Terms
reaction to specific stimulus
what is emotion?
Waring and Kensington (2011)
there are positive, negative, & neutral items; neutral stimuli recalled least accurately
why you remember your first kiss over the first time you brushed your teeth
memories of emotional events are more accurate and vivid
general, long-lasting experience
what is mood?
Bushman (1998)
show violent and nonviolent video clips, then neutral commercials; asked to identify brands and there was better recall for nonviolent video clips (neutral stimuli with positive stimulus)
what two body parts are activated at the same time to store memories better
what is the hippocampus and amygdala?
recall better is mood matches emotional nature of material
what is mood congruence?
Walker et al (1997)
positivity effect, recorded personal events for weeks, rated pleasant or unpleasant; found that no change for neutral events and positive/negative only differed slightly
neurons in hippocampus and amygdala are responsive; easier to store memories related stimuli
first process of stress hormone cortisol triggers
more likely to recall negative events
what is negativity bias?
students without depression showed positivity effect; depression showed same amount of fading for negative, positive events
an hour after stressor, neurons in amygdala and hippocampus become less responsive
second process cortisol triggers
pleasant items are usually processed more efficiently and accurately than negative events
what is pollyanna principle?
summary
pleasant stimuli remembered better than unpleasant; pleasant memories less pleasant over time while unpleasant memories become less unpleasant
tips to make sure stress doesn't affect your memory
what is lowering stress levels, practicing mindfulness, avoiding rumination, etc.