Emotion and false memory

The context-content paradox

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4422336
AutoresH Bookbinder (0000-0002-4913-6748), S H Bookbinder, Charles J Brainerd (0000-0002-8358-7497)
Año2016
Volumen142
Número12
Páginas1315-1351
Fecha de publicación2016-12-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPsychological Bulletin (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0033-2909 • E-ISSN: 1939-1455
EditorialAmerican Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1037/bul0000077
PMID27748610
OpenAlexW2538927493
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas26
Referencias citadas6

False memories are influenced by a variety of factors, but emotion is a variable of special significance, for theoretical and practical reasons. Interestingly, emotion's effects on false memory depend on whether it is embedded in the content of to-be-remembered events or in our moods, where mood is an aspect of the context in which events are encoded. We sketch the theoretical basis for this content-context dissociation and then review accumulated evidence that content and context effects are indeed different. Paradoxically, we find that in experiments on spontaneous and implanted false memories, negatively valenced content foments distortion, but negatively valenced moods protect against it. In addition, correlational data show that enduring negative natural moods (e.g., depression) foment false memory. Current opponent-process models of false memory, such as fuzzy-trace theory, are able to explain the content-context dissociation: Variations in emotional content primarily affect memory for the gist of events, whereas variations in emotional context primarily affect memory for events' exact verbatim form. Important questions remain about how these effects are modulated by variations in memory tests and in arousal. Promising methods of tackling those questions are outlined, especially designs that separate the gist and verbatim influences of emotion. (PsycINFO Database Record

Affect (linguistics · Autobiographical memory · Cognitive psychology · Content (measure theory · Context (archaeology · Dissociation (chemistry · False Memory · Memory errors · Mood · PsycINFO · Recall · Valence (chemistry · Deception detection and forensic psychology · Face Recognition and Perception · Memory Processes and Influences · Psychology · Communication · Social Psychology