1
Evalua&on of Self “I was very proud to have served in the Marine Corps and I was very proud to serve with the men I’d served with. But food was terrible, accommoda>ons were terrible. There was nothing to like about it. I never got used to being shot at...but I was very proud to be a Marine.” Evalua&on of Others Peers “My pilot was the oldest one, he was 24. He was kind of, I use the word ‘father figure’ but not quite so much, more like a big brother to us all. And he kinda looked aJer us and tried to kind of take care of us and we looked on him as that, you know.” Evalua&on of Others Enemies “The Japanese were ruthless, brutal, and they didn’t believe in taking prisoners.” “Towards the end, German refugees began to come through the mountains in long wagon trains. I was amazed at their determina>on and obvious resilience…Even in my pi>ful plight, I felt sorry for those folks.” Evalua&on of War “I have been in war experience saying, ‘There’s got to be a beQer way to solve world’s problems.’ I am s>ll searching for that.” “I’m real concerned about our country today…maybe this is short sighted but I look back and think WWI was necessary, WWII was really necessary because we were aQacked you know. But since then some of these wars like Korea and Vietnam and Desert Storm and Afghanistan and Iraq, I don’t know whether they were necessary or not. And it makes you wonder, maybe we could of done something else instead of go to war.” ILLUSTRATIONS – EVALUATIVE LANGUAGE “If we wish to know about a man, we ask ‘what is his story – his real, inmost story?’ for each of us is a biography, a story. Each of us is a singular narra>ve, which is constructed, con>nually, unconsciously, by, through, and in us – throughout percep>ons, our feelings, our thoughts, our ac>ons; and, not least, our discourse, our spoken narra>ons.” Oliver Sacks (1985) The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: And Other Clinical Tales (pp 110111) BACKGROUND Tes&monial Language • Tes>monies reflect a form of narra>ve describing memorable experiences and are oJen u>lized by historians, psychologists, and sociologists. • Tes>monies are produced in reminiscence & life review. • Studies analyzing narra>ves in older adults have u>lized illness stories, frightening stories, and memorable experiences. • Limited informa>on on language in tes>monies is available for the old elderly cohort. Life Review • Life review refers to the dynamic ways of building an iden>ty based on memories from early life and redefining these experiences in old age. • Life review is essen>al in preserving iden>ty and suppor>ng the old elderly. • Personal stories in aging have an increase in reflec>on and life review (McAdams, 2008). Personal stories may be used in the field of communica>on disorders. • It is important to document life events of veterans of World War II as old elderly sharing the same historical event Why War Stories? • Memorable stories of the old elderly originate during World War II at the peak of their autobiographical memory which is called the “reminiscence bump.” • War stories reflect strong iden>ty of veterans in life review. • Veterans are oJen interested in sharing stories of service experience for collec>ve memory of the family and country. RESEARCH QUESTIONS How is autobiographical memory reflected in tes>monial language of World War II veterans? Do old elderly generate coherent responses when producing tes>monies of war experiences? Do old elderly produce evalua>ve language when rela>ng personal war experiences? N=41 Mean Age Years (Std. Dev) 91.2 (3.0) Mean Years Educa>on (Std. Dev) 15.6 (3.0) Branch U.S. Army U.S. Army Air Corps Navy Marine Corps 16 12 10 3 Theater European The Pacific Mediterranean/N Africa ChinaIndiaBurma Home Front/Training 17 15 3 2 4 Mean MiniMental State Exam (Std. Dev) (Folstein, Folstein, & McHugh, 1975) 26.8/30 (2.4) METHODOLOGY Semistructured interview about military experience Example Ques>ons Specific Events • Tell me about the circumstances of entering the military. • Tell me about your experiences in war>me. • When did you start talking about your experiences? Evalua>on • How did your experiences during the war affect your life? • Qualita>ve analysis for: • Evidence of autobiographical memory in language produc>on • Global coherence • Reflec>ons/evalua>ons ANALYSIS FINDINGS Autobiographical Memory • Reflected in narra>ve produc>on • Narra>ves included high levels of specificity Reflec>ons/Evalua>ons Thema>c analysis of evalua>ve language revealed themes related to: • Self: Patrio>sm, pride of achievement, family, responsibility, gra>tude for life, trauma & wisdom • Others (Peers & Enemies): Camaraderie, friendship, loyalty, brutality & respect of enemies • War: Specific views of WWII, comparison to following conflicts • Evalua>ons were present at beginning, middle, or end of a narra>ve • Reduced inclusion of nega>ve themes, following the social scripts of an interview • High level of military iden>ty in old age • Contribu>ons of veterans to the well being of future genera>ons: Involvement with veterans’ organiza>ons, as museum volunteers, in archival research, speaking to school groups, visi>ng baQlefields and cemeteries with children/grandchildren, wri>ng memoirs for family and publica>on Global Coherence • Maintained by majority of par>cipants • Tes>monies provided coherent life stories describing events in temporal, social, and personal context • Observed with inherent structure and emo>onal significance “The invasion of Iwo Jima was February the 19 th of 1945. So there were 3 Marine Divisions engaged in the baQle for Iwo Jima, about 23,000 Japanese troops and ul>mately around 60,000 Marine people on the island, baQling for the island. It was a teeny island. It was only about 2 ½ miles wide and only about 6 ½ miles long. You can imagine the conges>on of 60,000 Marine troops and 23,000 Japanese.” “…the kids wanted me to put it down so they could look at it or read it or whatever.” DISCUSSION • Majority of par>cipants were willing & enthusias>c to give tes>monies • Tes>monies reflected a variety of personal communica>ve styles • Autobiographical memory was reflected in narra>ves produced with evalua>ve language • High levels of specificity were observed, especially in pilots/navigators • Study suggested coherence was rela>vely preserved in the oldest old in the context of life review • Evalua>ve language supported coherence and highlighted a strong sense of iden>ty SELECTED LITERATURE CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS • Armstrong, E. & Ulatowska, H. (2007). Making stories: Evalua>ve language and the aphasia experience. Aphasiology, 21(68), 763774. • Butler, R.N. (1963). The life review: An interpreta>on of reminiscence in the aged. Psychiatry 26(1) 6576. • Folstein, M.F., Folstein, S.E., & McHugh, P.R. (1975). Minimental state: A prac>cal method for grading the cogni>ve state of • pa>ents for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12(3), 189198. • Hunt, N. & Robbins, I. (2001). The longterm consequences of war: The experience of World War II. Aging and Mental Health, 5(2), • 183190. • McAdams, D. P. (2008). Personal narra>ves and the life story. Handbook of personality: Theory and research, 3, 242262. • Ulatowska, H.K., Chapman, S.B., Highley, A.P. & Prince, J. (1998). Discourse in healthy oldelderly adults: A longitudinal study. • Aphasiology, 12 (78), 619633. • Supports the importance of reminiscence therapy approaching end of life • Topic of war may be appropriate for use in reminiscing therapy in those with strong iden>ty seen oJen in VA Hospitals, longterm care seungs, and memory groups Authors wish to thank Katrina Johnson, Jilliane Lagus, Eric May, Keilani Paul, Melissa Rosales, & Hana Seok for their dedicated assistance. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors have no relevant financial or nonfinancial rela>onships to disclose
