Memory 2 - forgetting emotion and forgetting emotional experiences Flashcards
(12 cards)
- To what extent is emotion resistant to intentional forgetting?
what is the LOA and the focus of the 2 paragraphs ?
Emotion may resist due to encoding and retrieval – directed forgetting
- Directed forgetting of emotional words – list method
- Directed forgetting of emotional words – item method
- To what extent is emotion resistant to intentional forgetting?
Directed forgetting of emotional words – list method part 1 - why is emotion resistant and research to back it up? + critical eval
Wessel…
Why is emotion resistant? - Retrieval inhibition: (1) segregate remember and forget, (2) inhibit retrieval, emotion may interfere with either or both
Research by Wessel & Merckelbach (2006) - List method using neutral vs. negative words. Modified paradigm – computer crash. They Found typical directed forgetting effect in recall but not recognition. Also found no difference between neutral and negative items – directed forgetting effect for negative as well as neutral.
[Potentially found no difference between neural and negative items – maybe due to the word stimuli? or not high enough arousal?]
- To what extent is emotion resistant to intentional forgetting?
Directed forgetting of emotional words – list method part 2 - research to back it up? + critical eval
Payne..
Research by Payne & Corrigan (2007) looked at emotion resisting list-method directed forgetting - Emotion-laden words convey emotional information but do not produce emotion. List-method with pictures - One neutral list and emotional list. They found when participants tried to forget emotional or neutral memories, they were able to forget only neutral which contrasts with previous studies (e.g. Wessel & Merkelbach, 2006). [potentially emotional state rather than simply activation of emotional knowledge critical?]
- To what extent is emotion resistant to intentional forgetting?
Directed forgetting of emotional words – item method PART 1
Why is emotion resistant? research to back up DF of emotional words item method
Bailey…
Attention, elaborative processing. If we know we want to forget neutral information, we may choose to pay less attention and process less deeply. May be more difficult/effortful for emotion?
Research by Bailey & Chapman (2012) looked at emotion resisting item-method directed forgetting. Item-method with words, Simultaneous word-instruction presentation. They found directed forgetting effect for neutral, positive and negative words. Smaller for emotional than neutral. Emotion resists
- To what extent is emotion resistant to intentional forgetting?
Directed forgetting of emotional words – item method PART 2
research to back up DF of emotional words item method
Nowicka..
Research by Nowicka, et al. (2011) looked at emotion resisting Item-method directed forgetting with pictures. Included a fMRI during encoding. They found that forgetting emotional images involves widespread activation, indicates more demanding, effortful process.
- To what extent can we forget emotional experiences from our lives?
what is the LOA and the focus of the 2 paragraphs ?
Directed forgetting paradigms may not be for emotional events and emotion may not resist direct supression
Directed forgetting in emotional expereinces (AM’s)
Emotion does not resist direct supression
- To what extent can we forget emotional experiences from our lives?
Directed forgetting in emotional expereinces (AM’s) PART 1 - research to back it up? + critical eval
Barnier…
Research by Barnier et al (2007, Experiment 5). Involved a variant on List-method directed forgetting paradigm. Participants self-generate stimuli in response to cue words. Group 1: List 1 and List 2 words generated from ‘school years’. Group 2: List 1 words generated from ‘school years’ and List 2 words generated from different thematic period. They found smaller Directed Forgetting effect for related (Group 1) than unrelated (Group 2) items. But – significant DF effect for both.
[DF Effects apparent for both positive and negative experiences. BUT – especially high-intensity emotions might make memories more resistant. What about when motivation to forget is high, and repeated attempts are made?]
- To what extent can we forget emotional experiences from our lives?
Directed forgetting in emotional expereinces (AM’s) PART 2 - research to back it up? + critical eval
Joslyn…
Research by Joslyn & Oakes (2005, Experiment 2). Also involved variant on a List-method Directed forgetting paradigm. 2 week diary study - Including time period surrounding supposed emotional event (Valentine’s Day).Found directed forgeting effect for positive and negative memories.
[But high-intensity events appear to be resilient, Impact predominantly on positive events – lack of motivation?]
Conclusions: People remember fewer autobiographical memories when instructed to forget. This effect is reasonably long-lasting (1 week later). Intentional forgetting explains loss of at least some AMs.
- To what extent can we forget emotional experiences from our lives?
Emotion does not resist direct supression PART 1 - research
Anderson….
Sometimes, (emotional) memories are spontaneously triggered by some reminder. Most DF paradigms: recall/recognise study items themselves, doesn’t allow for insight into how we deal with reminders
Research by Anderson & Green (2001) involved think/no-think task. In this paradigm, participants learn associations between words, and then are instructed to either think or not think about certain associated items during a suppression training phase. S Found Direct Suppression of No-Think items - participants recalled No-Think items (where they were instructed to suppress retrieval) less effectively than Think items (where they were instructed to retrieve the information).
- To what extent can we forget emotional experiences from our lives?
Emotion does not resist direct supression PART 2 - research
Depue…
Research by Depue et al (2006). Think/no-think with neutral and emotional face-word pairs (Expt 1) and face-picture pairs (Expt 2). Think/no-think phase – 5 or 10 repetitions of THINK or NO-THINK. Found that control effects larger for emotional items in both directions i.e. memory enhancement for THINK and impairment for NO-THINK more pronounced for emotional items
- To what extent can we forget emotional experiences from our lives?
Emotion does not resist direct supression PART 3 - research critical eval
Van…
Research by van Shie, Geraerts & Anderson (2013) used the think/no-think paradigm - inhibit neutral and negatively valenced memories. Recall was poorer for words in the no-think condition compared to baseline, and recall was better than baseline in the think conditions which shows that direct suppression can impair recall of unwanted memories.
[also people’s ability to suppress unwanted memories did not differ for memories cued by either negative or neutral reminders (van Shie et al., 2013). These findings are significant because they provide the first evidence that emotionally negative memories can be forgotten when using direct suppression]
- To what extent can we forget emotional experiences from our lives?
Emotion does not resist direct supression PART 4 - research critical eval
Noreen…
Research by Noreen & MacLeod (2013) looked at ANT (autobiographical think/no think(. Found whole episodes (i.e. gist) – NOT forgotten
[BUT – details of causes, consequence, and personal meaning reduced. Effect found for negative but not positive memories]
