title: Remembering talk: individual and gender differences in reported speech.
abstract: This study examined individual and group differences in the nature and frequency of reports of past speech in the autobiographical memories of young adults. A sample of 108 participants (60 females, 48 males) responded in writing to six memory prompts. They also completed the Five Factor Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1992) and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (Spence & Helmreich, 1978). The frequency with which participants used reported speech was correlated with agreeableness, openness, and expressivity; however, regression analyses indicated that narrators' gender alone was the best predictor. Females used more reported speech than did males. The findings suggest that recollections of past speech are an under-appreciated yet important component of autobiographical memory.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA. rely@bu.edu
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ely
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ryan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012649:Self Concept; D012737:Sex Factors; D013060:Speech; D013067:Speech Perception