruner J. Psichologiya poznaniya. M., 1977.
3. Zinchenko P. I. Neproizvol'noe zapominanie. M., 1961.
4. Maslow A. Motvaziya i lichnost'. SPb., 1999.
5. Neisser U.  Poznanie i real'nost'. M., 1981.
6. Nurkova V. V. Svershennoe prodolzhaetsya: Psichologiya avtobiograficheskoy pamyati lichnosti. M., 2000.
7. Nurkova V. V., Bernshteyn D. M., Loftus E. F. Echo vzryvov: sravnitel'nyy analiz vospominaniy moskvichey o terroristicheskich aktach 1999 g. (Moskva) i 2001 g. (N'yu York) // Psichologicheskiy zhurnal. 2003. T. 24. № 1.
8. Nurkova V. V., Bernshteyn D. M. Korrespondentnyy podchod v izuchenii pamyati i problema istinnosti vospominaniy // Uchenye zapiski kafedry obschey psichologii MGU im. M. V. Lomonosova. Vyp. 2 / Pod obsch. red. B. S. Bratusya, E. E. Sokolovoy. M., 2006.
9. Nurkova V. V. Pamyat'. Obschaya psichologiya: V 7 t. / Pod red. B. S. Bratusya. T. 3. M., 2006/2008.
10. Nurkova V. V. Doverchivaya pamyat': Kak informaziya vklyuchaetsya v sistemu avtobiograficheskich znaniy // Kognitivnye issledovaniya: Sbornik nauch. trudov / Pod red. V. D. Solov'eva i T. V. Chernigovskoy, M., 2008.
11. Polіvanova O. Osoblivostі vzaєmozv'yazku motivazіynoї sferi osobistostі ta prozesu zapam'yatovuvannya: Avtoref. dis. ... kand. psichol. nauk. Charkіv, 1997.
12. Sereda G. K. Teoreticheskaya model' pamyati kak mechanizma sistemnoy organizazii individual'nogo opyta // Psichologiya deyatel'nosti i poznavatel'nych prozessov. Vestn. Char'k. unta. 1984. № 253.
13. Zizeron Mark Tulliy. Estetika. Ob oratore / Per. F. A. Petrovskogo. M., 1994.
14. Brown R., Kulik J. Flashbulb memories // Cognition. 1977. № 5. [Free full-text]
15. Johnson M. K. Identifying the origin of mental experience // The Mythomanias: The Nature of Deception and Self-Deception / Myslobodsky M. S. (Еd), Mahwah, NJ, 1997.
16. Neisser U. Snapshots or benchmarks? // Memory observed / U.Neisser (ed.) San Francisco, 1982.
17. Neisser U., Harsch N. Phantom flashbulbs: False recollections of hearing the news about Challenger // Affect and accuracy in recall / Ed. by E. Winograd, U. Neisser. N. Y., 1992.
18. Nurkova V. V., Bernstein D. M. Imagination Inflation After a Change in Linguistic Context // Psychology in Russia. State of the Art / Eds. Juri P. Zinchenko, Victor F. Petrenko, M., 2008. [Free full-text]
19. Nurkova V. V., Bernstein D. M., Loftus E. F. Altering traumatic memories // Cognition and Emotion, 2004, № 4.
20. Nurkova V. V., Bernstein D. M., Loftus E. F. Biography becomes autobiography: Distorting subjective past // The American Journal of Psychology. 2004. Vol. 117. № 1.
21. Talarico J. M. Rubin D.C. Confidence, not Consistency, Characterizes Flashbulb Memories // Psychological Science. 2003. 14. [Free full-text]
22. Thompson C. P., Skowronski J. J., Larsen S. F., Betz A. L. Autobiographical Memory: Remembering What and Remembering When. Mahwah, New Jersey, 1996.
23. Tulving E. Origin of Autonoesis in Episodic Memory. In The nature of Remembering: Essays in honor of Robert G. Crowder. H. L. Roediger III, J. S. Nairne, J. Neath, and A. M. Surprenant (еds.). Washington, 2001.
24. Tulving E., Thomson D. M. Encoding specificity and retrieval processes in episodic memory // Psychological Review.1973. 80. [Free full-text]