Affect and memory: Effects of pleasant and unpleasant odors on retrieval of happy and unhappy memories.

Abstract

Interpretation of studies of induced mood and memory is complicated by the fact that mood induction procedures may elicit mood-related cognition in addition to mood per se. We used odors to produce positive and negative experiences with minimal cognitive involvement. College women recalled memories cued by neutral words while exposed to a pleasant odor, unpleasant odor, or no odor. Subjects then rated their memories as to how happy or unhappy the events recalled were at the time they occurred. Subjects in the pleasant odor condition produced a significantly greater percentage of happy memories than did subjects in the unpleasant odor condition. When subjects who did not find the odors at least moderately pleasant or unpleasant were removed from the analysis, more pronounced effects on memory were found. The results suggest that congruence between the general hedonic tone of current experience and that of material in long-term memory is sufficient to bias retrieval.

Cites (6)

1. Feeling and thinking: Preferences need no inferences.
   Zajonc, R. B. · 1980 · American Psychologist
2. Constants across cultures in the face and emotion.
   Ekman, Paul, Friesen, Wallace V. · 1971 · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
3. Negative affectivity: the disposition to experience aversive emotional states
   Watson, David, Clark, Lee A. · 1984 · Psychological Bulletin
4. Mood and memory
   Bower, Gordon H. · 1981 · American Psychologist
5. Affect and memory: A review.
   Blaney, Paul H. · 1986 · Psychological Bulletin
6. Negative thinking in depression: cause, effect, or reciprocal relationship?
   Teasdale, John D · 1983 · Advances in Behaviour Research and Therapy

Show all 6 references

Cited by (9)

1. Asymmetrical effects of positive and negative events – the mobilization minimization hypothesis.
   Taylor, Shelley E. · 1991 · Psychological Bulletin
2. Odor memory: Review and analysis
   Herz, Rachel S., Engen, Trygg · 1996 · Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
3. On the impact of mood on behavior: an integrative theory and a review
   Gendolla, Guido H. E. · 2000 · Review of General Psychology
4. Scents in the marketplace: explaining a fraction of olfaction
   Fitzgerald Bone, Paula, Scholder Ellen, Pam · 1999 · Journal of Retailing
5. The Nature and Role of Affect in Consumer Behavior
   Cohen, Joel B., Pham, Michel Tuan, Andrade, Eduardo B. · 2015 · Handbook of Consumer Psychology

See all 261