Positivity Effect In Memory Research Articles

What is the Role of Memory in Consumer–Brand Relationship? Insight from sport industry

We live in a time when symbolism is of enormous priority. Memories are a particularly important part of the construction of individual identity and the subsequent relationships established, personal and with the loved brands. Previous research in psychology and neurosciences on negativity effect claims that negative events have more impact than positive ones. In an emotional context like the sports industry, being a fan has implications at all levels: psychological, mental and behavioural. Deepening the theme of memory from a psychological perspective, the present study theorises about the hypothesis of positivity effect in memory in the behaviour of sport fans in consumer neuroscience studies. Theoretical contribution and managerial suggestions are presented, in addition, as direction for further research.

Remembering positive or relevant information? Cultural relevance may moderate the age-related positivity effect in memory.

The age-related positivity effect might be driven by age differences in seeking emotional positivity or the meaning attached to positive information. To examine these 2 hypotheses, we recruited young and older Mainland Chinese adults to complete a recognition memory task, in which they viewed and recognized a series of pictures varying in emotional valence (neutral, positive, or negative) and cultural relevance (relevant to Chinese or Western culture). Participants were instructed to just view the pictures (Experiment 1), to focus on the emotional valence of the pictures (Experiment 2a), to focus on the cultural relevance of the pictures (Experiment 2b), or to focus on both (Experiment 2c). Because cultural relevance could alter the meaning of a picture without changing its emotional valence, the age-related positivity effect should not be moderated by cultural relevance if the effect is driven by age differences in seeking emotional positivity. In contrast, such a moderation effect should be detected if the age-related positivity effect is driven by age differences in seeking meaning. The results of Experiment 2b supported the latter speculation by finding an age-related positivity effect for Chinese pictures but not for Western pictures, although the other 3 experiments found an age-related positivity effect that was not moderated by cultural relevance. These results show that the motivation to seek meaning plays a role in the age-related positivity effect at least in certain situations. The cross-experiment divergencies of the results are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

주관적 인지저하 노인들의 기억의 긍정성 효과: 정상 노인 및 경도인지장애 환자와의 비교

주관적 인지저하(Subjective Cognitive Decline, SCD) 노인이 정상 노인과 다른 인지적, 신경생리학적 특성을 지닌다는 사실은 밝혀졌으나 SCD의 정서적 특성에 관한 연구는 거의 수행되지 않았다. 노년기에는 정서적 안정을 이루기 위해서 정서 최적화 특성이 나타나고 그 한 예로 부정적인 자극보다 긍정적인 자극을 더 잘 기억하는 긍정성 효과가 관찰된다. 본 연구는 정상 노인 및 경도인지장애 환자와 비교하여 SCD가 기억의 긍정성 효과를 어떻게 나타내는지 살펴보고자 수행되었다. 정상 노인 30명, SCD 노인 29명, 경도인지장애 환자 24명이 연구에 참여하였다. 정서 기억을 평가하기 위하여 긍정, 중립, 부정 정서로 이루어진 그림과 단어 자극들을 사용하여 기억 과제를 실시하였다. 분석 결과, 정상 노인집단에서는 그림과 단어 자극 회상 시 모두 긍정성 효과가 나타났으나 SCD 집단에서는 두 자극 모두에서 긍정성 효과가 관찰되지 않았고 그림자극에서 정서적 기억향상만이 관찰되었다. 반면에 경도인지장애 집단에서는 두 자극 모두에서 정서적 기억향상이 관찰되지 않았다. 이 결과는 SCD의 정서 조절능력이 이미 정상 노인보다 손상되었고, SCD에 대한 조기 개입이 필요함을 시사한다.

Advanced Aging Enhances the Positivity Effect in Memory: Due to Cognitive Control or Age-Related Decline in Emotional Processing?

Older adults typically remember more positive than negative information compared to their younger counterparts; a phenomenon referred to as the ‘positivity effect.’ According to the socioemotional selectivity theory (SST), the positivity effect derives from the age-related motivational shift towards attaining emotionally meaningful goals which become more important as the perception of future time becomes more limited. Cognitive control mechanisms are critical in achieving such goals and therefore SST predicts that the positivity effect is associated with preserved cognitive control mechanisms in older adults. In contrast, the aging-brain model suggests that the positivity effect is driven by an age-related decline in the amygdala which is responsible for emotional processing and emotional learning. The aim of the current research was to address whether the age-related positivity effect is associated with cognitive control or impaired emotional processing associated with aging. We included older old adults, younger old adults and younger adults and tested their memory for emotional stimuli, cognitive control and amygdala-dependent fear conditioned responses. Consistent with prior research, older adults, relative to younger adults, demonstrate better memory for positive over negative images. We further found that within a group of older adults, the positivity effect increases as a function of age, such that older old adults demonstrated a greater positivity effect compared to younger older adults. Furthermore, the positivity effect in older old adults was associated with preserved cognitive control, supporting the prediction of SST. Contrary to the prediction of the aging-brain model, participants across all groups demonstrated similar enhanced skin conductance responses to fear conditioned stimuli – responses known to rely on the amygdala. Our results support SST and suggest that the positivity effect in older adults is achieved by the preserved cognitive control mechanisms and is not a reflection of the impaired emotional function associated with age.

POSITIVITY EFFECT IN CHINESE OLDER ADULTS: AROUSAL ALSO MATTERS

Objectives: Age-related positivity effect – a tendency in older adults to remember relatively more positive than negative information – has been extensively studied among Westerners. However, there is still inconsistency whether or not Chinese older adults also exhibit positivity effect. In the present work, two experiments were conducted, aiming at testing whether older Chinese adults exhibited positivity effect in memory with a variety of stimuli (e.g., facial expressions in Study 1 and standardized pictures from IAPS in Study 2). Moreover, the present work also tested whether arousal could moderate the manifestation of positivity effect in Chinese older adults, given their preference for low-arousal positive emotions. Method: Participants were instructed to view 5 different types of stimulus (namely, neutral pictures, high arousal positive pictures, low arousal positive pictures, high arousal negative pictures, and low arousal negative pictures), and their recognition memories for these pictures were later tested in both experiments. Results: Significant age × picture type interaction was found in both experiments, such that older Chinese adults underperformed their younger counterparts in recognizing high arousal positive pictures, as well as negative pictures regardless of arousal, but performed equally well (if not better) in recognizing low arousal positive pictures, which confirmed our original hypothesis. Conclusion: The present work highlights the importance of arousal in modulating emotional memory in Chinese older adults.

Age-Related Effects on Memory for Social Stimuli: The Role of Valence, Arousal, and Emotional Responses

Background/Study Context: Previous research (Hess et al., 2013, Psychology and Aging, 28, 853–863) suggested that age-based positivity effects in memory were attenuated with social stimuli. This research examined the degree to which this generalized across arousal levels associated with social images. Variations in approach and avoidance responses to individual images were also examined, along with age differences in their relationship to memory performance.Methods: In Experiment 1, young (22–43 years) and older (65–85 years) adults recalled positive and negative social scenes that were high or low in arousal. In Experiment 2, young (20–40 years) and older (65–83 years) adults viewed and recalled the same scenes under instructions designed to alter arousal, and approach and avoidance ratings for each image were recorded.Results: In Experiment 1, age differences in recall were confined to high-arousal, negative images, with young adults exhibiting superior memory relative to older adults. There was no evidence of an age-related positivity effect for low-arousal social scenes. This result was replicated in Experiment 2, but distancing instructions minimized the age difference in recall for high-arousal, negative images. Approach and avoidance ratings differentially predicted recall across age groups, with stronger associations in the young.Conclusion: The results are consistent with emerging evidence demonstrating that valence-based biases associated with aging (e.g., positivity effect) are specific to the context and stimulus characteristics. Differences in prediction of recall responses from approach and avoidance ratings across age groups suggested that the observed effects in memory reflected differences in responses to the characteristics of stimuli.

When green is positive and red is negative: Aging and the influence of color on emotional memories.

Numerous studies have reported age-related differences in memory for emotional information. One explanation places emphasis on an emotion processing preference in older adults that reflects their socioemotional self-relevant goals. Here, we evaluate the degree to which this preference in memory may be modulated by color. In 2 experiments, younger and older adults were asked to study a series of affective words (Experiment 1) or affective pictures (Experiment 2) and then presented with an immediate yes/no memory recognition task. In particular, words and pictures were colored according to the following valence-color associations: positive-green, negative-red, and neutral-blue. Each study condition included both congruent (e.g., positive-green) and incongruent associations (e.g., positive-red). For both experiments, participants showed an advantage for congruent associations compared with other types of valence-color pairings that emphasized a robust joint effect of color and affective valence in memory. More specifically, older adults' memory was sensitive to positive-green stimuli only. We discussed results in line with mechanisms underlying positivity effects in memory and the effect of color on emotional memory encoding. (PsycINFO Database Record

Aging and the genetic road towards the positivity effect in memory

Better memory for positive information compared to negative and neutral information has been repeatedly associated with successful aging. The main psychological explanations for this so-called “positivity effect” in memory principally rely on emotional, motivational, and cognitive mechanisms that make older adults' cognition highly sensitive to positive information according to ultimate goals of well-being. However, emerging evidence also delineates a genetic profile for positivity effects in memory, which may render some older adults more prone than others to encoding and remembering positive memories. First, we present a brief overview of behavioral and neuroimaging studies about the positivity effect in aging. Subsequently, we report studies on candidate genes associated with positive memories. In particular, we review work to date on several candidate genes that are sensitive to stimulus valence such as ADRA2B, COMT, and 5HTTLPR. Finally, we propose that the future approach to the study of genetic correlates of positivity effects in memory should also include mitochondrial functioning (TOMM40). Altogether, the study of genetics and cell biology of positivity effects in memory can help us to reveal the underlying bottom-up pathways to positive affect in healthy aging.

Memory for faces with emotional expressions in Alzheimer’s disease and healthy older participants: positivity effect is not only due to familiarity

ABSTRACTYoung individuals better memorize initially seen faces with emotional rather than neutral expressions. Healthy older participants and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients show better memory for faces with positive expressions. The socioemotional selectivity theory postulates that this positivity effect in memory reflects a general age-related preference for positive stimuli, subserving emotion regulation. Another explanation might be that older participants use compensatory strategies, often considering happy faces as previously seen. The question about the existence of this effect in tasks not permitting such compensatory strategies is still open. Thus, we compared the performance of healthy participants and AD patients for positive, neutral, and negative faces in such tasks. Healthy older participants and AD patients showed a positivity effect in memory, but there was no difference between emotional and neutral faces in young participants. Our results suggest that the positivity effect in memory is not entirely due to the sense of familiarity for smiling faces.

Examining the Positivity Effect in Autobiographical Memory Across Adulthood.

The positivity effect in memory is characterized by enhanced memory for emotionally positive information or decreased memory for emotionally negative information with increased age. The goals of the current study were to (a) examine the positivity effect in autobiographical memory using instructions that limited experimental constraints, (b) examine the relationship between memory valence and subjective well-being, and (c) examine the relationship between age and other memory characteristics across adulthood. In the current study, 281 individuals between the ages of 18 and 94 (Mage=53.14, SD=17.04) completed a modified Memory Experiences Questionnaire using online survey methods. Participants answered questions about emotional valence and other phenomenological characteristics regarding two memories, including any specific memory of their choosing and a personally meaningful memory. Results indicated that memory valence was unrelated to age, thus failing to provide evidence for the positivity effect. However, memory valence was found to be a significant predictor of life satisfaction. Age moderated the relationship between memory valence and subjective well-being but did so differently across the two memories. Age was also associated with increased vividness, coherence, sensory detail, time clarity, and a first-person perspective for the personally meaningful memory.

Amygdala Functional Connectivity with Medial Prefrontal Cortex at Rest Predicts the Positivity Effect in Older Adults' Memory

As people get older, they tend to remember more positive than negative information. This age-by-valence interaction has been called "positivity effect." The current study addressed the hypotheses that baseline functional connectivity at rest is predictive of older adults' brain activity when learning emotional information and their positivity effect in memory. Using fMRI, we examined the relationship among resting-state functional connectivity, subsequent brain activity when learning emotional faces, and individual differences in the positivity effect (the relative tendency to remember faces expressing positive vs. negative emotions). Consistent with our hypothesis, older adults with a stronger positivity effect had increased functional coupling between amygdala and medial PFC (MPFC) during rest. In contrast, younger adults did not show the association between resting connectivity and memory positivity. A similar age-by-memory positivity interaction was also found when learning emotional faces. That is, memory positivity in older adults was associated with (a) enhanced MPFC activity when learning emotional faces and (b) increased negative functional coupling between amygdala and MPFC when learning negative faces. In contrast, memory positivity in younger adults was related to neither enhanced MPFC activity to emotional faces, nor MPFC-amygdala connectivity to negative faces. Furthermore, stronger MPFC-amygdala connectivity during rest was predictive of subsequent greater MPFC activity when learning emotional faces. Thus, emotion-memory interaction in older adults depends not only on the task-related brain activity but also on the baseline functional connectivity.

Information content moderates positivity and negativity biases in memory.

Two experiments examined the impact of encoding conditions and information content in memory for positive, neutral, and negative pictures. We examined the hypotheses that the positivity effect in memory (i.e., a bias in favor of positive or against negative information in later life) would be reduced when (a) pictures were viewed under structured as opposed to unstructured conditions, and (b) contained social as opposed to nonsocial content. Both experiments found that the positivity effect observed with nonsocial stimuli was absent with social stimuli. In addition, little evidence was obtained that encoding conditions affected the strength of the positivity effect. We argue that some types of social stimuli may engage different types of processing than nonsocial stimuli, perhaps encouraging self-referential processing that engages attention and supports memory. This processing may then conflict with the goal-driven, top-down processing that is hypothesized to drive the positivity effect. Thus, our results identify further boundary conditions associated with the positivity effect in memory, arguing that stimulus factors as well as situational goals may affect its occurrence. Further research awaits to determine if this effect is specific to all social stimuli or specific subsets.

A Cross-Cultural Examination of the Positivity Effect in Memory: United States vs. China

Many studies conducted in the United States (U.S.) have documented a positivity effect in aging-a tendency for older adults to remember more positive than negative information in comparison to young adults. Despite this cognitive emotional benefit, U.S. adults still hold a more negative view of aging compared to adults in Asia. We hypothesized that these aging stereotypes may contribute to different patterns of age-related emotional memory processing in the two cultures. In the present study, we tested young and older adults in the U.S. and China on a View of Aging task and an emotional picture memory task. Chinese older adults hold a significantly more positive view of aging compared to all other groups of participants. Older adults in both countries demonstrated an age-related positivity effect, but Chinese older adults showed a trend in remembering fewer negative pictures than their American counterparts. These findings suggest that aging stereotypes might significantly influence older adults' cognitive abilities.

A positivity effect in autobiographical memory, but not phonemic fluency, in older adults

ABSTRACT To investigate whether processing fluency or cognitive control processes underlie aging-related positivity effects in memory, we compared retrieval of words on a fluency task, and of events on an autobiographical task, in younger and older adults. No positivity effect in word output was found on the fluency task, though older adults output more neutral words. For our autobiographical task, participants wrote descriptions of personal events related to cue words (3 each of positive, negative, neutral). They then classified their memories by valence, and subsequently rated how they ‘felt now’ about each. Older adults output more autobiographical memories classified as positive, and rated their memories more positively than did younger adults. We suggest the aging-related positivity effect emerges in service of emotion regulation, and is primarily observed when the cognitive task allows for personal evaluation and/or engages a reflective style of processing, as on an autobiographical but not a fluency task.

Neural Processing of Emotional Pictures and Words: A Comparison of Young and Older Adults

Recent findings have revealed age-related changes in neural recruitment during the processing of emotional information. The present study examined whether these age-related changes would be more pronounced for words, thought to be processed in a controlled manner versus relatively automatically processed pictures. Compared to young adults, older adults showed less amygdala activation, and more medial prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation, for negative than positive pictures. The opposite pattern was observed for words. Older adults showed a positivity effect in memory for words, but not for pictures, suggesting that their positivity effect may stem from age-related changes in medial PFC engagement during encoding.