This brief interview with MIT neurobiologist Matt Wilson, posted on the TIME website a few days ago, is an interesting addition to a long-standing debate about memory: do people recall good or bad events more easily?
Convincing research exists for both arguments, but according to Professor Wilson it’s much easier for people to recall negative occurrences:
“We think of memory as a record of our experience. But the idea is not just to store information; it’s to store relevant information. [The idea is] to use our experience to guide future behavior.”
“…The speculation is that we process memory in order to solve problems. And things we should learn from, things that are particularly important or that have strong emotions tied to them, may be things that are going to be important in the future. If you present stimuli with a strong negative emotional component, the memories do seem to be more easily retrieved than neutral stimuli or even those that are somewhat positive…”
Other studies run counter to Walker’s ideas, however, such as this 2003 Review of General Psychology article by W. Richard Walker et al. entitled “Life is Pleasant – and Memory Helps to Keep It That Way!”.
In the study, the authors found that people generally show a positive bias toward past memories, for two reasons. First, people “perceive events in their lives to more often be pleasant than unpleasant”. Second, “the affect [feeling or emotion] associated with unpleasant events fades faster than the affect associated with pleasant events,” a phenomenon known as the fading affect bias.
Depressed people were an exception to the rule – they tended to exhibit less “fading” behavior. Overall, though, Walker and colleagues concluded that “these biases allow people to cope with tragedies, celebrate joyful moments, and look forward to tomorrow.”
So, what conclusions can we draw from these contradictory research findings? First, it’s important to note that our memories are not unchangeable recordings, as we like to imagine. Even Wilson admits this, adding towards the end of his interview:
“[Emotional content] does not necessarily mean that events are remembered more accurately, and that’s an important distinction. In fact, there’s a lot of evidence that all memories can be altered. It’s a normal process — we’re constantly taking our experience and revising it, even twisting it to our own benefit.”
Unless something is so traumatic as, say, the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attacks (an example offered by Laura Blue, who interviewed Prof. Wilson), I like to think that time really can soften the blow of negative events, as with Walker’s fading affect bias. I have certainly found this to be the case in my own life – the painful feelings associated with negative events fade gradually over time, while happy memories reliably make me feel good when I recall them, no matter how long ago they took place.
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8 Comments to
“The Persistence of Memory: Are Negative Events Easier to Recall?”
I do remember some positive things, but I really mostly remember bad stuff about people.
I think the fading affect bias is why women have more than one child. Because why else would anyone do that more than once?!?
I, too, tend to exhibit the precise opposite behaviour. With good events (the recognition of the success of my business, maybe ten years ago), all I can remember is that I *was* happy; I can’t actually remember what it felt like. On the other hand, with negative events (a malicious false accusation of sexual misconduct, 19 years ago), I can remember every detail and constantly revisit it mentally in a vain attempt to understand her motivation and to try to identify warning signs in her behaviour that I might look for in others.
This does seems to resonate with Prof. Wilson’s idea of using memory to learn lessons from past events.
I think negative memories are recalled easier because they stick out. Most people have tons of good memories, and less negative ones. They hence are the “odd ball” and are easier to recall.
Overall I think that memories which are coupled with affective reactions are remembered the best - regardless of their valence.
Thanks, Dragos! I think that sums it up nicely — the stronger our reaction to an event, whether positive or negative, the more likely we are to remember it.
There is a very good reason that our brain would tend to remember and recall past strong “negative” experiences. These are often “tagged” by our brain as a “life threat” by our instinctive “survival” brain. Brain imaging research (Eisenberger, 2003) found so-called “negative” emotionally painful experiences (everyday occurrences such as rejection) are processed by the same human brain area that registers “physical” pain. The Brain Works Project explains this phenomenon to both pre-teens and adults as part of learning brain-based coping skills. Further information on this brain phenomenon is explained on the brain function education website: http://www.copingskills4kids.net.
There is a very good reason that our brain would tend to remember and recall past strong “negative” experiences. These are often “tagged” by our brain as a “life threat” by our instinctive “survival” brain. Brain imaging research (Eisenberger, 2003) found so-called “negative” emotionally painful experiences (everyday occurrences such as rejection) are processed by the same human brain area that registers “physical” pain. The Brain Works Project explains this phenomenon to both pre-teens and adults as part of learning brain-based coping skills. Further information on this brain phenomenon is explained on the brain function education website: http://www.copingskills4kids.net.
Is this why at 63 I can recall in minute detail a brush with a paedophile when aged 5 and my fathers attempt at incest at age 14 but have hazy memories of my 1st wedding?I have often heard said that what traumatises you, you will remember very clearly all your life .
I have experienced this in revisting something that deeply affected me.As I tried to process a series of events ,I rumminated on every detail,trying to sort it out.I think I was trying to see it in another light,and to put things right.It is hard when things don’t seem logical.This time was around the loss of someone I loved so the impact was huge.Also when it alters our perception of ourselves , we need to learn from it, and do a bit of an autopsy of the event.
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Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 26 Jun 2008
