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Updated: May 9, 2026
10:37
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) for Memory Enhancement
Published on: September 18, 2021
Goal conduciveness as a key determinant of memory facilitation
Alison Montagrin1, Tobias Brosch, David Sander
1Laboratory for the Study of Emotion Elicitation and Expression, Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. alison.montagrin@unige.ch
Emotion (Washington, D.C.)
|August 7, 2013
Summary
Goal relevance, not just arousal or valence, enhances memory. Items related to personal goals are remembered better over time, showing the relevance hypothesis of memory facilitation.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Emotion Research
Background:
- The role of emotion in memory is debated, with arousal and valence hypotheses proposed.
- Existing theories focus on arousal levels or pleasantness/unpleasantness of stimuli.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test the relevance hypothesis of memory facilitation, derived from appraisal theory.
- To investigate if goal relevance influences memory stability over time.
Main Methods:
- Participants were presented with initially neutral items.
- Items were manipulated to be goal conducive, irrelevant, or obstructive.
- Memory recall and affective evaluation were assessed over time.
Main Results:
- Goal conducive items showed stable memory over time.
- Goal irrelevant and obstructive items demonstrated memory decline.
- Affective evaluation of neutral items shifted based on goal relevance and remained stable.
Conclusions:
- Findings support the relevance hypothesis, suggesting goal relevance is a key factor in memory facilitation.
- Memory advantage is linked to an item's relevance to an individual's current concerns.
- Affective evaluation changes dynamically with goal relevance, impacting memory.
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