Schema-based processing for emotional events

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore whether elaborative processing is sufficient to explain enhanced memory associated with emotion. Two experiments were conducted using events depicted in slides and captions. Participants rated each slide for emotional content on a 5-point scale. Immediately after a series of slides, participants received an on-the-spot yes-no recognition memory test about the contents of the slides. Memory for the slide material was assessed in terms of central gist, general details, and peripheral information. In Experiment 1, 54 undergraduates (42 female, 12 male) watched either an emotional or a control version of the same event that differed in one critical slide. Participants who saw the emotional version, which depicted a man looking at a "nudie" magazine, participants were less able to recall the central details than those who saw a control version, a man looking at a nude in an oil painting. Recognition of central gist was very high in every condition, and there were no significant differences among conditions with respect to this variable.
Experiment 2 was quite similar to Experiment 1, with 32 undergraduates (21 female, 11 male). Participants in the experimental group watched an emotional slide -a man looking at a "nudie" magazine photograph, whereas those in the control group watched a neutral slide -a man looking at the same nude, but now wearing underwear. Recognition memory for general details was poorer in the emotional version than in the neutral version. Consistent with a schema-based expectation, participants presented with the emotional slide showed a higher rate of false recognition on a face recognition test, compared to participants presented with the neutral slide. Findings suggest that elaboration is insufficient to explain the enhancing effects of emotion on memory. Results were discussed in terms of schemata in processing information.