Memory 1 - emotional experiences better remembered + memory trade offs Flashcards
(11 cards)
- Evaluate the common belief that emotional experiences are better remembered than more mundane events.
LOA and para focuses
LOA Research points to emotion not enhancing memory
Para focuses:
emotion does enhance memory and emotion does not enhance memory
- Evaluate the common belief that emotional experiences are better remembered than more mundane events.
Emotion does enhance memory - research x2 + critical eval
Emotion DOES enhance Memory
Flashbulb memories, vivid memories (Brown & Kulik, 1977)are vivid, long-lasting memory associated with a surprising or shocking event, often of national or personal significance
Research by Leippe et al. (1978) involved participants viewing a theft of and had to identify perpetrator. They found memory for more serious crime 56% correct but memory for more minor crime 19% correct.
Research by Wagenaar and Groeneweg (1990) looked at memory for trauma by analysing testimonies of concentration camp survivors. Re interviewed 40+ years and witnesses agreed on and spontaneously recalled basic facts (e.g. punishments, brutal treatment). They found a ‘remarkable degree of remembering’ [BUT - individual cases where critical details were forgotten (as dramatic as witnessing a murder)]
- Evaluate the common belief that emotional experiences are better remembered than more mundane events
Emotion does NOT Enhance Memory research x2
Research by Loftus & Burns (1982) consisted of a video showing a yvoung boy being shot in the face. They found recall for number on boy’s shirt is significantly worse in the traumatic condition.
Research by Christianson & Nilsson (1984) involvdd participants being shown Faces with associated descriptors (e.g. name, hobby) and Phase 2 sometimes includes grotesque forensic pathology pictures. They found Recall for characteristics impaired.
- Discuss whether emotion affects memory for some aspects of an experience more than others (memory trade-offs),
explain memory trade offs and focus of essay
Memory tradeoff - “…a flashbulb memory is only somewhat indiscriminate and is very far from complete.” (Brown & Kulik, 1977)
Emotion does not have all-or-none effects on memory, instead, emotion may selectively enhance memory for some aspects of an experience while having no effect, or even making memory worse, for other aspects
focuses;
Central-peripheral trade-off
Gist-detail trade-off
- Discuss whether emotion affects memory for some aspects of an experience more than others (memory trade-offs).
Central vs peripheral explain what it is
Central vs peripheral :
Applied to memory research: predicted that high levels of arousal enhance memory for central information but impair memory for peripheral information (Christianson, 1992).
Memory for the shirt in Loftus & Burns’ experiment is peripheral detail.Memory for the associated characteristics for disfigured faces in Christianson & Nilsson’s study is peripheral.
Whereas…Memory for the criminal’s appearance in Leippe et al.’s study is central. Well-remembered information for vivid autobiographical memories tends to be central to the event (e.g. Peterson & Whalen (2001), though cf. Flashbulb memories).
- Discuss whether emotion affects memory for some aspects of an experience more than others (memory trade-offs)
evidence to support central-peripheral trade off part 1 research x2 + critical eval
Paradigmatic case of attention focusing in memory is the possibility of ‘weapon focus’ in EWT (Loftus, 1979).
Research by Loftus, Loftus & Messo (1987) weapon focus found poorer memory for perpetrator details in weapon condition. So there is a memory trade off such that the memory for the weapon is good but for the perpetrator (background) is poor. The study also involved eye tracking which revealed that participants spent more time fixating on the gun than the cheque indicating a focus on the weapon.
[but eye tracking and memory results were analyzed separately so we cannot find support for a causal link between memory narrowing and weapon focus effect on memory.]
- Discuss whether emotion affects memory for some aspects of an experience more than others (memory trade-offs)
evidence to support central-peripheral trade off part 2 research x1 + critical eval
Research by Kensinger, Piguet, Krendl & Corkin (2005) had Participants view slides under incidental (approach/avoid) and intentional (remember scene) instructions. Then recognition memory test for central and peripheral aspects separately. Higher correct responses for central negative for intentional than central neutral also higher for peripheral neutral for incidental than peripheral negative.
[But problems for C-P explanation comes from Heuer & Reisberg (1990) who Matched traumatic and neutral stories each consisting of 12 slides.Two week delay then 3 memory tests where they found In all cases performance is better for arousal versions. The definition of ‘central’ vs ‘peripheral’ is critical for determining whether this trade-off is observed].
- Discuss whether emotion affects memory for some aspects of an experience more than others (memory trade-offs)
Gist-detail trade-off explain and research critical eval
Emotion increases the likelihood that the ‘gist’ of an emotional experience will be remembered, but impairs memory for the specific visual details of the experience.
Research Adolphs, Denburg & Tranel (2001) involved Participants view highly negative and neutral photographs and then two types of memory test: gist and detail. They found ‘Gist’ memory best with the most aversive images and ‘Detail’ memory worst with the most aversive images
[But Sometimes, emotion seems to enhance memory for visual detail rather than impairing it Kensinger, Garoff-Eaton & Schacter (2006)]
- Discuss whether emotion affects memory for some aspects of an experience more than others (memory trade-offs)
Maybe an interaction between the two C-P and G-D - research x2
Research by Kensinger, Gutchess & Schacter (2007) found Central/Peripheral memory trade-off more pronounced for visual detail than gist
More recently (e.g. Madan et al., 2020; Caplan et al., 2019):Emotion can affect memory for an emotional ‘item’ itself and for item-context associations.
Whether emotion ‘helps’ or ‘hurts’ memory depends on the way memory is assessed and the relationship between the emotional item and its ‘associate’.
- Discuss whether emotion affects memory for some aspects of an experience more than others (memory trade-offs)
overall
Overall, Emotion does influence memory.BUT: Its effects are uneven - while some spatial aspects of emotional experiences are enhanced in memory, others may be impaired. In general, information which can be considered ‘central’ (in some way) to the emotional aspect of an experience tends to be well-remembered. And this includes specific visual details of central information
