LIFE-LOGGING TECHNOLOGY (SENSECAM): STATE-OF-THE-ART IN STUDYING
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORY
Muhammad Salim Hossain
Lecturer, Department of Psychology
University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
ABSTRACT
Unlike other memory categories, autobiographical memories are not recalled but rather
reconstructed because of its association with the self. The reconstructive nature of
autobiographical memory was first revealed in the works of Bartlett (1932) but systematic
study on this topic started in the last quarter of the previous century (Conway, 1996;
Linton, 1975; Neisser, 1981; Wagenaar, 1986). However, most of these studies had
methodological flaws because of their dependence on single participants. This paper
critically reviews all the techniques used in studying autobiographical memory. Hence it
also discusses the role of life-logging technology (SenseCam) in studying autobiographical
memory.
Keywords: Life-logging, SenseCam, Autobiographical memory
1.0 Early studies on AM
Autobiographical memory (AM) refers to
the memory of significant life events that are
declarative and explicit in nature, recalled from the
unique perspective of the self in relation to others
(Nelson & Fivush, 2004). The importance of AM has
long been acknowledged but systematic studies of
AM have started recently. A variety of methods have
been used to study AM (Galton 1879a, 1879b;
Crovitz & Schiffman, 1974; Linton, 1975). However,
these early methods suffer from great deal of
inaccuracies. The evidence of such inaccuracies was
found in several studies. In a study, subjects were
exposed to an event and received misleading
information about the event afterwards. Some
subjects come to believe information that was
merely suggested to them under this condition
(Loftus, 1979; Crombag, Wagenaar, & Van Koppen,
1996). In another study, the strategy of repeated
interviews about non-events to create pseudomemories in subjects was employed. It was found
that children as well as adults tend to develop
pseudo-memories in response to such interviews
(Ceci, Crotteau Huffman, Smith, & Loftus, 1994). In
another approach Barcley and Wellman (1986)
instructed subjects to record autobiographical
events over an extended period of time and the
subjects underwent recognition tests in which they
had to differentiate between original records and
foils fabricated by the authors. The results of this
study indicate that people are good at recognizing
original autobiographical fragments, but relatively
poor at rejecting pseudo-memories (i.e. foils).
2.0 Traditional methods of studying AM
Galton (1879a, 1879b) started a technique
for studying AM (later modified by Crovitz &
Schiffman, 1974), which used experimenter-chosen
probe words to elicit participants’ associated
memories.
This
method
suffers
from
unrepresentative sampling of memory and
inconsistency in retrieval and response strategies
across participants. Another approach to the study
of AM used the contents of long-running daily
[1]
diaries to cue and assess memory (Linton, 1975;
Wagenaar, 1986), but this method suffers from
biased selection of experiences by the participants
themselves and great deal of time consumed. The
accuracy of autobiographical memories is thus
unclear by employing such methods because people
often forget or confuse everyday happenings,
especially if similar episodes are encountered
repeatedly. From this realization a more typical and
sensitive test of recognition of AM introduced two
types of items: actual and foils (Barcley & Wellman,
1986). Memory accuracy was assessed by looking
jointly at the relative differences in recognition
performance for actual events and the false
recognition of foils. Moreover, advances in
technology enabled the advent of experience
sampling methods (Conner, Barrett, Tugade, &
Tennen, 2007), such as Brewer’s (1988) experiments
in which participants carried small electronic devices
that prompted them at random intervals to record
certain aspects of their current experience on paper
response cards. Portions of these cards were later
used to test memory. However, this method suffers
the weakness of frequently and actively involving
participants in capturing information, potentially
altering the very memories it sets out to measure.
3.0 Life-logging technologies like SenseCam (SC), as
a state-of-the-art in studying AM
Serious methodological challenges were
posed by the study of AM employing traditional
methods, as people’s everyday experiences are not
experimentally controlled, can span decades, and
are largely unknowable to others (Brewer, 1986,
1996; Conway, 1990). Hence, life-logging
technologies like SC are opening a new route to the
investigation of AM. Life-logging is the term used to
describe recording different aspects of your daily
life, in digital form, for your own exclusive personal
use. Life-logging technologies like SC (a small digital
camera designed to take photographs, without user
intervention, often triggered by the sensors) can
produce a wealth of durable personal memory that
can be used for assessing AM. Loveday and Conway
(2011) found that SC cues powerfully facilitate recall
of episodic memories and allow autobiographical
memories to become specific and detailed than diary
cues. Additionally, the subject also has more
Proustian Memory (PM) to SC than to diary cues.
Their study clearly shows the superiority of SC in
studying AM than traditional techniques.
Neuroimaging studies indicate that viewing SC
images of personally experienced events activates
parts of the brain involved in normal AM in both
healthy and impaired subjects (Berry et al., 2009;
Loveday & Conway, 2011). SenseCam also has
potential for augmenting human cognition: as a
cognitive prosthetic for people with memory
impairments (Berry et al., 2007) or a memory aid for
those with unimpaired memory (Sellen, Fogg,
Hodges, & Wood, 2007). High cognitive compatibility
and great deal of visual information (cues) obtained
from SC are the possible reasons for such
augmented AM.
4.0 Horizons are open for studying AM
SenseCam is proving to be remarkable tool
for studying memory of everyday events. It provides
a degree of control that memory researchers have
not had before both in collection of photographs and
their later presentation as memory cues. SenseCam
imagery with physiological measures could be used
within standard cognitive behavioural therapy
settings to treat a range of psychological disorders
such as depression, anxiety, and psychosis (Hodges,
Berry, & Wood, 2011). Despite the wide range of
research already undertaken, there are many
outstanding questions about SC and its role on
cognition to be addressed. These include the role of
frequency and interval of SC image viewing on the
memories to be consolidated, duration of retention
of AM events, importance of first-person image
capture, role of important vs. trivial images on AM
construction, effect of improved AM recollection on
a person’s well-being, role of SC in improving
semantic memory, prospective memory or executive
functioning etc.
Given the potential implications and
possibilities of life-logging technologies like SC, it can
breach the privacy of the individual. The issues of
[2]
control of SC content, regulation governing
ownership of life-log data after death, laws
regarding forced sharing of life-log data to resolve
legal disputes, and so on should be addressed.
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Cognition, 3, 388-407.
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