Emotion Processing
Panel Name
Advances in Psychology: Emotion, Memory, and Social Competence
Location
Lecture Center Concourse
Start Date
3-5-2019 3:00 PM
End Date
3-5-2019 5:00 PM
Presentation Type
Poster Session
Academic Major
Psychology
Abstract
The literature shows that words processed according to their survival relevance typically produce a memory advantage. Similarly, words containing an emotional connotation tend to lead to better memory. The current study examined whether combining both the survival processing effect and emotion processing advantage would cause an interaction that amplified the effects on memory. Using a modified version of the traditional survival processing paradigm, participants rated emotion words (positive, negative, or neutral) on their relevance to a survival context or home-moving control context. They were later given a surprise recall task for the rated words. The results did not show a survival processing effect regardless of emotional valence. However, there was a significant effect in the amount of intrusions (i.e., false memory) for the conditions that contained negative emotion words. More research is needed to see if emotion words are a boundary condition to the robust survival processing effect.
Select Where This Work Originated From
Honors College Thesis
Award
Situation Prize for Research
First Faculty Advisor
Dr. Jeanette Altarriba
First Advisor Email
jaltarriba@albany.edu
First Advisor Department
Psychology
Second Faculty Advisor
Allison Wilck
Second Faculty Advisor Email
awilck@albany.edu
Second Advisor Department
Psychology
The work you will be presenting can best be described as
Finished or mostly finished by conference date
Emotion Processing
Lecture Center Concourse
The literature shows that words processed according to their survival relevance typically produce a memory advantage. Similarly, words containing an emotional connotation tend to lead to better memory. The current study examined whether combining both the survival processing effect and emotion processing advantage would cause an interaction that amplified the effects on memory. Using a modified version of the traditional survival processing paradigm, participants rated emotion words (positive, negative, or neutral) on their relevance to a survival context or home-moving control context. They were later given a surprise recall task for the rated words. The results did not show a survival processing effect regardless of emotional valence. However, there was a significant effect in the amount of intrusions (i.e., false memory) for the conditions that contained negative emotion words. More research is needed to see if emotion words are a boundary condition to the robust survival processing effect.