Emotions

Question 1

INTRO

Answer 1

• Memory for emotions

- Evidence & factors

Question 2

Memory for emotions

Answer 2

Explicit memory for emotion can be reconstructed

Suggested that implicit memory for emotions experience at time of event is permanent

Emotions & emotion regulation goals experienced at time of retrieval can influence memory for emotions

Emotions experience at time of event viewed as event specific knowledge in self-memory, similar to other sensory & perceptual details

As event specific knowledge not thought to be stored in self-memory system, memory for emotions would be reconstructed at retrieval

Question 3

Evidence & factors

Answer 3

Ask pp to rate emotions as experienced, can later recall what emotions experienced

Reconstruction may be affected by individuals expectations- how we anticipate feeling prior to event

Cultural beliefs- type of emotions valued in culture, women retrospectively report more emotions than men, but not online

Individual differences- pp with higher score on self-esteem measure had biased memories about specific autobiographical events in positive direction, reverse true for lower self-esteem

Question 4

Emotion Reconstruction

Answer 4

Key function of AM is do help guide future behaviour & decisions

Emotional events most likely to be remembered so most likely to drive decisions to repeat pleasant events & ignore negative events

When asked to recall how felt during emotional event, must summarise across all affective moments of event

2 critical points- highest emotional arousal & end of episode

Used as useful heuristic to evaluate an event

Question 5

Memory accessibility model

Answer 5

Based on assumption that past feelings can not be stored or recalled

Emotions can be reconstructed based on contextual details like past thoughts, through process of episodic remembering

But these event specific details fade quickly with time

So we are left to rely on semantic memory to reconstruct past emotions

Question 6

Emotion affecting memory content

Answer 6

• Effects of emotion can be uneven
• Emotion can help us to remember some aspects of event clearly but may have no beneficial effect & may hinder ability to retain other event details
• Memory narrowed onto emotion aspects of event
• AM for emotional experiences often only contain select details
• Details that capture attention, interval to emotional event or are goal-relevant remembered best
• Particular types of details remembered can vary based on persons perspective on an event, remember details that are most pertinent/relevant to their experience of event

Question 7

Weapon focus effect- Loftus et al (1987)

Answer 7

Witnesses remember details about weapon used but not about peripheral event features

Real word context

Question 8

Retrieval of emotional memories from AM

Answer 8

Positive events come to mind more readily than negative events

2 possible explanations

Question 9

1) Effects of valence on self-referential processes

Answer 9

Most people’s self-schemes generally positive

Positive experiences may be more self-relevant and easily integrated into self image

When individuals focused on other-perception rather than self-referential processing, more likely to remember negative than positive experiences

Question 10

2) Valence of an event may directly influence way it’s remembered

Answer 10

Affect as information framework

The way we feel can alter how we process info & how so go about the problem solving

Negative emotion- detailed, stimulus-bound processing

Positive emotion- interpretative/relational processing

Question 11

Top-down schemas

Answer 11

Our perception of the world is result of tug of war between top-down & bottom-up processes

Top-down schemas that we have activated will influence how we attend to info

Info we attend to will affect which schemas are most active

The way these events are encoded info memory differs depending on whether positive or negative even, thus so does Memory when retrieved

Question 12

Flashbulb memories

Answer 12

Momentous events lead to memories that are most confident but no more accurate than ordinary memories

Question 13

Talarico & Rubin (2007)

Answer 13

FM no more accurate than ordinary memory but vividness, confidence & other subjective memories all higher in FB

Question 14

Teckan et al (2003)

Answer 14

FM of 9/11 shown to be highly accurate when only personal context info considered

Question 15

Theories of FM formation: Special mechanism

Answer 15

Responsible for FM only, called ‘now, print’

FM are virtually literal representation of the what, how & where of original event

When an event of great importance & emotional impact occurs, system immediately encodes with great detail & vividness

FM’s are subjectively strong but not always totally accurate

Question 16

Theories of FM formation: Ordinary mechanism

Answer 16

FM’s are normal but emotionally charged & socially significant

Normal encoding mechanisms as they’re subject to same forgetting processes & same likelihood of becoming distorted as NM

Errors consistent with meaning of event rather than literal features

Question 17

Flashbulb Evaluation

Answer 17

Difficulty explaining why FM’s are so vivid & half with such overconfidence, unless it’s linked to emotional experience at time of encoding

Accepted theory is that there’s ordinary mechanism but events are emotional

Question 18

Extreme Emotions: Psychogenic amnesia

Answer 18

Abnormal memory functioning in the absence of structural brain damage or known neurobiological cause

Occurs when strong negative emotion disrupts retrieval from AM

General semantic knowledge & intelligence normally well preserved

New learning typically severely impaired & attempts to cue memory unsuccessful