The Influence of Emotion on Memory for Temporal Information Arnaud D’Argembeau, Martial Van der Linden University of Geneva Emotion December 2005, Vol. 5, No. 4, p Andrea Sweazy

Why Do This Study? It has been found that contextual information is better remembered for emotional items It has been found that contextual information is better remembered for emotional items To determine if the emotional importance of an item affects one’s ability to pinpoint the time at which the item was originally encountered To determine if the emotional importance of an item affects one’s ability to pinpoint the time at which the item was originally encountered

Hypothesis Individuals will be able to recall the time that items were encountered with great emotional salience (positive and negative items) more accurately and more often than items with little emotional salience (neutral items) Individuals will be able to recall the time that items were encountered with great emotional salience (positive and negative items) more accurately and more often than items with little emotional salience (neutral items)

Theoretical Constructs Memory for Temporal InformationMemory for Temporal Information –Operational Definition: One’s ability to recall the time of past events or the time at which an item was encounteredOne’s ability to recall the time of past events or the time at which an item was encountered Measured by correcting for the change in the probability of getting a specific score by chance as a function of the number of correct recognitions (expressed as a z-score) Measured by correcting for the change in the probability of getting a specific score by chance as a function of the number of correct recognitions (expressed as a z-score) Item MemoryItem Memory –Operational Definition: One’s ability to recall past events or itemsOne’s ability to recall past events or items Scored by subtracting the number of false recognitions from the number of correct recognitions Scored by subtracting the number of false recognitions from the number of correct recognitions

Participants 48 students from the University of Geneva in Switzerland 48 students from the University of Geneva in Switzerland –24 men and 24 women Mean age of 23.7 years Mean age of 23.7 years

Independent Variables Pictures Pictures –Measured qualitatively with three levels Positive (42) Positive (42) Negative (42) Negative (42) Neutral (42) Neutral (42) –Taken from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) Selected based on normative ratings of arousal and valence Selected based on normative ratings of arousal and valence Sex Sex –Measured qualitatively with two levels Male Male Female Female

Dependent Variable Memory Memory –Measured quantitatively with two levels Memory for temporal information Memory for temporal information Item memory Item memory

Procedure Participants were presented with three lists of positive, negative, and neutral pictures Participants were presented with three lists of positive, negative, and neutral pictures After each list was presented, participants performed some arithmetic operations for 3 minutes (1 minute after the final list) After each list was presented, participants performed some arithmetic operations for 3 minutes (1 minute after the final list) After the final list was presented, participants had to indicate if the picture had been presented during the study. If they claimed they remembered it, they then had to indicate whether it had been presented in the first, second, or third list. After the final list was presented, participants had to indicate if the picture had been presented during the study. If they claimed they remembered it, they then had to indicate whether it had been presented in the first, second, or third list.

Results: Item Memory A 2 X 2 ANOVA was done measuring sex and picture type A 2 X 2 ANOVA was done measuring sex and picture type –Significant main effect of picture type ۰ F=20.6 with p<.05 –Significant main effect of sex with item memory being better for women than men ۰ F=4.44 with p=.04 –Gender X Picture Type interaction was not significant ۰ F=.72 with p=.49

Results of t-Tests tp-value Item Memory for Negative Pictures vs. Positive Pictures 4.22<.01 Positive Pictures vs. Neutral Pictures Negative Pictures vs. Neutral Pictures 5.68<.01

Results: Memory for Temporal Information A 2 X 2 ANOVA was done measuring sex and picture type A 2 X 2 ANOVA was done measuring sex and picture type –Significant main effect of picture type ٭ F=7.8 with p<.01 –Main effect of sex approached statistical significance ٭ F=3.44 with p=.07 –Gender X Picture Type interaction was not significant ٭ F=.48 with p=.62

Results of t-Tests tp-value Difference Between Negative and Positive Pictures Difference Between Negative and Neutral Pictures 3.98<.01 Difference Between Positive and Neutral Pictures

Discussion ٭ The study was done well ٭ The hypothesis was somewhat correct, but only negative emotion was shown to enhance memory for temporal information –Why? ۰ Could occur partly because a certain negative picture could have caused participants to remember a previous negative picture, developing some kind of an order for the pictures ۰ Also could be that negative pictures may be more relevant to the goals or concerns of the participants

Discussion: Changes I Would Make ◊ I would look at masculinity and femininity of participants because this may have accounted for the sex differences found in this study ◊ I would test participants outside of Switzerland and outside of a University setting ◊ It would also be interesting to look at older adults as well to see if the same results are obtained regarding memory for temporal information

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