4. Emotion and Memory Flashcards
Enhanced memory for emotional events has been attributed to interactions between which neural areas?
The amygdala and hippocampus and prefrontal cortex (PFC)
What role do hormones play in emotional memory?
Emotions trigger stress hormones, which trigger activity in the amygdala (next to the hippocampus)
What is mood dependent memory?
Enhanced recollection of information previously encountered in a specific mood state when pne re-experiences that mood state at retrieval
What is mood congruent memory?
We are more likely to recall experiences that are in line with our current mood
Why is mood congruent memory an issue for people suffering with depression?
It indicated bias towards negative memories
Short lived, elicited in response to object or event, can be very intense, we have awareness of it - moods or emotions?
Emotions
What is more intense, mood or emotion?
Emotion
***** are general feelings, often without a link to a specific object or event
Moods
What is the misinformation effect?
Incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event e.g. Loftus and Palmer
Misinformation studies have found there are increased false memories for details of: positive or negative scenes?
Negative
What is the Easterbrook cue utilisation theory?
High arousal restricts the focus of attention, causing a person to notice information that elicits arousal, but to fail to process other information
What is meant by the memory trade-off theory?
Individuals remember the central emotional content of a stimulus but forget the other details
Memory ‘trade off’ only occurs for information presented in close spatial proximity to an emotional item, true or false?
False, it also occurs for temporal proximity
When witnesses recall a crime scene or jurors recall upsetting testimony during the course of a trial, they are more likely to remember threatening information, and be susceptible to what?
Misinformation concerning peripheral details, such as the setting in which the crime occured
A very large study (N > 5000), demonstrated that false memories of fictional political events were more likely when …
… the fabricated event aligned with participants’ own political leanings
Self-reported interest in a topic increases *****-memory
False memory, but it can also increase true memories about that topic
The episodic memory system and long-term self make up what?
Autobiographical memory
What kind of events are recalled more easily and directly? Positive or negative?
Positive
Autobiographical memories were accessed most quickly in response to music cues that were what, positive or negative?
Positive in emotion and highly arousing
Why do happy musical cues lead to the most direct access to past events?
It relates to the proposed function of autobiographical memory to maintain emotional well-being an a positive sense of self
What type of musical cues are associated with memories rated as more social and energetic?
Cues with both high arousal and positive valence
Mood congruent memory: individuals in a sad mood recall what type of event faster?
Negative
What is overgeneral memory?
A tendency to retrieve memories only in generalised ways and inability to retrieve specific memories
In what disorder is overgeneral autobiographical memory a consistent feature?
Major depressive disorder (MDD), as well as in other affective disorders
There is a relationship between ** and specificity of memory, moderated by the qualitative aspects of the **, and the way in which people cope with it
Trauma
In 1889 Pierre Janet postulated that intense emotional reactions make events traumatic by…
…interfering with the integration of the experience into existing memory schemes
What is meant by defensive exclusion?
Insecurely attached individuals will filter out all information related to his or her attachment figure, as this is associated with psychological pain
Szpunar et al, 2012: found that overtime, details associated with negative simulations of future events are what, easier or more difficult to remember?
More difficult
Healthy adults often think about their futures in an overly positive or negative light?
Positive
What is the fading affect bias?
The intensity of emotions associated with memory of pleasant events generally fades more slowly across time than the intensity of emotions associated memory of unpleasant events
