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Reshaping Self-Identity Through Memory Replay: Integrating Schema-Congruent and -Incongruent Learning with a Smartphone-Based Intervention

Poster Session B - Sunday, March 8, 2026, 8:00 – 10:00 am PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballroom

Aidan Steeves¹ (), Sophie Kudryk², Rotem Paz^2,3, David Moscovitch², Morgan Barense^1,3; ¹Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, ²Department of Psychology, Centre for Mental Health Research and Treatment, University of Waterloo, ³Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Hospital

Autobiographical episodic memory links past experiences into a coherent self-schema that guides how future events are encoded and recalled. In social anxiety, self-schemas surrounding social interaction and performance are often negative, reinforced through selective recall of past social failures during post-event rumination. Over time, this biased recall strengthens maladaptive self-beliefs, perpetuating social anxiety and contributing to loneliness and social isolation. The Schema Congruent/Incongruent Learning (SCIL) model proposes that schema-incongruent memories evoke hippocampal prediction errors that drive schema updating, while congruent memories consolidate revised self-beliefs. Digital memory augmentation technology like HippoCamera, a smartphone app that enhances episodic recall by allowing users to capture and replay high-fidelity memory cues, may leverage these mechanisms to promote adaptive self-schema updating in individuals with social anxiety, who often struggle to recall memories that conflict with their negative self-schemas. Participants will engage in a two-part intervention using HippoCamera to capture and replay daily positive social experiences. The replay schedule will be structured to initially elicit hippocampal prediction errors that challenge negative/maladaptive self-beliefs, while later sessions will reinforce updated positive/adaptive ones, reflecting the schema-incongruent and schema-congruent learning phases proposed by the SCIL model. Structured replay of schema-incongruent/congruent memories using HippoCamera is expected to facilitate the transition from maladaptive to adaptive self-schemas, reduce social anxiety, and enhance positive sentiment in recalled social memories. By combining the SCIL model with HippoCamera, this study offers a novel approach toward improving self-concept, reducing social anxiety, and understanding the bidirectional relationship between self-identity and autobiographical episodic memory.

Topic Area: LONG-TERM MEMORY: Episodic