6. The misinformation effect is an interesting case of retroactive memory interference (where the interfering item follows the memory item before the test). The original events serves as the memory item, and the post-event information serves as the interfering item. A study describing this effect is from Loftus and Palmer (1974), where subjects were shown film of a traffic accident. After the film, they were asked how fast the cars were going when they either “smashed” “collided” “bumped” “hit” or “contacted.” The estimated speed from the subjects was overall greater when the word used in the question had a connotation that would imply faster speeds. Also, the “smashed” group was 2x likely to report broken glass (which was false). The word used in the question served as the post-event information that retroactively interfered with the original event.

8. Emotion (reaction to a specific stimulus) and mood (a more general, long-lasting feeling) both affect LTM. For example, we typically remember pleasant stimuli more accurately than non-pleasant stimuli. In a typical study, subjects will remember more items of a list of pleasant words than a list of neutral or unpleasant words. Also, there is typically more accurate recall for neutral stimuli when it is associated with pleasant stimuli. An example of this effect comes from subjects who watched commercials during a violent and equally-exciting non-violent film. The subjects recalled more information about the commercials when they were in non-violent films. Also, there, there’s typically faster recall for pleasant stimuli, and over time, unpleasant memories fade faster. Mood congruence states that memory is better when the material to be remembered is congruent with a person’s mood. Mood-dependent memory states that we are more likely to remember material if our mood at the time of retrieval matches the mood we’re in when we originally studied the material.