The Effects of Affective State and Valence of Words on L2 Vocabulary Memory Retrieval

The effects of affective state on the cognitive process have enjoyed substantial empirical attention. The research aims to investigate the effects of mood conditions and valence of words on L2 vocabulary memory retrieval. Twenty undergraduates participated in the experiment and completed memory retrieval tasks after mood manipulation. To investigate whether mood conditions exerted influences on L2 vocabulary memory retrieval, 2 (mood: happy, sad) x 3 (valence of words: positive, neutral, negative) repeated measures were conducted. The results indicated that neither the interaction between mood conditions and accuracy rates nor mood conditions and valence propensity of L2 vocabulary memory retrieval were significant. An unanticipated finding was the significant interaction between retrieval accuracy rate and reaction time. On average, participants’ true responses accompany less reaction time and vice versa. This study provided evidence for the cognitive differences between L1 and L2 vocabulary memory retrieval.