AIMS
Autobiographical Interview Memory Specificity — Memory Specificity × Personality Schema Activation
Reveals how personality schemas selectively distort autobiographical memory retrieval. Schema-congruent cue words matched against ELP-controlled neutrals measure retrieval specificity — a validated index of overgeneral memory implicated in depression, PTSD, and rumination.
Administration
Participants select a Millon personality schema domain (e.g., Dependent, Avoidant, Narcissistic). They then respond to 20 cue words (10 schema-congruent + 10 matched neutral controls) by generating autobiographical memories. Each memory is dated, located, and characterized. ELP-controlled cue matching ensures schema activation is not confounded with word frequency or imageability.
Scoring System
Each memory is scored using the Williams & Broadbent (1986) taxonomy: specific, categoric, extended, semantic, or omission. The schema activation index is computed as the difference in mean specificity between schema-congruent and neutral-control cues. Higher schema activation indices indicate stronger schema-driven memory distortion.
Clinical Populations
- Depression & Rumination
- Personality Assessment
- Trauma & PTSD
- Cognitive-Affective Research
- Psychotherapy Process
- Schema Therapy
- Clinical Screening
Scientific Background
Background on overgeneral autobiographical memory and how schema-congruent cueing turns the AMT into a probe of personality organization. The overgeneral memory effect — originally documented by Williams & Broadbent in suicidal patients — has since been replicated across depression, PTSD, and personality disorder samples.