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I am a social and
cognitive psychologist interested in the cognitive processes used in
remembering and adapting to life events. My primary area of interest is
autobiographical memory, or memory for life experiences. In collaboration
with my students, I have found that when remembrance of a life event is
accompanied by a subjective sense of closure, health and well-being
benefits follow. Memories lack closure when they are recollected with a
great deal of emotion. The emotion causes the memory to evoke
goal-related behavior. Thus, gaining closure can lead to a sense of
completion about a life experience and even forgiveness of another
person. Because closure is a property of the memory, it can be achieved
by creative rehearsal strategies. Focusing on aspects of the memory that
are objective rather than emotional, and aspects that are understood
rather than poorly understood, both result in increased closure.
My
secondary research interests include the self, specifically temporal
aspects of self-concept representation; emotion, specifically
expectations about and memories for emotional experiences; and
counterfactual thinking, which means thinking of how things could have
turned out differently.
Representative
Publications:
Beike, D. R., Kleinknecht*, E. K., &
Wirth-Beaumont*, E. T. (2004). How emotional and non-emotional memories
define the self. In D. R. Beike, J. M. Lampinen, & D. A. Behrend
(Eds.), The self and memory (pp. 141-159). New York: Psychology
Press.
Beike, D. R., Lampinen, J. M., & Behrend, D.
A. (2004). The self and memory. New York: Psychology Press.
Beike, D. R., & Landoll*, S. L. (2000).
Striving for a consistent life story: Cognitive reactions to
autobiographical memories. Social Cognition, 18, 292-318.
Beike, D. R., & Wirth-Beaumont*, E. T.
(2005). Psychological closure as a memory phenomenon. Memory, 13, 574-593.
Fishburne*,
J.W., Beike, D. R., & Faris*, A. (in press). Who believes the norm? A
comparison of injunctive versus descriptive norm-based messages among
various college drinkers. Journal of American College Health.
Goldinger, S. D., Kleider, H., Azuma, T., &
Beike, D. R. (2003). “Blaming the victim” under memory load. Psychological
Science, 14, 81-85.
Kleinknecht*,
E. K., & Beike, D. R. (2004). How knowing and doing inform an
autobiography: Relations among preschoolers’ theory of mind, narrative,
and event memory skills. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 18, 745-764.
* = Student co-author
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