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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 15, 2025

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

Attentional boost effect: research based on source memory and emotional materials.

Yajie Duan¹, Tongtong Xin¹, Yuanhua Yin¹

¹Department of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, 100 Guilin Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai, 200234, China.

Psychological Research

|August 28, 2024

Summary

The attentional boost effect (ABE) benefits item memory for emotional stimuli, but its impact on source memory varies. This study clarifies that emotionality does not consistently diminish the ABE, especially in item memory.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Neuroscience
Memory Studies

Background:

The attentional boost effect (ABE) enhances memory for stimuli presented with targets.
Previous research shows inconsistent findings regarding ABE in source memory and the influence of emotional stimuli.
Clarifying these inconsistencies is crucial for understanding memory mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the attentional boost effect (ABE) for emotional stimuli in both item and source memory.
To resolve inconsistencies in the literature concerning emotionality's impact on ABE.
To differentiate the cognitive processes underlying item and source memory.

Main Methods:

Two experiments were conducted using a dual-task paradigm involving emotional background words and a secondary detection task.
Participants performed primary memory tasks for emotional stimuli (words) and secondary tasks (symbol monitoring).
Source memory was assessed by recalling stimulus size (Experiment 1) or color (Experiment 2).

Main Results:

A stronger ABE was observed for negative stimuli in item memory in Experiment 1.
In Experiment 1, ABE for source memory was only found for large font stimuli.
Both experiments showed a stronger ABE for emotional stimuli in item memory, with no significant ABE in source memory.

Conclusions:

Item and source memory involve distinct cognitive processes, leading to differential effects of emotionality on ABE.
Emotional stimuli, including negative words, do not consistently reduce the attentional boost effect.
The findings challenge previous assumptions about the modulating role of emotionality on memory.