Public Events Knowledge in an Age-Heterogeneous Sample: Reminiscence Bump or Bummer?
The reminiscence bump describes an increased recollection of autobiographic experiences made in adolescence and early adulthood. It is unclear if this phenomenon can also be found in declarative knowledge of past public events. To answer this question, we assessed public events knowledge (PEK) about...
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Veröffentlicht in: | Psychology and aging 2024-02, Vol.39 (1), p.72-87 |
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Sprache: | eng |
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Zusammenfassung: | The reminiscence bump describes an increased recollection of autobiographic experiences made in adolescence and early adulthood. It is unclear if this phenomenon can also be found in declarative knowledge of past public events. To answer this question, we assessed public events knowledge (PEK) about the past 6 decades with a 120-item knowledge test across six domains in a sample of 1,012 Germans that were sampled uniformly across the ages of 30-80 years. General and domain-specific PEK scores were analyzed as a function of age-at-event. Scores were lower for public events preceding participants' birth and stayed stable from the age-at-event of 5-10 years onward. There was no significant peak in PEK in adolescence or early adulthood, arguing against an extension of the reminiscence effect to factual knowledge. We examined associations between PEK and relevant variables such as crystallized intelligence (Gc), news consumption, and openness to experience with structural equation models. Strong associations between PEK and Gc were established, whereas the associations of PEK with news consumption and openness were mainly driven by their link to declarative knowledge.
Public Significance Statement
The study found that public events knowledge is not subject to a reminiscence effect but shows a trajectory across age-at-event much more similar to age-related developments of declarative knowledge. An explanatory account based on cognitive maturation in adolescence and early adulthood is contested. The study highlights that public event knowledge can be understood as a specific type of declarative knowledge-one that is shaped more by societal transmission processes than by personal learning history. |
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ISSN: | 0882-7974 1939-1498 |
DOI: | 10.1037/pag0000786 |