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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 15, 2026

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Memory-Enhancing Effect of Emotion

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Memory-Enhancing Effect of Emotion

Published on: May 4, 2011

Remembering can cause forgetting--but not in negative moods.

Karl-Heinz Bäuml¹, Christof Kuhbandner

¹Regensburg University, Regensburg, Germany. karl-heinz.baeuml@psychologie.uni-regensburg.de

Psychological Science

|April 12, 2007

Summary

Positive moods enhance retrieval-induced forgetting, while negative moods prevent it. This suggests emotions during memory retrieval, like witness interrogations, impact forgetting of non-retrieved information.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Neuroscience
Affective Science

Background:

Retrieval of specific memories can lead to forgetting of non-retrieved information, a phenomenon known as retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF).
Affective states, or moods, are known to influence cognitive processes, including memory.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how experimentally induced positive, negative, and neutral moods affect retrieval-induced forgetting.
To test the hypothesis that positive moods enhance RIF through relational processing, while negative moods reduce RIF via item-specific processing.

Main Methods:

Participants studied a list of items.
Moods were induced (positive, negative, neutral) immediately before retrieval practice.
Participants engaged in repeated retrieval of a subset of studied items.
Forgetting of non-retrieved items was assessed.

Main Results:

Participants in negative moods showed no significant retrieval-induced forgetting.
Participants in positive and neutral moods exhibited reliable retrieval-induced forgetting.
Results support the differential impact of mood states on memory retrieval processes.

Conclusions:

Affective states experienced during memory retrieval significantly modulate retrieval-induced forgetting.
Negative moods appear to inhibit RIF, possibly by promoting item-specific processing.
Positive and neutral moods facilitate RIF, potentially through enhanced relational processing.
Findings have implications for understanding memory in contexts like repeated witness interrogations.