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Emotional factors in forgetting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

B. P. Bradley  and
A. D. Baddeley
B. P. Bradley*
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge and MRC Applied Psychology Unit, Cambridge
A. D. Baddeley
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge and MRC Applied Psychology Unit, Cambridge
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr B. P. Bradley. Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB.
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Synopsis

Levinger & Clarke (1961) found that subjects tended to forget more word associations to emotional rather than neutral words. Kline (1981) regarded this study as providing “irrefutable evidence for the Freudian concept of repression”. On the other hand, results from Kleinsmith & Kaplan (1964) suggested that this effect may reverse after a delay. The present study attempted to replicate Levinger & Clark's result using stimulus words balanced for concreteness and frequency. In addition, recall was tested immediately and after a delay. Associations to emotional material were more poorly recalled immediately than associations to material which was low in emotional valence, but tended to be better recalled a month later. There were no differences in recall of pleasant versus unpleasant material. Results do not support the repression hypothesis, in that emotional material becomes more memorable over time. Moreover, repression should differentially apply to unpleasant rather than pleasant material but no such differences were found.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 20 , Issue 2 , May 1990 , pp. 351 - 355
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

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