Eyewitness memory for arousing events : putting things into context /
If attention is focused on central details at high levels of arousal, memory for peripheral details should be diminished (Easterbrook, 1959). If this is the case, contextual reinstatement (CR) procedures should not enhance memory because these procedures specifically use peripheral information to c...
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| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
[Place of publication not identified] :
[publisher not identified] ;
1996.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://proxy.library.tamu.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=739668351&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=2945&RQT=309&VName=PQD |
| Summary: | If attention is focused on central details at high levels of arousal, memory for peripheral details should be diminished (Easterbrook, 1959). If this is the case, contextual reinstatement (CR) procedures should not enhance memory because these procedures specifically use peripheral information to cue memory. The present two experiments tested how arousal influenced eyewitness memory for an event and how it interacts with CR procedures. Participants first viewed one of three series of slides (neutral, emotional, or bizarre/control). Memory for central and peripheral details was tested via photospreads and recognition tests. Although CR procedures enhanced recognition memory for nonarousing and unusual events, they did not affect recognition memory for arousing events. Analyses of the peripheral photospread and peripheral recognition test data revealed that CR enhanced the hit rate for the neutral and bizarre conditions but not for the emotional condition. Although CR procedures tended to enhance recognition of central information (increasing the hit rate and decreasing the false alarm rate), CR had a smaller enhancement effect in the emotional tended to enhance recognition of central information (increasing the hit rate and decreasing the false alarm rate), CR had a smaller enhancement effect in the emotional condition relative to the neutral and bizarre conditions. The present experiments also replicate the Christianson and Loftus (I 99 1) finding that peripheral information is not remembered as well in an emotional event, as compared to memory of neutral and bizarre events. The theoretical and applied implications of these results are discussed. |
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| Item Description: | Vita. "Major Subject: Psychology". |
| Physical Description: | xiii, 79 leaves : illustrations ; 28 cm. Issued also on microfiche from University Microfilms Inc. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references: pages 71-76. |