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Brief exposure to uncontrollable but not to controllable noise biases the retrieval of information from memory
Author(s) -
Willner Paul,
Neiva Judith
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
british journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.479
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8260
pISSN - 0144-6657
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8260.1986.tb00677.x
Subject(s) - quiet , mood , psychology , noise (video) , trait , audiology , cognitive psychology , developmental psychology , social psychology , artificial intelligence , medicine , computer science , physics , quantum mechanics , image (mathematics) , programming language
Female volunteers learned two lists containing a mixture of positive and negative trait words. Both lists were learned in a neutral mood. The first list was recalled in a neutral mood, and the second following a five‐minute exposure to a tape of ‘ meaningful’ noises, designed to simulate a busy office environment. Exposure to loud, uncontrollable noise caused a substantial increase in the proportion of negative trait words recalled from the second list, and also a worsening of mood, particularly an increase in tension. These effects were not seen in subjects exposed to controllable loud noise or to uncontrollable quiet noise. The memory bias following uncontrollable loud noise is qualitatively similar to that found in clinically depressed patients or following depressive mood induction procedures.