Exploring the Facets of Emotional Episodic Memory: Remembering What, When, and Which

Our memories can differ in quality from one event to the next, and emotion is one important explanatory factor. Still, the manner in which emotion impacts episodic memory is complex: Whereas emotion enhances some aspects of episodic memory-particularly central aspects-it dampens memory for peripheral/contextual information. Extending previous work, we examined the effects of emotion on one often overlooked aspect of memory, namely, temporal context. We tested whether emotion would impair memory for when an event occurred. Participants (N = 116 adults) watched videos wherein negative and neutral images were inserted. Consistent with prior work, results showed that emotion enhanced and impaired memory, respectively, for what and which. Unexpectedly, emotion was associated with enhanced accuracy for when: We found that participants estimated that neutral images occurred relatively later, but there was no such bias for negative images. By examining multiple features of episodic memory, we provide a holistic characterization of the myriad effects of emotion.

Automated summary

Emotion can have complex effects on memory, enhancing memory for central aspects but dampening memory for peripheral/contextual information. The study also found that emotion may impact the accuracy of memory for when an event occurred.