State-dependent memory (continued)

In the last blog I outlined the idea of  emotional state-dependent memory and how our mood can affect how efficiently we recall information. I also discussed 'Motivate-forgetting theory' (Freud 1901) which states that memories can be made inaccessible to us by unconscious processes if they are surrounded by negative feelings. While it could be argued that this idea focuses more on the forgetting of highly stressful events than on everyday (but still negative) occurrences, Levinger and Clark (1961) decided to assess how this theory applied to remembering simple words.

They began with reading out a list of simple words and asking the participants to respond to each word with what exactly came into their minds. After it was read out, the list was repeated and the participants were asked to recall their original responses to each word. The list included words of both negative meaning (like 'fear,' 'quarrel,' 'angry') and more neutral words (like 'window,' 'cow,' and 'tree').

The emotionally charged words clearly had an effect as on average it took longer for participants to respond to negative words than to neutral ones (not to mention that the negative words caused higher galvanic skin responses, implying emotional stimulation). But since the study aimed to see the effects of emotion on memory, what's more interesting is that the participants had greater difficulty in remembering their associations to the negatively charged words than with the others, almost as if their negativity made them more difficult to remember.

According to Freud, the reason for this is that an 'unconscious' part of our mind purposefully makes memories with less positive content more difficult to recall. however, a later study by Eysenck & Wilson (1973) showed that if there is a delay of about 1 week between the associations being made and then being recalled, then people actually found it easier to recall the emotionally charged words. If it was really a case of repression, then the material would have remained inaccessible to the participants.

In spite of the conflicting indications of the studies, they both do show emotion, or simply emotional association, to have a effect on memory. And according to the overall theory of state-dependent memory, feeling a particular emotion can make it easier for us to recall similarly emotional material. So emotions can be seen as both a help and a hindrance when it comes to remembering things.

State-dependent memory

*Just in case it wasn't made clear in my introduction to the blog, every opinion I express about certain concepts and research are just current interpretations, I do not claim to be an expert and am entirely open to alternate ideas of others*

After applying to study psychology at A-level, the other applicants and I were given a 'Preliminary Assessment Task' to do which was simply a psychology research coursework for us to do over the summer.
At the time it was clear to me that the task had been made just to dissuade anyone who would have taken psychology because it had the reputation of 'an easy A-level,' since anyone of that attitude is unlikely to do coursework over an otherwise work-free summer. Regardless, I chose to treat it as though my entry into the A-level depended on its quality.
The task was to gather information and research on 'state dependent memory' and then design your own study method as if you were investigating it yourself. These are a few of the themes I came across:

Firstly, the idea of 'State-dependent memory' refers to an internal context, where the recalling of an event when we felt a certain way depends on the way we feel while we try to remember it. So memory of events is helped greatly by us feeling the same way at the point of recalling; for example if you want to recall an event when you were happy, it's suggested that it would be easier if you are feeling happy at the current time (McCormick & Mayer, 1991).

Another, more extreme example would be if a victim of a violent crime wished to remember details of the crime to aid police investigation, their memory would be more effective if they were in a similarly emotionally aroused state (Clark et al., 1987).

While I found this concept highly intriguing I couldn't help but be skeptical about the two examples above; personally, I'd say that when you are happy you tend to be more focused on the moment than the past (often, we tend to reflect more on past events when we are unhappy in our current situation), and focus is surely a big factor on the efficiency of our memory. Also, in the case of the victim's recall, if they were put under the amount of distress that a violent crime can provoke then it's quite probable that their recall ability would be fairly reduced. however, I feel that such a case could easily be evidenced either way - but investigating such a variable as extreme distress would have a lot of ethical difficulties involved.

The idea of our memory relying on emotion is not at all a new one; Freud's theory of motivated forgetting (1901) describes an unconscious cause of forgetting certain material. He believed that memories that are likely to cause a negative mood, such as anxiety or shame, are likely to be unconsciously repressed as a defense mechanism. This is most likely referring to very big events occurring in our past (mainly our childhood) that would require a long period of therapy to truly uncover - according to psycho-dynamic theory. So, like the ideas proposed above by Clark and McCormick & Mayer, this describes our internal emotions and bias to make certain memories inaccessible to us.

An Introduction to Nick Rowark's research blog

An Introduction,

Good day, world! I am a student currently studying Psychology A-level - among other subjects - at a sixth form college. And since Psychology is the subject I hold the most interest for, and is the one which I wish to continue to university and beyond with, this blog is going to be all about the external research I have done around the profound study that it is.
 What's more is that I will be adding my own interpretation of the data I find - since the subject is surrounded by and encourages alternate interpretations, evaluations, etc. - in order to both express and reflect on my discovery of the science's copious areas. 
To summarise, this blog will act to narrate the path from my interest to my enrichment yet continued curiosity around the study of Psychology.