The effect of emotional arousal in the quality of memory

Abstract

This study extends scientific evidence on the susceptibility of distorted memories by assessing false memories (remembering events that did not actually occur) in emotionally arousing complex events. The experiment was conducted with 380 participants, aged between 17 and 45 years. The South Brazilian version of Cahill and McGaugh's Slideshow Procedure adapted by Neufeld, Brust and Stein on the evaluation of the effect of emotion on memory and false memories was used. The procedure entailed showing the participant 11 slides, followed by asking the participant to read one of the two possible versions of a narrative (either the emotionally arousing or neutral narrative). Memory performance was investigated using a recognition memory test. Results suggest that introducing emotional information into the arousing narrative may lead to the enhancement of true memory as well as to the enhancement of the production of false memories.

False memories; Stories; Memory; Arousal