Exploring the generalisation of affect across related experiences: A study of affective bleed and memory precision

When positive or negative events occur in a context, memory can be reflected in how positively or negatively we judge that context, and also by whether, upon later remembering that emotional event, we can bring to mind the specific context in which it occurred. We examined each of these forms of associative memory, comparing performance when positive, negative, or neutral stimuli were paired with a context. By doing so, we could contribute to debates about how emotion affects associative binding. Participants intentionally formed associations between famous places and positive, negative, or neutral pictures. In Experiment 1, we observed shifts in judgments for places as a function of associated valence; effects summated over accumulated experiences. In Experiment 2, memory precision was examined by manipulating whether lures on a five-alternative forced-choice recognition, included different places or alternate views of the target. Results revealed emotional impairments in associative memory and a selective decrease in precision for negative pairs. Eye-tracking showed more saccades between pictures for remembered pairs, but less of these inter-item saccades when pictures were emotional. Overall findings suggest that positive and negative affect are transferred similarly through episodic associations, although the specificity of context transfer may be lessened for negative content.