Artificial Stimulus Sets and Memory for Real Emotional Events - Essay Example

? Artificial Stimulus Sets and Memory for Real Emotional Events Introduction Psychological researchers often employ diverse laboratory methods in investigating emotion. This processes range from imagery induction to static pictures and imagery inductions. The international Affective Picture System is one of the most impressed stimulus sets Lang, Cuthbert & Bradley, 1998), which constitutes static images that are based on dimensional model of emotion. Image set has many diverse pictures that depict mutations, landscape scenes, babies, illness, loss, snakes, and pollution among others. Generally, the interconnection between memory and emotions has elicited wide debate among psychologists. The interplay between these two vital elements in the human cognitive abilities is dynamic. The extent of the relationship has been the source of complex occurrences in the human mind. Studies have been dedicated to the explanation of why an emotional object, say a picture, might affect the memory for impartial items, which have been observed beforehand. These stimulus sets have given significant information on the memory for real emotional events. However, what is not yet quite clear is how the artificial stimulus sets such as the international Affective Picture System can be used to explain the memory for real emotional events. With a view to explicate on the dynamic nature of memory for real time emotional events, this paper seeks investigate on how the artificial stimulus sets such as the international Affective Picture System can be used to explain the memory for real emotional events. Main Body Since time immemorial the concept of emotions has been somewhat puzzling psychological scientists. However, the answer to this age-old question lies in the approach employed. It is only when the mind is viewed as a network of pattern recognition will the answer be clear. Man has unique organs in the body, present in the limbic system; that is tasked with recognizing the events that the body experiences and responds accordingly. The signals of these organs have the power to decide the attitudes of the mind and the behavior of the body. The characteristics of aroused emotions vary along excited-ness, restlessness, agitations and hyperactivity. The most prevalent of emotions happens to be anger and fear. Anger is regarded to be blind to the consequences of actions that follow. As such, it tends to lash out regardless. On the other hand, fear is blind to any probability of success. As such, it withdraws from any form of confrontation. In the context of despair, it focuses on the unpleasant avenues of thought. Several stimuli sets can be employed to create an enabling environment for the study of emotions and attention. The best example for this is the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). The program incorporates the usage of a wide range of pictures that are sourced from a wide range of Semantic categories. These emotionally evocative pictures are the best example for the study of emotion and attention. Emotional arousal has been found to have different impacts on the memory. This is at par with the findings of the artificial stimulus tests. The extent of this impact hinges on the temperament of the research that is being conducted. According to the study conducted by Aggleton (1992), emotional arousal culminates in the narrowing of the memory. This translates to mean that the memory of the central details is enhanced much to the detriment of peripheral details. However, though this study gives vital insight on this complex concept, it does not give a rationale for the immediate effect. This simply means that the adopted account cannot explain the effect cannot be predicted. This is given that, at times, the arousal can enhance or impair the memory of the preceding or subsequent information. Emotional arousal has been found to yield contradictory results in the context of memory (Phelps, 2012). The nature of selective memory that is presented by emotional arousal is the source of these conflicting findings. Studies conducted by Adolphs, Tranel and Buchanan (2005), explicates that emotional arousal eventuates in the enhancement of memory for generalized forms of information. These generalized forms of information are specifically those events that lack precise detail. However, a conflicting study conducted by Mather & Nesmith (2008), explicates to the contrary. This study asserts that emotional arousal enhances the memory for specific events. The methodologies of the two studies do not show any form of bias. As such, their findings cannot be disregarded by pointing on the unreliability and invalidity of the study. This contradictory effect of arousal of emotions cannot be accounted. The question of whether or not emotional arousal can aid in memory can be approached via tow avenues. The first being an approach to the analysis of the emotional content of the particular event. The second approach entails the emotional state of the memory. It is a convention that the human mind is more probable to recollect emotional events as compared to mundane events (Reisberg and Hertel, 2004). A study conducted by Christianson and Mjo?rndal (1985) explicates that it is also a direct effect of the emotions that have been aroused that enables the mind to remember. This is contrary to a popular belief that it is the personal significance of the event, which makes it easier to recollect certain events (Starc, Anticevic, and Repovs?, 2012). Despite the evident ease of recollection of past events, it is usually to the detriment of other specific events. Therefore, this translates to mean that it is less probable to put something into memory if it is followed by emotional arousal (Tomaz and Graeff, 1993). Studies conducted by Christianson (1992) shows that these effects appear to be more intense in women as compared to men. A study conducted by Damas and Custo?dio (2003) shows that emotional arousal is not biased as to which kind of memories can be stimulated. As such, irrespective of the nature of emotions that have been aroused, either pleasant or unpleasant memories, the result is more so the same. The only dependent factors are the age of the individual and other individual factors. The realization is that the pleasant events tend to fade away at a more rapid rate than unpleasant events. However, a study conducted by Garoff-Eaton, Kensinger and Schacter (2007), explicates that these results are different among subject with cases of mild depression. With these individuals, the pleasant and unpleasant events tend to fade away at an even rate. Additionally, the study arrived at the conclusion that aged subject tended to regulate and be more in control of their emotions as compared to younger subjects. The overall realization is that events that were emotionally charged are remembered better than less emotionally charged events (Tully and Bolshakov 2010). In addition, though pleasant memories fade away at a rapid, they are remembered better. As such, the emotional arousals aid recollection and not the personal significance of the event that aids in memory. An aspect of emotion that has been found to have an impact on memory is the mood. This is in the context of the time the encoding or retrieval of memory was being conducted. Numerous studies have been geared toward understanding this dynamic impact of mood on memory. A study conducted by Burke, Heuer and Reisberg (1992) shows that mood affects what is encoded and what is noticed. The findings were such that the human mind recollects events in line with the emotional state of that time of encoding. As such, when in depression, the mind tends to remember negative events. Another vital finding is that of dependence on mood and the nature of the information that has been retrieved (Uttl, Ohta and Siegenthaler, 2006). It is easier to remember a certain event if the present mood matches the mood at the time of encoding. As such, when the individual was able to evoke a similar mood, as at the time of encoding, the probability of recollecting the event increases significantly. A study conducted by Holland and Kensinger (2010) shows that the avenue adopted by people in the control of reactions to emotional events is exclusive of the manner in which they recollect the event. However, subjects who endeared to control their reactions had a much-distorted memory of the event as compared to those who did not endeavor to control their reactions to the emotional event (Wiswede et al., 2006). It would be flawed to assert, simply that the state of the emotions affects memory. This is hinged on the rationale of complexity of emotional content. There cannot be a straightforward approach to elucidating on the relationship between memory and emotions. When a particular mood boosted the memory for a certain event then it in turn negatively affecting the memory of other events. A study conducted by Kensinger (2009) found out that anxiety-improved recollection on some events while simultaneously negatively affecting recollection of other events. In the same context, the study also shows that pleasant moods boosted the memory of some events while being detrimental to the recollection of other events. The rationale adopted to explain this dynamic effect is that of usage of different regions of the brain. Different emotions have been found to be involved with different regions of the brain. A study conducted by Koc?evar, Koritnik and S?prah (2004) explicates that emotional arousal culminates in a narrowed attention span. Consequently, this in turn eventuated in impaired memory encoding. However, this realization is challenged by a study conducted by Lang (1995) using an incidental learning procedure. The study came to the realization that emotion equally promoted the memory for central events and peripheral events. This is but one of the illustrations of the contradictory results sourced from different studies. This as par research conducted on mouse models. The rationale for using mouse odes is hinged on the fact that mice have more divisions of the brain as compared to the human brain. As such, results are highly expected to conform to the human context. Therefore, the memory mechanisms that are at work in the brain regions of mice are expected to work in the human brain. According to research conducted by Roberto Malinow (1986) does not discount the fact that both high and low moments in life do in-fact ignite a memory-boosting hormone. However, the new realization that was made by the study is that when these hormones are in excess, the memory-boosting hormone that is normally produced is rendered ineffective. As such, lapse in memory is usually the outcome of such events. This memory boosting is known as norepinephrine (Tully, Keith and Bolshakov, 2010). This study by Minnema (2009) came to the realization that, in the cases of overproduction of this hormone, norepinephrine, memory is usually negatively affected. As such, there is an optimal amount of this hormone that should be produced at the extreme of situations for effective recollection to take place. This translates to mean that, in the event where the individual is over emotional; the recollection process will be futile (Wolff, 1945). It would simply be impaired. However, this is but one aspect of the complex relationship between emotions and memory. The intensity of the emotions that characterize an event is a dependable predictor of the vividness with which will characterize the recollection of that particular event. As such, the more the vivid the event, the less difficult it will be to commit it to memory that event. At this juncture, it becomes imperative to highlight that confusion is evident regarding the retention of emotional events. This in the context as to the quality of retention exclusive of elapsed time. Are they poorly or are they well retained? Essentially, the mind cannot efficiently recall all events. All details characterizing these emotional events cannot be recollected. As such, they will be some discrepancy in the details of any remembered emotional event. This does not hinge on the nature of the artificial stimulus sets that have been employed. All the consulted studies, except a few which this paper will regard as outliers, concur that the recollection of central details is relatively good. However, when in the context of peripheral details, the recollection is somewhat impaired. The study conducted by Malinow (1986) was intended to investigate on the accuracy of both central and peripheral details. Unlike previous studies, that was conducted in a natural environment albeit controlled context. In addition, the central and peripheral details were also controlled. It is imperative to note that this study took a different approach by employing a natural environment. Previous studies employed the approach of inducing an emotional state in an experimental context: artificial stimulus sets. The outcome of this research explicates that the subjects, under a natural environment, provided an equally vivid recollection of the events (McGaugh, 2003). This is in terms of the central and peripheral details. As such, aroused emotion in a natural setting is likely to yield not equally remembered central and peripheral details. A significant number of studies have been dedicated towards the understanding of the complex relationship between emotions and memory. As such artificial stimulus sets have been employed to ease this understanding. These sets employ the approach of inducing emotions and investigating on the memory that will culminate. It is imperative to point that studies have concluded that the most pleasant memories are the most easiest to recollect. However, the depressing memories are difficult to recollect. The rationale for this might be sourced from the fact that these emotions are allied to dissimilar areas of the brain. Studies further show that the central details are remembered with significant detail. In contradiction, the peripheral details are harder to remember. However, this conclusion is subject of ongoing research. As such, no factual conclusion can be made. An additional concussion is that different emotional states elicit different memories. As such, in order to be well placed to recollect a certain event, it is advisable that the individual forge the emotions that characterized the period of encoding. Essentially, none of these findings on the relationship between aroused emotion and memory could ever have been known in the absence of these artificial stimulus sets. References Aggleton, J. P. (1992). The Amygdala: Neurobiological aspects of emotion, memory, and mental dysfunction. New York: Wiley-Liss. Burke, A., Heuer, F., & Reisberg, D. (1992). Remembering emotional events. Memory & Cognition, 20, 3, 277-90. Christianson, S. A., & Mjo?rndal, T. (1985). Adrenaline, emotional arousal and memory. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 26, 3, 237-48. Christianson, S. -A. (1992). The handbook of emotion and memory. Hillsdale, N.J: L. Erlbaum Associates. Damas, B. D., & Custo?dio, L. M. (2003). Emotion-based decision and learning using associative memory and statistical estimation. Informatica, 27, 2, 147-157. Garoff-Eaton, R. J., Kensinger, E. A., & Schacter, D. L. (2007). The Neural Correlates of Conceptual and Perceptual False Recognition. Learning & Memory, 14, 10, 684-692. Holland, A. C., & Kensinger, E. A. (2010). Emotion and autobiographical memory. Physics of Life Reviews, 7, 1, 88-131. Kensinger, E. ( 2009). Remembering the Details: Effects of Emotion. Emotion Review, 1, 2, 99-113. Koc?evar, M., Koritnik, B., & S?prah, L. (2004). Interaction between emotions and memory performance. Program in Knjiga Povzetkov, 23-24. Lang, A. (1995). The Effects of Emotional Arousal and Valence on Television Viewers' Cognitive Capacity and Memory. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 39, 3, 313-27. Lang PJ, Cuthbert BN & Bradley MM. (1998). Emotion, motivation, and anxiety: Brain mechanisms and psychophysiology. Biological Psychiatry. 1998;44:1248–1263 Malinow, R. (1986). Postsynaptic voltage-sensitive mechanisms in rat hippocampal CA1 neurons underlying synaptic plasticity and integration. McGaugh, J. L. (2003). Memory and emotion: The making of lasting memories. New York: Columbia University Press. Minnema, M. T. (2009). Emotion and arousal affect cognitive control over memory and attention. Phelps, E. A. (2012). Emotion and cognition. London: Henry Stewart Talks. Reisberg, D., & Hertel, P. (2004). Memory and emotion. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Starc, M., Anticevic, A., & Repovs?, G. (2012). The effect of emotional salience on spatial working memory: Preliminary findings. Abstracts from the 10th Alps Adria Psychology Conference, September 27th-29th 2012, Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. Tomaz, C., & Graeff, F. G. (1993). Emotion and memory: Papers presented at The International Symposium on Emotion and Memory, August 23-25, 1992, Itatiaia, Brazil. Behavioural Brain Research. Tully, Keith, & Bolshakov, Vadim Y. (2010). Emotional enhancement of memory: how norepinephrine enables synaptic plasticity. (BioMed Central Ltd.) BioMed Central Ltd. Uttl, B., Ohta, N., & Siegenthaler, A. (2006). Memory and emotion: Interdisciplinary perspectives. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub. Wiswede, Daniel, Ru?sseler, Jascha, Hasselbach, Simone, & Mu?nte, Thomas F. (2006). Memory recall in arousing situations – an emotional von Restorff effect?. (BioMed Central Ltd.) BioMed Central Ltd. Wolff, W. (1945). Emotional factors in memory. Ciba Symposia, 7, 1945-46. Read More