Transfer of negative valence in an episodic memory task

Palombo, Daniela J.; Elizur, Leor; Tuen, Young Ji; Te, Alessandra A.; Madan, Christopher R.

Abstract

Emotion can color what we perceive and subsequently remember in myriad ways. Indeed, it is well established that emotion enhances some aspects of memory, while impairing others. For example, a number of recent episodic memory studies show that emotion—particularly negative emotion—weakens associative memory, including item-item associations. Other literature shows that emotion biases our later attitudes and preferences. That is, the coincident pairing of a negative stimulus with a neutral one can reduce one's preference for that neutral stimulus upon subsequent encounter—a ‘transfer of valence’ effect. In an effort to connect these two phenomena, here we ask if and under what circumstances they co-occur. Across multiple experiments, we show that negative emotion impairs associative memory for item-item pairings, in accordance with prior work. We also show a transfer of valence effect in this paradigm, such that items paired with negative versus neutral stimuli are subsequently rated as less pleasant. Our data further show that transfer of valence is contingent on episodic memory. These findings highlight the complexity and multifaceted nature of emotional effects on memory.

Citation

Palombo, D. J., Elizur, L., Tuen, Y. J., Te, A. A., & Madan, C. R. (2021). Transfer of negative valence in an episodic memory task. Cognition, 217, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104874

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 30, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Aug 12, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021-12
• Deposit Date: Aug 12, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 13, 2022
• Journal: Cognition
• Print ISSN: 0010-0277
• Electronic ISSN: 1873-7838
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 217
• Article Number: 104874
• Pages: 1-11
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104874
• Keywords: Cognitive Neuroscience; Linguistics and Language; Developmental and Educational Psychology; Language and Linguistics; Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/6014598
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001002772100295X