Fluctuations in mood state and learning and retrieval

The present study investigated whether learning and retrieval are associated with changes in mood state. 50 college students (20 men and 30 women) were assigned to one of five treatment conditions: Happy-Happy, Sad-Sad, Neutral-Neutral, Happy-Sad, and Sad-Happy. Mood was induced via the Velten procedure. During the first mood-induction phase, students were exposed to a serial-learning task and recall trial, followed by a digit-symbol task. In the next phase, students were given a 5-min. muscle-relaxation exercise and a 5-min. distracting task. In the final phase, students underwent a second mood-induction phase, and a subsequent recall trial and digit-symbol task. Analyses indicated that recall was significantly greater in the Happy-Happy and Sad-Sad groups. Findings for the Neutral-Neutral group were mixed. Results are discussed in terms of support for the concept of context-related, mood-state-dependent recall.