PDF (PhD Thesis Susan Chipchase) - Nottingham eTheses ...

The nature of recognition memory and the suitability of different
theoretical frameworks remains a hotly debated topic in the literature (e.g.
Knott & Dewhurst, 2007; Malmberg, 2008; Rotello & Macmillan, 2006;
Wixted, 2007). In this experiment, however, we will be using the
Remember/Know paradigm in the context of research to investigate emotions’
influence on memory and therefore will not be making any conclusions with
regard to support for different models of recognition memory. This is
consistent with other research in the area of emotion and memory which has
reported the proportion of responses given without reference to any particular
theoretical interpretation of the results according to single or dual process
models of recognition memory (e.g. Dolcos, LaBar, & Cabeza, 2005).
The Remember/Know paradigm and emotions’ influence on memory
There has been a great deal of research that has used the
Remember/Know paradigm to investigate the influence of emotion on memory.
As described in Chapter 2, advantages in memory have been found for both
positive and negative stimuli (Dewhurst & Parry, 2000; Dolcos et al., 2005;
Mickley & Kensinger, 2008; Ochsner, 2000). In some studies the advantage
has been found for positive and negative photographs in both Remember and
Know responses (Mickley & Kensinger, 2008), whereas in other studies the
emotional advantage has only been apparent in Remember responses
(Dewhurst & Parry, 2000; Dolcos et al., 2005; Ochsner, 2000).
The Same/Similar/New paradigm and recognition memory
There has recently been a body of work published which examined the
effect of emotion on memory using a new paradigm which identifies
participants’ abilities to identify specific visual details of experimental stimuli
103