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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 23, 2026

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Impairing Effect of Emotion on Cognition

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Impairing Effect of Emotion on Cognition

Published on: February 1, 2012

Running with emotion: when affective content hampers working memory performance.

Beth Fairfield¹, Nicola Mammarella, Alberto Di Domenico

¹Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Chieti, Italy.

International Journal of Psychology : Journal International De Psychologie

|September 20, 2014

Summary

Affective words impair working memory (WM) performance, especially in longer lists. Neutral words were unaffected, suggesting emotional content taxes cognitive resources.

Keywords:

Emotion Running memory task Working memory

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The Emotional Stroop Task: Assessing Cognitive Performance under Exposure to Emotional Content

The Emotional Stroop Task: Assessing Cognitive Performance under Exposure to Emotional Content

Published on: June 29, 2016

Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Neuroscience

Background:

Working memory (WM) is crucial for cognitive tasks.
The role of emotional content in WM is debated.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if affective content hinders or helps working memory performance.
To examine the impact of word valence on recall accuracy.

Main Methods:

Participants completed a running working memory task.
Stimuli included positive, negative, and neutral words.
Recall accuracy was measured for lists of varying lengths.

Main Results:

Recall accuracy for affective words decreased with increasing list length.
List length did not significantly impact recall of neutral words.
Emotional valence appears to interfere with WM manipulation.

Conclusions:

Affective content, unlike neutral content, impairs working memory capacity.
Emotional valence acts as additional cognitive load, particularly in challenging WM tasks.