Work

The effect of divided attention on emotion-induced memory narrowing

Year: 2013

Type: article

Abstract: Individuals are more likely to remember emotional than neutral information, but this benefit does not always extend to the surrounding background information. This memory narrowing is theorised to be linked to the availability of attentional resources at encoding. In contrast to the predictions of this theoretical account, altering participants' attentional resources at encoding by dividing attention did not affect emotion-induced memory narrowing. Attention was divided using three separate manipulations: a digit ordering task (Experiment 1), an arithmetic task (Experiment 2) and an auditory discrimination task (Experiment 3). Across all three experiments, divided attention decreased memory across the board but did not affect the degree of memory narrowing. These findings suggest that theories to explain memory narrowing must be expanded to include other potential mechanisms beyond the limitations of attentional resources.

Source: Cognition & Emotion

DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2013.858616

Authors: Katherine R. Mickley Steinmetz, Jill D. Waring, Elizabeth A. Kensinger

Institutions: Wofford College, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Stanford Medicine, Stanford University, Boston College

Language: English

Topic: Memory Processes and Influences

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institute of Mental Health

Awards: G1021185553, How Emotion Affects Memory for Detail: Behavioral and Neuroimaging Investigations