Semi-automated transcription and scoring of autobiographical memory narratives. 2021

Victoria Wardell, and Christian L Esposito, and Christopher R Madan, and Daniela J Palombo
Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada.

Autobiographical memory studies conducted with narrative methods are onerous, requiring significant resources in time and labor. We have created a semi-automated process that allows autobiographical transcribing and scoring methods to be streamlined. Our paper focuses on the Autobiographical Interview (AI; Levine, Svoboda, Hay, Winocur, & Moscovitch, Psychology and Aging, 17, 677-89, 2002), but this method can be adapted for other narrative protocols. Specifically, here we lay out a procedure that guides researchers through the four main phases of the autobiographical narrative pipeline: (1) data collection, (2) transcribing, (3) scoring, and (4) analysis. First, we provide recommendations for incorporating transcription software to augment human transcribing. We then introduce an electronic scoring procedure for tagging narratives for scoring that incorporates the traditional AI scoring method with basic keyboard shortcuts in Microsoft Word. Finally, we provide a Python script that can be used to automate counting of scored transcripts. This method accelerates the time it takes to conduct a narrative study and reduces the opportunity for error in narrative quantification. Available open access on GitHub ( https://github.com/cMadan/scoreAI ), our pipeline makes narrative methods more accessible for future research.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D061212 Memory, Episodic Type of declarative memory, consisting of personal memory in contrast to general knowledge. Episodic Memory,Autobiographical Memory,Memory, Prospective,Prospective Memory,Autobiographical Memories,Episodic Memories,Memories, Autobiographical,Memories, Episodic,Memories, Prospective,Memory, Autobiographical,Prospective Memories
D033262 Narration The act, process, or an instance of narrating, i.e., telling a story. In the context of MEDICINE or ETHICS, narration includes relating the particular and the personal in the life story of an individual. Narrative Ethics,Ethics, Narrative,Narrations

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