Mood and memory
Describes experiments in which happy or sad moods were induced in Ss by hypnotic suggestion to investigate the influence of emotions.
Article Abstract
“Describes experiments in which happy or sad moods were induced in Ss by hypnotic suggestion to investigate the influence of emotions on memory and thinking. Results show that (a) Ss exhibited mood-state-dependent memory in recall of word lists, personal experiences recorded in a daily diary, and childhood experiences; (b) Ss recalled a greater percentage of those experiences that were affectively congruent with the mood they were in during recall; (c) emotion powerfully influenced such cognitive processes as free associations, imaginative fantasies, social perceptions, and snap judgments about others’ personalities; (d) when the feeling-tone of a narrative agreed with the reader’s emotion, the salience and memorability of events in that narrative were increased. An associative network theory is proposed to account for these results. In this theory, an emotion serves as a memory unit that can enter into associations with coincident events. Activation of this emotion unit aids retrieval of events associated with it; it also primes emotional themata for use in free association, fantasies, and perceptual categorization.”
—Description from publisher
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Bower, G. H. (1981). Mood and memory. American Psychologist, 36(2), 129–48. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.36.2.129
Date
January 1, 1981
Creator(s)
Gordon H. Bower
Extent
20 pages
Publisher
American Psychological Association
Rights
American Psychological Association
APA Citation
Bower, G. H. (1981). Mood and memory. American Psychologist, 36(2), 129–48. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.36.2.129
Audience
Other Mental Health Professionals
Language
English
Content Type
Article, Peer-Reviewed
Access Type
External Resource