Effects of specific negative emotions on the retrieval dynamics underlying recognition memory decisions

Abstract

In the present study, we investigated the effects of specific negative emotions on decision processes in recognition memory in two experiments. The diffusion model of recognition memory (Ratcliff, 1978) was utilized to decompose the decision process into its components. Thus, we examined the effects of emotion on i., starting point (z), which refers to the participant’s motivational predisposition to one of two recognition decisions before the decision process is initiated, ii., boundary separation (a), which refers to how much information is needed to make a recognition decision, iii., and total drift rate (v_total), which refers to the relative weight given to novelty vs. familiarity information during the decision-making process. In two experiments, participants were first asked to study a set of emotional and neutral pictures and then to discriminate them from new ones that had not been presented before. The effects of disgust-related, fear-related, and neutral pictures were tested either immediately (Exp 1) or after a 24-hour retention interval that allows for consolidation (Exp 2). A more liberal z emerged strongly in the disgust condition compared to the fear condition, both before and after consolidation. Participants were less cautious in responding to neutral items before consolidation (Exp 1) and to emotional items after consolidation (Exp 2) as reflected in the boundary separation a, regardless of specific emotion qualities. v_total was influenced by emotionality such that familiarity information was retrieved more effectively for emotional items compared to neutral ones before consolidation, yet this effect was more pronounced in the disgust condition after consolidation. Taken together, these experiments suggested that specific emotions influence not only the outcome of the recognition decision but also the underlying retrieval dynamics of those decisions, and these effects can better be explained by appraisal and emotion-specific properties inherent to each specific emotion.