Effect of Time Delay on Recognition Memory for Pictures: The Modulatory Role of Emotion

This study investigated the modulatory role of emotion in the effect of time delay on recognition memory for pictures. Participants viewed neutral, positive and negative pictures, and took a recognition memory test 5 minutes, 24 hours, or 1 week after learning. The findings are: 1) For neutral, positive and negative pictures, overall recognition accuracy in the 5-min delay did not significantly differ from that in the 24-h delay. For neutral and positive pictures, overall recognition accuracy in the 1-week delay was lower than in the 24-h delay; for negative pictures, overall recognition in the 24-h and 1-week delay did not significantly differ. Therefore negative emotion modulates the effect of time delay on recognition memory, maintaining retention of overall recognition accuracy only within a certain frame of time. 2) For the three types of pictures, recollection and familiarity in the 5-min delay did not significantly differ from that in the 24-h and the 1-week delay. Thus emotion does not appear to modulate the effect of time delay on recollection and familiarity. However, recollection in the 24-h delay was higher than in the 1-week delay, whereas familiarity in the 24-h delay was lower than in the 1-week delay.本研究考察了情绪在时距对图片再认记忆（recognition memory）影响中的调节作用。被试观看中性、正性与负性图片，并在学习后5分钟、24小时或1周完成再认记忆测试。研究结果如下：1） 针对中性、正性及负性图片，5分钟时距组的总体再认准确率与24小时时距组无显著差异；其中，中性与正性图片在1周时距组的总体再认准确率低于24小时时距组，而负性图片在24小时与1周时距组的总体再认准确率无显著差异。由此可见，负性情绪会调节时距对再认记忆的影响，仅在特定时间范围内维持总体再认准确率的留存水平。2） 对于三类图片，5分钟时距组的回忆（recollection）与熟悉性（familiarity）表现与24小时及1周时距组均无显著差异，说明情绪似乎并未调节时距对回忆与熟悉性的影响。不过，24小时时距组的回忆表现高于1周时距组，而24小时时距组的熟悉性表现则低于1周时距组。