The Psychology Book

194

E V E N T S A N D E M O T I O N

A R E S T O R E D I N

M E M O R Y T O G E T H E R

GORDON H. BOWER (1932– )

IN CONTEXT

APPROACH

Memory studies

BEFORE

1927 Bluma Zeigarnik

describes the “Zeigarnik

effect” of interrupted tasks

being better remembered

than uninterrupted ones.

1956 George Armitage

Miller’s The Magical Number

7, Plus or Minus 2 provides a

cognitive model for storage

in short-term memory.

1972 Endel Tulving makes a

distinction between semantic

and episodic memory.

AFTER

1977 Roger Brown coins the

term “flashbulb memory” for

autobiographical memory

connected with highly

emotional events.

2001 Daniel Schacter

publishes The Seven Sins of

Memory, which categorizes

the ways that memory can fail.

...because we pay more attention

to the information that agrees with

our mood.

When we are in an

unhappy mood, we tend

to store in memory the

negative things

that happen...

When we are in a

happy mood, we tend

to store in memory the

positive things

that happen...

When we are happy,

we find it easier to

recall memories from

a happy time.

When we are unhappy,

we find it easier to

recall memories from

an unhappy time.

Events and emotion are stored

in memory together.