influence of emotions on cognition

Question 1

flashbulb memories

Answer 1

A highly detailed, vivid and long-lasting memory of an emotionally significant and surprising event.
- Thought to be resistant to forgetting, unlike normal memories that may fade or distort.

Question 2

elements of FBM

Answer 2

• Place
• Ongoing activity
  -Informant
• Own affect
• Other’s affect
• Aftermath

Question 3

flashbulb memories (Brown and Kulik 1977)

Answer 3

A highly detailed, vivid, and long-lasting memory of an emotionally significant and surprising event.
- These memories are thought to be resistant to forgetting, unlike ordinary memories that may fade/distort.

Question 4

Elements of FBM

Answer 4

Place, ongoing activity, informant, own affect, other’s affect, aftermath.

Question 5

special-meachnism hypothesis

Answer 5

• Brown and Kulik proposed a special biological mechanism is triggered when an even exceeds a certain level of surprise and emotional intensity.
• This mechanism creates a permanent record of the details and circumstances surrounding the event.
• Implies that flashbulb memories have unique properties compared to normal memories (stored differently).

Question 6

neuroscientific support

Answer 6

• Modern neuroscience supports the idea that emotional events are better remembered.
• Likely due to the role of amygdala (brain structure involved in emotion processing and memory consolidation).
• Studies using brain imaging have shown increased amygdala activity during emotionally intense experiences, strengthening memory formation.

Question 7

importance-driven model (modern understanding)

Answer 7

• Most widely accepted explanation.
• Suggests that personal relevance on an event determines emotional intensity and therefore the strength of the memory.
• People are more likely to form flashbulb memories of events that have significant consequences for them personally.

Question 8

biological support for FBM

Answer 8

• Role of adrenaline in memory formation:
  
  • Stress, fear, or surprise trigger the release of adrenaline, heightening arousal and strengthening memory encoding.
  • This process ensures that fearful or important experiences are stored in detail, likely as an evolutionary survival mechanism.
  • Enhanced memory for dangerous situations may have helped early humans avoid threats in the future.

Question 9

sharot et al. (2007) aim

Answer 9

To investigate the role of biological factors in the formation of flashbulb memories.

Question 10

sharot et al. procedure

Answer 10

Quasi experiment conducted 3 years after 9/11.
Sample was 24 people who were in NYC on the day of the attack.
- Participants were placed in an fMRI scanner and presented with word cues.
- Each word was paired with either “summer” or “September” to direct memory recall toward personal summer memories or 9/11 related memories.
- Brain activity in the amygdala was measured while participants recalled memories.
- After scanning participants:
- Rated their memories for vividness, detail, confidence, and emotional arousal.
- Wrote descriptions of their personal memories.

Question 11

sharot et al. results

Answer 11

• Only half of the participants reported having FBM (high detail, confidence, emotional intensity).
• Those with FBM were more likely to be closer to the World Trade Centre at the time of the attack.
• Participants closer to the attack included more specific details in their written recollections.

Question 12

sharot et al. fMRI results

Answer 12

• Downtown participants showed higher amygdala activation when recalling 9/11memories compared to summer memories.
• Participants further away from the attack had equal amygdala activation for both types of memories.
• Correlation found between amygdala activation and vividness of FBM.

Question 13

sharot et al. conclusion

Answer 13

These results suggest that close personal experience may be critical in engaging the neural mechanisms that produce the vivid memories characteristic of flashbulb memory.

Question 14

mcgaugh and cahill (1995) aim

Answer 14

To investigate the role of adrenaline and amygdala on emotionally memory formation (whether emotionally arousing events are remembered better than neutral ones).

Question 15

mcgaugh and cahill procedure

Answer 15

• Participants divided into two groups.
• Each group was shown a series of slides accompanied by two different stories:
  
  • Group 1 (neutral): A story about a boy and his mother visiting his father for a routine check-up.
  • Group 2 (emotional): A story where a boy was involved in a car accident and his legs were severed, his limbs were reattached at the hospital.
• Two weeks later participants were given a recognition memory task on the details of the story.
• In a follow up version of the study, a third group was shown the emotional story but had been given propranolol (beta-blocker) before the experiment to block adrenaline and amygdala activation.

Question 16

mcgaugh and cahill results

Answer 16

Not only did participants remember the details when they had an emotional response to the story, but they remembered less when they had less when they had an emotional response but adrenaline levels were artificially repressed using propranolol.

Question 17

mcgaugh and cahill conclusion

Answer 17

Adrenaline and amygdala play a significant role in the formation of memories, thus emotionally arousing events lead to better memory consolidation.
- This suggests a biological basis for strong emotional memories, such as flashbulb memories.

Question 18

FBM strengths

Answer 18

+Biological evidence that supports the role of emotion in memory formation.
+ The theory challenged our understanding of memory and led to findings than different types of memory are processed in different