Selectivity of learning caused by affective states

Used posthypnotic suggestions to investigate how emotional states influence the learning and memory of a text. Exp I (using 16 undergraduates with high scores on the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale) found that happy or sad readers identified with (and recalled more facts about) a character who was in the same mood as they were. In Exp II (with 16 experienced mental health professionals), this selective recall by character could not be produced by inducing the mood at recall after Ss had read the story in a neutral mood. In Exp III (with 32 Ss), mood during reading caused selective learning of mood-congruent incidents, but mood during recall had little effect. Exp IV (with 16 Ss) found that inducing the mood only during recall produced no selective recall of happy vs sad incidents. In Exp V (with 16 Ss), Ss selectively learned whatever affective material was congruent with their emotional state, rather than identifying exclusively with the same-mood character. (24 ref)