Emotional source memory: (When) are emotional sources remembered better?

PDF
Dissertation_NikolettaSymeonidou.pdf - Published
Download (2MB)

URN:	urn:nbn:de:bsz:180-madoc-628340
Document Type:	Doctoral dissertation
Year of publication:	2022
Place of publication:	Mannheim
University:	Universität Mannheim
Evaluator:	Erdfelder, Edgar
Date of oral examination:	15 August 2022
Publication language:	English
Institution:	School of Social Sciences > Kognitive Psychologie mit Schwerp. Kognitives Altern (Kuhlmann 2015-)
Subject:	150 Psychology
Keywords (English):	source memory , emotion-enhanced memory , valence , arousal, aging , orienting task , multinomial modeling
Abstract:	This dissertation examined whether and under which conditions source memory is enhanced for emotional (versus neutral) sources by focusing on three influencing factors: Valence and arousal of sources, aging, and encoding instructions. Manuscript 1 revealed that there is no beneficial effect of source valence or source arousal on source memory. Manuscript 2 indicated that only younger but not older adults show enhanced source memory for emotional (i.e., positive and negative) compared to neutral sources. Manuscript 3 unveiled that source emotionality effects depend on the encoding instructions: memory-enhancing effects robustly occur if an affective, item-focused orienting task is used during item-source encoding (as in Manuscript 2) but do not occur if no such orienting task is used (as in Manuscript 1). In sum, the overall results indicate that emotional sources per se are not remembered better. Instead, an affective item-source processing seems crucial for establishing emotion-enhanced memory effects in source memory.