Angry expressions strengthen the encoding and maintenance of face identity representations in visual working memory

Jackson, Margaret C., Linden, David Edmund Johannes ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5638-9292 and Raymond, Jane E. 2014. Angry expressions strengthen the encoding and maintenance of face identity representations in visual working memory. Cognition & Emotion 28 (2) , pp. 278-97. 10.1080/02699931.2013.816655

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

Visual working memory (WM) for face identities is enhanced when faces express negative versus positive emotion. To determine the stage at which emotion exerts its influence on memory for person information, we isolated expression (angry/happy) to the encoding phase (Experiment 1; neutral test faces) or retrieval phase (Experiment 2; neutral study faces). WM was only enhanced by anger when expression was present at encoding, suggesting that retrieval mechanisms are not influenced by emotional expression. To examine whether emotional information is discarded on completion of encoding or sustained in WM, in Experiment 3 an emotional word categorisation task was inserted into the maintenance interval. Emotional congruence between word and face supported memory for angry but not for happy faces, suggesting that negative emotional information is preferentially sustained during WM maintenance. Our findings demonstrate that negative expressions exert sustained and beneficial effects on WM for faces that extend beyond encoding.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics (CNGG) Medicine Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute (NMHRI)
Subjects:	R Medicine > R Medicine (General)
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
ISSN:	0269-9931
Date of Acceptance:	13 June 2013
Last Modified:	28 Oct 2022 10:06
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/76722

Citation Data

Cited 59 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item