Memory and Emotion Through Examining

Memory and Emotion

Through examining the empirical research, it is clear that emotion does influence memory for details on how non-emotional events are remembered. There has long been a connection between emotion and memories that seem to outlast memories that do not have such emotional significance. It was often assumed by such research that emotional ties to particular memories "enhances the detail with which information is remembered" (Kensinger 2007 p 213). There are a number of supporters who believe that one's emotional stat impacts the ability to recall particular memories. One article in 2007 illustrated how negative emotional states actually increased the accuracy of individuals' memory. Essentially, the article described how negative emotions heightened the ability for individuals to more accurately remember particular memories (Kensington 2007). Here, the research suggests that "negative emotion conveys focal benefits on memory for detail" (Kensington 217). However, the concept gets rather confusing when dealing with whether emotion impacts the recollection of memories that revolve around non-emotional states. Research in this area shows that often time items with no emotional ties to them are often less remembered than emotionally charged memories (Kensinger 2007).

The emotion-processing centers of the brain "seemed to interact with memory regions typically recruited during the process of nonemotional information" *Kensington 2007 p 216). Therefore, it can be assumed that emotion does have an impact on memory

Another interesting question in the field of memory study revolves around the presence of repressed memories. Many have aimed to understand if and how the human mind would go about repressing particular memories that signify incidences of trauma. This was a major element in Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory, as he posited that our everyday behaviors and desires were actually being in part fueled by our repressed memories of a long past childhood. With such support, the idea that the brain can repress memories has become incredibly popular. Oddly enough, there is relatively little empirical evidence that show the human mind dealing with repressed memories. Findings that would suggest repressed memories are a part of the cognitive structure of the human brain are largely devoid in laboratory experiments in the recent scientific discourse. Rumors of the impact of repressed memory are prevalent, "yet data on cognitive functioning in people reporting repressed and recovered memories of trauma have been strikingly scarce" (McNally 2011). Part of the explanation for this lack of evidence is the high rate of failure to actually pull out repressed memories within the context of the lab. Many studies examining the issue focused on using psychologists using hypothetical scenarios "hoping that this guided-imagery technique will unblock the presumably repressed memories" (McNally 2011). Rather than providing the guidance that would help the participant show repressed memories, "unfortunately, this procedure may foster false memories," therefore jeopardizing the entire study (McNally 2011). As such, evidence for repressed memories remains elusive.