Gen psych 1 Flashcards
What is the link between memory and emotional events?
Events and objects that arouse feelings in us are more easily remembered than neutral ones. EG. Bicycle accident. We recall emotional information better if it is paired with a defective recall of a non emotional aspect of the same event/ context in which it occurred ➡️ because our attention is limited, although we have an excellent memory of this event, we do not remember everything. That means we have bad peripheral features of that event like: we cant remember the color if the car in the accident.
What is the gist?
We have better memory for an information if it’s related to a general theme than for details that are unrelated for the event/ gist.
The memory of the gist occurs because information that is related to the event are easily retrieved. Even peripheral information about that is associated with the gist from the event is easier to remember than peripheral info that is not related to the gist at all.
What is the positivity effect?
Basically, aging is associated with decline in cognitive performance especially in attention and memory. Old people tend to pay more attention to positive rather than negative.
Why is it easier to remember negative things?
ITs more important to our safety and survival than positive things. they also generate more physiological arousal than other situations.
Do emotions make information more rememberable?
Yes, it has been proven that emotion makes information more memorable not only during learning but also when we are committing it to the memory.
What is mood congruent memory?
The tendency to remember the information from a memory that has the same emotional effect on us as we were experiencing it.
The theory behind it is that an emotional state excites the relevant emotion node in memory. The excitation then spreads through the whole network of nodes and brings back memories associated with emotion.
What are some criticisms with this theory? (emotion congruency)
People tend to remember or make up false information about a memory that never really happened.
What is the mood-state-dependent memory?
Tendency to remember things if we are always in the same mood. Meaning if we are happy while studying gp, and were happy when we take the gp exam, we tend to remember more if were always in the same mood.
What are recognition tasks?
Participant is instructed to differentiate between learned (old) and new (not yet committed to the memory) material
What is mood congruent judgement?
Refers to the fact that people make decisions based on their mood. People also make mood congruent judgements about sensory experiences, other people and themselves.
Explain the mood congruent judgement:
When you are sad, sad things seem to come easier to mind
What is the Affect-As-Information?
Individuals use their own affective state (= the feelings they feel rn) as relevant information when making evaluative decisions.
What is the appraisal tendency network?
A theory in which they apply appraisals theories of emotion to explain the effects of specific emotions on judgement and decision making.
What are heuristics?
Being able to form an opinion without paying attention to detailed information. People who are happy are less likely to be influenced by arguments in a message and more influenced by heuristics than people who are in a sad state.
People who are happy also rely more on their knowledge than ppl who are in a sad state. Sadness leads people to be more sensitive to detailed information and to rely less on heuristics in judgement.
What is the hedonic view?
Individuals will seek to experience/maintain a positive affective state. When individuals are already in a positive affective state, they do everything to keep it that way even if it means avoiding doing something. The result: They do not engage in careful emotion processing and rely on these heuristics that will help them preserve their current affective state.
In contrast to this, people who are in a negative affective state, will do everything to change this, therefore they process information in much more detail to change their current affective state from negative to positive.
