Premium
The Bumps in Trinidadian Life: Reminiscence Bumps for Positive and Negative Life Events
Author(s) -
Alea Nicole,
Ali Sideeka,
Marcano Blaine
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
applied cognitive psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.719
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1099-0720
pISSN - 0888-4080
DOI - 10.1002/acp.2975
Subject(s) - reminiscence , psychology , normative , developmental psychology , valence (chemistry) , cognitive psychology , philosophy , physics , epistemology , quantum mechanics
Summary The study examined the life‐script account for a reminiscence bump in a Trinidadian sample (N = 100; range: 31–59 years old). The cue‐word technique elicited memories, and events (n = 809) were content‐coded as life scripted (e.g., marriage), considering normative ages from a preliminary study, unusual (e.g., traumatic events), or ordinary (e.g., a day at the beach). Two reminiscence bumps were found: one between 6 and 15 years old and another in the mid‐twenties, for both positive and negative events. The early bump was comprised mostly of ordinary events, regardless of participant's age. The second bump period was mostly unusual events, regardless of valence, although people ≥40 years old were producing this bump for negative life events. Life‐scripted events were found only in the early negative reminiscence bump. The discussion focuses on other theoretical interpretations for the findings (e.g., life‐story account), methodological considerations for future work, and cultural considerations. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.