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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Using Practice Testing, Public Speaking, and Source Monitoring to Examine the Influences of Learning Strategies and Stress on Episodic Memory
07:59

Using Practice Testing, Public Speaking, and Source Monitoring to Examine the Influences of Learning Strategies and Stress on Episodic Memory

Published on: June 14, 2019

Memory formation under stress: quantity and quality.

Lars Schwabe1, Oliver T Wolf, Melly S Oitzl

  • 1Department of Cognitive Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitaetsstrasse 150, 44780 Bochum, Germany. Lars.Schwabe@rub.de

Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
|November 26, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Stress impacts memory quantity and quality. It can enhance or impair learning and memory, favoring rigid habit memory over flexible cognitive memory, influencing adaptive responses.

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Last Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Using Practice Testing, Public Speaking, and Source Monitoring to Examine the Influences of Learning Strategies and Stress on Episodic Memory
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Eye Tracking, Cortisol, and a Sleep vs. Wake Consolidation Delay: Combining Methods to Uncover an Interactive Effect of Sleep and Cortisol on Memory
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Eye Tracking, Cortisol, and a Sleep vs. Wake Consolidation Delay: Combining Methods to Uncover an Interactive Effect of Sleep and Cortisol on Memory

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Behavioral Science

Background:

  • Stress significantly influences learning and memory processes.
  • The timing of stress exposure can lead to both facilitating and impairing effects on memory recall.
  • Emerging research indicates stress alters the interplay between different memory systems.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the multifaceted effects of stress on memory.
  • To explore how stress influences both the quantity (amount learned/remembered) and quality (memory system contribution) of memory.
  • To discuss the implications of these stress-induced memory changes for stress-related psychiatric disorders.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of existing studies on stress and memory.
  • Analysis of research examining the impact of stress timing on memory.
  • Synthesis of findings on stress-related shifts in memory system utilization (habit vs. cognitive).

Main Results:

  • Stress exposure can modulate the quantity of memory formation and retrieval.
  • Stress promotes a shift towards less flexible 'habit' memory over more adaptable 'cognitive' memory.
  • These alterations in memory quality are proposed to be adaptive responses to environmental demands.

Conclusions:

  • Stress profoundly affects memory, influencing both how much is remembered and the underlying memory systems used.
  • The shift towards habit memory under stress may represent an adaptive mechanism.
  • Understanding these stress effects on memory quality is crucial for comprehending stress-related psychiatric conditions.