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Emotion Regulation Strategies That Promote Learning: Reappraisal Enhances Children’s Memory for Educational Information
Author(s) -
Davis Elizabeth L.,
Levine Linda J.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01836.x
Subject(s) - rumination , psychology , cognitive reappraisal , emotional regulation , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , expressive suppression , academic achievement , cognition , neuroscience
The link between emotion regulation and academic achievement is well documented. Less is known about specific emotion regulation strategies that promote learning. Six‐ to 13‐year‐olds ( N = 126) viewed a sad film and were instructed to reappraise the importance, reappraise the outcome, or ruminate about the sad events; another group received no regulation instructions. Children viewed an educational film, and memory for this was later assessed. As predicted, reappraisal strategies more effectively attenuated children’s self‐reported emotional processing. Reappraisal enhanced memory for educational details relative to no instructions. Rumination did not lead to differences in memory from the other instructions. Memory benefits of effective instructions were pronounced for children with poorer emotion regulation skill, suggesting the utility of reappraisal in learning contexts.