Negative Emotion and False Memories

The following working paper and abstract have been posted to SSRN (see also this earlier Neuroethics & Law Blog post):

"How Does Negative Emotion Cause False Memories?"

CHARLES J. BRAINERD, Cornell University
LILIAN MILNITSKY STEIN, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul
R. A. SILVEIRA, University of Santa Cruz do Sul
GUSTAVO ROHENKOHL, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul
VALERIE F. REYNA, Cornell University
Remembering negative events can stimulate high levels of false memory, relative to remembering neutral events. In experiments in which the emotional valence of encoded materials was manipulated with their arousal levels controlled, valence produced a continuum of memory falsification. Falsification was highest for negative materials, intermediate for neutral materials, and lowest for positive materials. Conjoint-recognition analysis produced a simple process-level explanation: As one progresses from positive to neutral to negative valence, false memory increases because (a) the perceived meaning resemblance between false and true items increases and (b) subjects are less able to use verbatim memories of true items to suppress errors.