Memory For Negative Information Research Articles

Impact of Instructions on the Positivity Effect in Younger and Older Adults’ Autobiographical Memories

The positivity effect (PE) refers to age-related enhancement in memory for positive information or decreased memory for negative information. The PE is thought to be the result of age-associated shifts in motivational goals towards enhancing well-being. Research has demonstrated the PE in laboratory settings, and a meta-analysis showed that the PE was most robust in conditions with fewer instructions/constraints (Reed et al., 2014). Findings related to the PE in autobiographical memory (AM) are mixed. Goals of the current study include examining 1) whether the PE was evident across four increasingly restrictive AM conditions (involuntary AMs, voluntary AM with no constraints, voluntary AM within a specific time frame, voluntary AM within a specific time frame and related to a specific cue word), and 2) whether available cognitive resources (assessed with the Stroop task and a trail-making test) influence the PE, since cognitive control is essential for achieving goals. Participants (N=126) completed the shortened Memory Experiences Questionnaire for each memory, which assesses several phenomenological characteristics, including memory valence. There were no significant differences in memory valence between the younger (n=69, ages 18-34) and older adult (n=57; ages 60-85) groups for involuntary AMs or the less constrained voluntary AMs, but there was a significant difference for the most constrained AM wherein older adults rated their AMs as more positive than younger adults. Performance on cognitive control measures did not influence the AM valence. These results highlight the importance of considering the effects of type of stimuli and instructions when studying the PE.

Effects of stress on 6- and 7-year-old children’s emotional memory differs by gender

Understanding effects of emotional valence and stress on children’s memory is important for educational and legal contexts. This study disentangled the effects of emotional content of to-be-remembered information (i.e., items differing in emotional valence and arousal), stress exposure, and associated cortisol secretion on children’s memory. We also examined whether girls’ memory is more affected by stress induction. A total of 143 6- and 7-year-old children were randomly allocated to the Trier Social Stress Test for Children (n = 103) or a control condition (n = 40). At 25 min after stressor onset, children incidentally encoded 75 objects varying in emotional valence (crossed with arousal) together with neutral scene backgrounds. We found that response bias corrected memory was worse for low-arousing negative items than for neutral and positive items, with the latter two categories not being different from each other. Whereas boys’ memory was largely unaffected by stress, girls in the stress condition showed worse memory for negative items, especially the low-arousing ones, than girls in the control condition. Girls, compared with boys, reported higher subjective stress increases following stress exposure and had higher cortisol stress responses. Whereas a higher cortisol stress response was associated with better emotional memory in girls in the stress condition, boys’ memory was not associated with their cortisol secretion. Taken together, our study suggests that 6- and 7-year-old children, more so girls, show memory suppression for negative information. Girls’ memory for negative information, compared with that of boys, is also more strongly modulated by stress experience and the associated cortisol response.