Influence of mood on the  emotional enhancement effect

The current study researched the effect of emotional stimuli on memory and the influence of mood on this process. Earlier research has shown that emotional stimuli are better remembered than neutral stimuli due to an increase in attention and consolidation of emotional stimuli. Furthermore, mood has shown to have a significant influence on attention and memory when focusing on clinical outliers such as depression and anxiety, or induced mood. However, it is still unclear whether selfreported mood of healthy participants influences the emotional enhancement effect. In the current study the participants (n = 54) completed a memory task across two days. The participants completed the PANAS-SF questionnaire on the first day to assess their current mood. On the first day 60 negative and 60 neutral pictures were shown. On the second day the participants saw 75 pictures (negative and neutral), 60 of which they had seen the day before and 15 new pictures. We asked them for each picture to...Show moreThe current study researched the effect of emotional stimuli on memory and the influence of mood on this process. Earlier research has shown that emotional stimuli are better remembered than neutral stimuli due to an increase in attention and consolidation of emotional stimuli. Furthermore, mood has shown to have a significant influence on attention and memory when focusing on clinical outliers such as depression and anxiety, or induced mood. However, it is still unclear whether selfreported mood of healthy participants influences the emotional enhancement effect. In the current study the participants (n = 54) completed a memory task across two days. The participants completed the PANAS-SF questionnaire on the first day to assess their current mood. On the first day 60 negative and 60 neutral pictures were shown. On the second day the participants saw 75 pictures (negative and neutral), 60 of which they had seen the day before and 15 new pictures. We asked them for each picture to indicate how confident they were whether they had seen it the day before or if it was new. As we expected, we found an increased memory accuracy for negative pictures compared to neutral pictures. Moreover, we found less false alarms for negative pictures compared to neutral pictures and more hits for negative pictures. There was no significant effect found for mood influencing memory. Suggestions for future research are provided in the discussion.Show less

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Influence of mood on the emotional enhancement effect