Rumination and memory

Moulds, M. L., Kandris, E.,& Williams, A. D. (2007). The impact of rumination on memory for self-referent material. Memory, 15, 814-821.

Abstract

Previous findings have linked rumination to the enhanced retrieval of negative memories (Lyubormirsky, Caldwell, & Nolen-Hoeksema, 1998) and overgeneral autobiographical memories (Watkins & Teasdale, 2004) in depression. However, little is known of the impact of rumination on the encoding of information, and in particular, self-referent information. This study examined the impact of rumination on selfreferent encoding in high (BDI-II]13) and low (BDI-II55) dysphoric participants. Participants were randomly allocated to a rumination or distraction condition, and then completed the experimental task in which they rated a series of adjectives (positive, negative) as either self- or other-descriptive, and later received a memory test for the adjectives. Not surprisingly, high-dysphoric participants endorsed more negative and less positive adjectives as self-descriptive. Counter to our prediction, high-dysphoric participants allocated to the rumination condition did not endorse more negative adjectives as selfreferent. However, consistent with our hypothesis, high-dysphoric participants who ruminated recalled more negative self-referent words, after controlling for the proportion of words endorsed as selfdescriptive. The findings demonstrate that rumination results in enhanced memory for negative, selfrelated material, and raises the possibility that this may serve as another pathway via which the negative evaluations of the self observed clinically in depression are maintained.