Universität zu Köln

Alves, Hans, Unkelbach, Christian ORCID: 0000-0002-3793-6246, Burghardt, Juliane ORCID: 0000-0003-0690-0731, Koch, Alex S., Krueger, Tobias and Becker, Vaughn D. (2015). A density explanation of valence asymmetries in recognition memory. Mem. Cogn., 43 (6). S. 896 - 910. NEW YORK: SPRINGER. ISSN 1532-5946

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Abstract

The density hypothesis states that positive information is more similar than negative information, resulting in higher density of positive information in mental representations. The present research applies the density hypothesis to recognition memory to explain apparent valence asymmetries in recognition memory, namely, a recognition advantage for negative information. Previous research explained this negativity advantage on the basis of valence-induced affect. We predicted that positive information's higher density impairs recognition performance. Two old-new word recognition experiments tested whether differential density between positive and negative stimuli creates a negativity advantage in recognition memory, over and above valence-induced affect. In Experiment 1, participants better discriminated negative word stimuli (i.e., less false alarms) and showed a response bias towards positive words. Regression analyses showed the asymmetry to be function of density and not of valence. Experiment 2 varied stimulus density orthogonal to valence. Again, discriminability and response bias were a function of density and not of valence. We conclude that the higher density of positive information causes an apparent valence asymmetry in recognition memory.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Alves, Hans UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Unkelbach, Christian UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0002-3793-6246 UNSPECIFIED Burghardt, Juliane UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0003-0690-0731 UNSPECIFIED Koch, Alex S. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Krueger, Tobias UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Becker, Vaughn D. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-397662
DOI:	10.3758/s13421-015-0515-5
Journal or Publication Title:	Mem. Cogn.
Volume:	43
Number:	6
Page Range:	S. 896 - 910
Date:	2015
Publisher:	SPRINGER
Place of Publication:	NEW YORK
ISSN:	1532-5946
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Human Sciences Faculty of Management, Economy and Social Sciences
Divisions:	Faculty of Human Sciences > Department Psychologie Center of Excellence C-SEB
Subjects:	Psychology
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language SIGNAL-DETECTION-THEORY; DUAL-PROCESS THEORY; FALSE RECOGNITION; SIMILARITY; MODEL; FREQUENCY; CLASSIFICATION; ACTIVATION; ACCOUNTS; WORDS Multiple languages Psychology, Experimental Multiple languages
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/39766