Episodic memory in immersive virtual reality environments: the role of affective context and navigation control

Memory in immersive virtual reality (VR) may depend on the encoding context and on users' control over virtual exploration. We examined memory for a single immersive episode in 234 young adults using a 2 × 3 between-subjects design crossing navigation control (self-directed vs. automated movement) with affective audiovisual context (pleasant, unpleasant, neutral). Memory was assessed through free recall, visual-feature memory, spatial-location memory, and complementary error indices. One effect held up under Holm correction across the three non-derived memory-performance outcomes. Free recall differed across affective contexts, F(2, 228) = 4.75, p = .010, ω² = 0.031, Holm-adjusted p = .030, with lower recall in the unpleasant than in the neutral condition, and the difference remained evident after adjustment for age, gender, and prior VR experience. Navigation control showed no robust general association with the principal memory-performance outcomes. A localized navigation-control × affective-context pattern emerged for spatial false object reports (raw p = .032), but the interaction did not survive correction across the corresponding family of memory-error tests (Holm-adjusted p = .192) and is treated as exploratory. The unpleasant-neutral contrast cannot be attributed uniquely to emotional valence, because the neutral condition lacked the concurrent audiovisual stream present in the affective conditions and may therefore differ in attentional or other stimulus properties. The results yield one multiplicity-robust performance effect and a set of exploratory error patterns; together they argue for tighter control of audiovisual and attentional features in immersive-memory research.