Modulation of Recognition Memory for Emotional Images by Vertical Vection

Our previous research showed that vertical vection could modulate human mood. We further examined this possibility by using memory recognition task of positive, negative and neutral emotional images with high and low arousal levels. Those images were remembered accidentally while the participants did visual dummy task, and later presented together with novel images during vertical vection-inducing or neutral visual stimuli. The results showed that downward vection facilitated the recognition of negative images and inhibited the recognition of positive ones. These modulations of incidental memory task provide an additional evidence for vection influence on cognitive and emotional processing, and also provide a new paradigm that can be used in future vection and embodied cognition research.