The power and fragility of memory: elucidating the paradoxical relation between negative emotion and memory distortion

记忆的力量与脆弱：阐明负面情绪与记忆扭曲之间的矛盾关系

• 批准号: 216839-2010
• 负责人: Porter, Stephen
• 金额: $ 3.06万
• 依托单位: University of British Columbia
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2012-01-01 至 2013-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=514155
• 关键词: power; fragility; memory; elucidating; paradoxical

The influence of negative emotion on memory long has been the subject of scientific controversy. The basis of my ongoing work is the paradoxical negative emotion (PNE) hypothesis suggesting that negative emotional memory is both powerful and fragile; negative (vs. positive or neutral) emotion should generally enhance memory (Porter & Peace, 2007) but also heighten susceptibility to misinformation (Porter et al., 2008). Specifically, because memory evolved to become an adaptive system, recalling events in particular ways would have enhanced survival in early humans. Thus, survival-relevant (negative/threatening) information should be recalled more reliably than other information. However, negative memories also should be highly susceptible to distortion when misinformation is offered by an authoritative source. This incorporation of information from a credible source can help in preparing for a related future event, but only if the information is valid. With promising initial findings from my previous Discovery Grant, I now hope to firmly establish emotional factors contributing memory and its vulnerability to distortion (via misleading questions), within an evolutionary framework. A series of experiments will examine: (1) memory for the same ambiguous images primed to induce positive vs. negative emotion (for example, a baby with closed eyes described before viewing as "peacefully sleeping" or "just deceased due to a heart condition."); (2) the influence of someone's mood vs. the emotional features of a stimulus on memory; (3) memory for information associated with different types of negative (disgusting, fearful, sad) vs. positive emotions; (4) memory for evolutionarily-relevant (for example, a snake) vs. other stimuli, and; (5) the influence of the credibility of the source of misinformation on the development of false memories. An elaboration of the way in which emotion influences our recollections has implications for understanding how memory developed and functions. The research also has real-world relevance; the hypothesized contextual vulnerability of negative memories could contribute to the faulty eyewitness accounts that have led to over 75% of wrongful convictions (Innocence Project, 2009).

长期以来，负面情绪对记忆的影响一直是科学争论的主题。我正在进行的工作的基础是矛盾的负面情绪(PNE)假说，该假说认为负面情绪记忆既强大又脆弱；负面(相对于积极或中性)情绪通常应该增强记忆(Porter&Peace，2007)，但也会增加对错误信息的易感性(Porter等人，2008)。具体地说，因为记忆进化成了一种适应系统，以特定的方式回忆事件会提高早期人类的存活率。因此，与生存相关的(负面/威胁性)信息应该比其他信息更可靠地被回忆起来。然而，当错误信息由权威来源提供时，负面记忆也应该非常容易被扭曲。这种来自可信来源的信息可以帮助为未来的相关活动做准备，但前提是这些信息是有效的。有了我之前的探索基金的有希望的初步发现，我现在希望在一个进化的框架内，坚定地建立起有助于记忆的情感因素及其对扭曲的脆弱性(通过误导性的问题)。一系列实验将检验：(1)对相同模棱两可的图像的记忆，以诱导积极情绪与消极情绪(例如，一个闭着眼睛的婴儿在观看前被描述为“安睡”或“因心脏病去世”)；(2)某人的情绪与刺激的情绪特征对记忆的影响；(3)与不同类型的负面情绪(恶心、恐惧、悲伤)与积极情绪相关的信息的记忆；(4)与进化相关的(例如，蛇)与其他刺激的记忆；以及；(5)错误信息来源的可信度对错误记忆发展的影响。阐述情绪是如何影响我们的记忆的，对于理解记忆是如何发展和发挥作用具有重要意义。这项研究也与现实世界相关；假设的负面记忆的情境脆弱性可能会导致目击者的错误陈述，导致超过75%的错误定罪(Innocence Project，2009)。