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Retrieval-induced forgetting of emotional traits and its effect on implicit attitudes

Brazel, Corinna and Ringqvist, Karin (2008)
Department of Psychology
Abstract
Memory is fundamental for multitudinous cognitive functions. The function of current interest is retrieval and the effect it has on the accessibility of stored information. Besides facilitating recall of previously retrieved items, retrieval may also inhibit information that is associated to the same cue as the retrieved items. This study examines the effect of retrieval practice on person memory for neutral and emotional traits. The study also investigates if forgetting a person's traits changes the implicit attitude towards that person. The results showed retrieval-induced forgetting for negative traits but not for neutral and positive traits. When the recall performance was assessed with focus on emotional accuracy rather than on the... (More)
Memory is fundamental for multitudinous cognitive functions. The function of current interest is retrieval and the effect it has on the accessibility of stored information. Besides facilitating recall of previously retrieved items, retrieval may also inhibit information that is associated to the same cue as the retrieved items. This study examines the effect of retrieval practice on person memory for neutral and emotional traits. The study also investigates if forgetting a person's traits changes the implicit attitude towards that person. The results showed retrieval-induced forgetting for negative traits but not for neutral and positive traits. When the recall performance was assessed with focus on emotional accuracy rather than on the recall of specific words, the forgetting effect for negative traits diminished, suggesting that the general concepts of good and bad were not as susceptible to retrieval inhibition as the specific traits. Further, retrieval-induced forgetting of negative traits did not lead to changes in implicit attitudes, thus, suggesting that implicit attitudes are not dependent of the explicit accessibility of information that they were originally based on. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Brazel, Corinna and Ringqvist, Karin
supervisor
organization
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
Applied and experimental psychology, Psykologi, Psychology, Implicit attitudes, Negativity bias, Retrieval inhibition, Retrieval induced forgetting, Person memory, Tillämpad och experimentell psykologi
language
English
id
1317063
date added to LUP
2008-06-02 00:00:00
date last changed
2009-11-17 12:58:39
@misc{1317063,
  abstract     = {{Memory is fundamental for multitudinous cognitive functions. The function of current interest is retrieval and the effect it has on the accessibility of stored information. Besides facilitating recall of previously retrieved items, retrieval may also inhibit information that is associated to the same cue as the retrieved items. This study examines the effect of retrieval practice on person memory for neutral and emotional traits. The study also investigates if forgetting a person's traits changes the implicit attitude towards that person. The results showed retrieval-induced forgetting for negative traits but not for neutral and positive traits. When the recall performance was assessed with focus on emotional accuracy rather than on the recall of specific words, the forgetting effect for negative traits diminished, suggesting that the general concepts of good and bad were not as susceptible to retrieval inhibition as the specific traits. Further, retrieval-induced forgetting of negative traits did not lead to changes in implicit attitudes, thus, suggesting that implicit attitudes are not dependent of the explicit accessibility of information that they were originally based on.}},
  author       = {{Brazel, Corinna and Ringqvist, Karin}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Retrieval-induced forgetting of emotional traits and its effect on implicit attitudes}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}