Transcript Document

1
A Prototype Analysis of Nostalgia
2
Ritchie ,
Tim
Introduction
Constantine
1
Sedikides ,
& Tim
Study 3: Recall
• Nostalgia is receiving increased empirical attention (Batcho, 2007; Wildschut,
Sedikides, Arndt, & Routledge, 2006; Zauberman & Ratner, 2009).
• Research suggests that nostalgia is prevalent in everyday life and serves
important intrapsychic functions, such as positive affect, self-worth, social
connectedness, meaning in life, and self-continuity.
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Wildschut
Study 4: Classification Speed
Method
Method
• 99 UK students and parents (MAGE = 30.39) participated in groups with individual computers.
• 53 UK students (MAGE = 20.0) participated individually in computer lab.
• Computer screen showed a series of statements (4 seconds each), embedded with central
or peripheral features (e.g., ‘Nostalgia involves fond memories’, ‘Nostalgia is about
childhood’). Each participant viewed half of the 35 features (50% central, 50% peripheral).
• Participants were presented with words and phrases one by one in randomised order, and
were asked to classify each one as quickly and accurately as possible:
Is this a feature of NOSTALGIA?
• Neutral wordsearch distractor task (5 mins).
However:
YES
• Free recall task (write down all features seen earlier; 3 mins). Correct responses scored.
• No consistent definition and understanding of nostalgia
• Cued recognition task (presented with list of all 35 features: circle which were seen
earlier). Both correct and false recognition (i.e., for features not previously seen) scored.
historically: disease, disorder, depression, homesickness
late 20th century: self-relevant bittersweet emotion
Oxford English Dictionary: “sentimental longing for the past.”
• Existing definitions are not both grounded in broad everyday understanding and
scientifically rigorous.
• Nostalgia may be a fuzzy category (instances are more vs. less representative).
• Studies have relied on participants’ idiosyncratic and unspecified interpretations
of the word “nostalgia,” clouding interpretation of results.
Results
• Free recall: Participants recalled significantly more central than peripheral features, t(98) =
5.77, p < .001.
• Cued recognition: Correct recognition was uniformly high, t(98) = 1.14, p = .26. However,
participants falsely recognised almost twice as many central than peripheral features that
they had not actually seen, t(98) = 5.56, p < .001.
Fig. 1 Recall for central vs. peripheral nostalgia features
Research Aim:
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Develop definition of nostalgia using a prototype approach.
• Stimuli comprised 2 exemplars for each central and peripheral feature category of nostalgia
(n = 70; e.g., ‘happiness’, ‘memory’, ‘ageing’) and 70 non-nostalgia exemplars (e.g., ‘pencil’,
‘street’, ‘washing machine’).
• For each exemplar, response (yes/no) and time (ms) were recorded.
Results
• Frequency classified: Participants classified central exemplars as features of nostalgia
significantly more often than peripheral exemplars, Z = 6.28, p < .001.
• Response speed: Even when verifying exemplars (i.e., responding ‘Yes’), participants did
so significantly more quickly for central than peripheral features, t(52) = 5.23, p < .001.
Fig. 2 Classification of exemplars as features of nostalgia
70
60
%
Study 1 and 2: Features
50
Central
Peripheral
40
35
1400
10
0
Free Recall
Correct
Recog.
False Recog.
AGE = 23.2) rated the 35 features on a scale from 1 (not at all
related to my view of nostalgia) – 8 (extremely related). Central and peripheral features were
defined using median split. Study 1 frequencies and Study 2 ratings were rank-order
correlated at ρ = .68, p < .001.
Category
Memory / Memories
The Past
Fond memories
Remembering
Reminiscence
Feeling
Personal meaning
Longing / Yearning
Relationships
Memorabilia/Keepsakes
Rose-tinted memory
Happiness
Childhood / Youth
Sensory triggers
Thinking
Reliving / Dwelling
Missing
Want to return to past
Mean Study 2 Study 1
Rating Rank
Rank
7.10
1
2
6.99
2
1
6.73
3
9
6.63
4
4
6.54
5
12
6.47
6
10
6.39
7
24
6.32
8
7
6.28
9
5
6.04
10
11
6.01
11
18
5.95
12
3
5.88
13
8
5.85
14
17
5.84
15
19
5.75
16
20
5.70
17
16
5.68
18
23
Comfort / Warmth
Wishing / Desire
Dreams / Daydreaming
Mixed Feelings
Change
Calm / Relaxed
Regret
Homesickness
Prestige / Success
Ageing / Old people
Loneliness
Sadness / Depressed
Negative past
Distortion / Illusions
Solitude
Pain / Anxiety
Lethargy / Laziness
Mean
Rating
5.59
5.42
5.33
5.04
4.78
4.64
4.33
4.06
4.05
3.99
3.76
3.58
3.33
3.30
3.22
3.03
2.46
Study 2 Study 1
Rank
Rank
19
14
20
27
21
28
22
31
23
26
24
30
25
22
26
15
27
34
28
29
29
25
30
6
31
35
32
32
33
33
34
13
35
21
20
15
10
1300
1200
1100
5
0
1000
Total main effect:
χ2(2) = 105.51, p < .001
Peripheral Features
Category
Frequency
25
Study 2: 102 UK residents (M
Central Features
1500
30
20
AGE = 24.8) listed open-ended features of nostalgia
(1752 exemplars). These were inductively coded into 35 categories, and the resulting coding
scheme was applied to all exemplars by 2 independent coders.
Response time to classify
as feature of nostalgia
Frequency classified as
feature of nostalgia
30
Study 1: 232 USA and UK residents (M
NO
Mean RT (ms)
Erica
1
Hepper ,
2
Central
Peripheral
Control
Total main effect:
F(2, 66) = 14.85, p < .001
Conclusions
• Nostalgia can be viewed as a prototype: a “fuzzy category” with more and
less representative features.
• This structure is evident in ratings, recall, and classification speed.
• The prototype more closely fits recent psychological conceptualisations of
nostalgia as a self-relevant emotion, than historically negative views.
• Prototypical instances of nostalgia are more positive than negative, and
involve missing or longing for a personally meaningful past – most often fond
memories of childhood or close relationships.
• A prototype approach sheds clarifying light on meaning of recent empirical
findings, and may provide method to induce nostalgia more subtly and with
fewer demand characteristics in future research.
Contact: [email protected]
• Further studies underway to examine processing of prototypical nostalgia
features in context of autobiographical events.