Presenter(s): Jack Kapustka
Faculty Mentor(s): Dasa Zeithamova
Data Story 2 CLS
Previous research suggests that the ability to remember associations is impaired by negative emotions, though these findings remain inconclusive. In this study, we examined whether this impairment from exposure to a negative stimulus could be transferred to subsequent associations. Sixty-five students were recruited from the University of Oregon Human Subjects Pool. Subjects completed a paired-associates paradigm, in which they learned to link neutral object pairs (AB & BC) that shared a common associate (B). After being tested on AB learning, subjects then learned BC pairs, as well as unrelated pairs (XY) that did not share any AB associations. There were no differences in learning for any of the pairs as a function of emotional distractor condition. Overall, our results suggest that irrespective of distracting emotional experiences, learning of overlapping associations is more difficult than learning of non- overlapping associations.