Emotions and memory Essay

In our everyday life, we rely on our shop to fully function. We either have to recall some issue so trivial such as where we left(a) our keys, or we need to remember names of college classmates that we have not seen for a very long time. accustomed this fact, we ask, what exactly is depot, what are the exercisees involved in this cognitive function, and what are the factors that have-to doe with our memory? holding is state to be the process and means by which we retain in souration and later on reanimate that corresponding information from storage when we need it in the present (Bjorklund, Schneider, & Hernandez Blasi, 2003 Crowder, 1976 Tulving & Craik, 2000). When we baffle something, we do not entirely insert all the information in our memory. Studies memorialise that there are different techniques that aid in suitable memory retention. in that respect are in like manner several dynamic theories ab out memory being a storage station for all our one-time(prenominal ) experiences which involve sensory and informative data.Furthermore, there are also several(a) processes through which we could access, recall, remember, or recognize these data in our memory. Although there are extensive query studies about memory and its processes, it is interesting to look at some factors that aid or hinder memory recall and retention. One of these factors which are given particular interest and attention is the role of emotion on our memory. There are instances when we recall a part of our memory in vivid clarity as if it is reenacted in our minds and retrieved in full detail.This is what we call flashbulb memory (Brown & Kulik, 1977). The reason behind this phenomenon is that the event that happened could be so unrestrainedly powerful that it became strongly retained in our memory. In the event that you experience something that has a very strong activated impact, you tend to remember the details more clearly and when you need to retrieve that definite in formation, you would be able to easily recall it accurately (Bohannon, 1988).This could manifest in both the open and implicit memory, with the former requiring the person to deliberately pull out the memory from storage and put it out in consciousness, and the latter being an automatic response to the emotional trigger. To further illustrate the capacity of affect to influence memory, a study was made by Heuer and Reisberg in 1990 which showed that materials which show more emotion than mistakable ones with less emotional impact are more likely to be stored in ones memory and could be therefore retrieved easily in general and in detail as come up (Christianson, 1992).Furthermore, it was also found that the mood or emotion where we were in when a specific situation happened would some likely serve as a retrieval cue when we experience the same mood in the present (Baddeley, 1989). For an instance, when we experience a true situation when we are in a state of sadness, we would well-nigh likely remember the memory of the same experience when we are placed in the same emotional state. This is called the memory-dependent memory stamps (Christianson, 1992). Biologically-speaking, the interaction between memory and affect could be attributed to certain processes in various parts of the brain.Brain processes involved in the evaluation of rewards and punishments are directly related to affect in the sense that it depends upon the emotional impact of a certain situation to be determined if it is a form of a compensation or a penalty (Rolls, 2000). Because of this, it could be inferred that since emotion influences memory processes, data-driven information and past situations are stored in our memory in the basis of a reward-punishment system. Essentially, when a certain event, person, place, or thing is categorized as something rewarding, it could be more easily encoded and retrieved.This categorization and selection happens in the amygdala, which is the center of emotional touch on, and the data that get to pass through and be encoded encompass the mechanism in the hippocampus, which is on the former(a) hand related to memory. Emotions disinhibit the barrier that the CA3 hippocampal area creates and so the data inputs could then proceed to the prefrontal noetic cortex to be stored in memory (Neugebauer, et al. , 1999). It is also found in the study by Fast, et al. (1999) that the amygdaloidal complex is primarily responsible with the emotional mechanism which affects memory retrieval.Subjects who have lesions in the amygdalo-hippocampal area do not only suffer from amnesia, but they also show significant impairments in memory process related with emotional arousal. The reason behind this is that the AC organizes the information that are encoded, stored, and retrieved in our memory. Another effect that emotion has on memory is what is called by Christianson (1992) as resource allocation effects, which is the impairment of the memory proc essing when a person experience an extreme or negative emotion or mood during encryption or retrieval.In this case, the person might find it difficult to access his/her memory of a certain situation, person, thing, or place because it has become a somewhat traumatic experience and the emotion that goes with it blocks the memory process. There are also some contradicting views that affect could not facilitate the retrieval or encoding of memory information. Some studies say that experiencing a negative emotion, for an instance, could prevent the person from remembering the details of a certain situation or event.This is the reason why most look forers focus on the determinants and factors which would tell what specific grade of data or information does emotion facilitate or impede. Although most of the existing studies focus on the effects of emotion on the memory processes, there are also some minor studies which show that memories of past experiences affect the present mood or em otional state of a person (Christianson, 1992). though this angle is not yet looked at more closely by researchers, we most of the time experience this feeling, which we sometimes call nostalgia.Because memory and emotion are such complex topics when studied on their own, it is a more complicated feat to research on the interaction of the devil concepts and their effect on distributively other. However, a lot of studies are being made in order to understand better these two psychological phenomena when they intertwine in their processes and how they affect the human psyche.ReferencesBaddeley, A. D. (1989). The psychology of remembering and forgetting. In T. Butler (Ed. ) Memory History, culture and the mind. London Basil Blackwell. Bjorklund, D. 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