Affectivity in Its Relation to Memory

It seems obvious that various feelings (various kinds of affectivity) are memorized, forgotten, and recollected to various degrees. Some of them are forgotten. Some of those forgotten can be recollected, while others are lost forever. For example, short and long-lasting feelings and shallow and deep feelings are memorized and remembered in different ways. In this paper I analyse from a conceptual point of view several categories of memory-of-feelings and offer a comprehensive map of them. In the end, the richness of categories in the realm of memory is interpreted as a proof of the intricacy of affectivity.     

Two-year-olds' search strategies and visual tracking in a hidden displacement task

Children younger than 3 years have difficulty with search tasks that involve hidden displacement. Partial visual information was provided about a ball's path as it moved toward a hiding place. Children (2.0 and 2.5 years old) saw a ball rolling down a ramp placed behind a transparent screen with 4 opaque doors. A wall, placed on the ramp and directly behind 1 of the doors, protruded above the screen and stopped the ball. Children were asked to find the ball. The transparency of the screen permitted visual tracking of the ball between the doors, but its final resting place was obscured. Both age groups were equally proficient at tracking the ball as it rolled behind the screen, but the 2.5-year-olds were more likely to reach to the correct door. Looking behavior was related to errors in the younger group in that tracking that stopped short or continued past the correct door was associated with incorrect choices.     

Depression and its relation to light deprivation

The absence or diminution of light is potentially an anxiety-arousing situation for, perhaps, all of us. Even a cursory look at the origin myths of many cultures reveals the chaotic, destructive, and dangerous aspects of darkness. Additionally, language reflects the same qualities metaphorically and symbolically. Developmentally, the arrival of the darkness of evening potentially signals object loss and ego regression. But factors other than ubiquitous references to a consideration of light and darkness are relevant. Can it be that we are all at least prone to depression due in part to this factor? Questions regarding possible biological causes of depression are perhaps unanswerable at this time. Is the seratonin level really associated with depression and light deprivation? Research is as yet inconclusive. If a relationship exists, another question must be asked: Will certain psychological situations affect a person's seratonin production? The answer to this question of how depression is associated with biological causes is certainly beyond the scope of this paper. Yet the preceding case history reveals at least some psychological causes of depression that were initially seen as biologically based. The SAD proponents would have treated Mr. B with light therapy. The quick solution of light therapy, based on a shaky theoretical base and lacking sturdy research, has too often replaced the psychoanalytic approach. In all too many situations psychoanalysts are being replaced by lightbulbs.     

Positive and negative generation effects,hypermnesia, and total recall time

Self-generated information is typically remembered better than perceived information (the generation effect). Experimental design produces an important limiting condition for this effect: Generation enhances recall in within-subjects designs, but typically not in between-subjects designs. However, Mulligan (2001) found that the generation effect emerged over repeated recall tests in a between-subjects design, calling into question the generality of this limiting condition. Two experiments further delineated the emergent generation effect Experiment 1 demonstrated that this effect does not require multiple discrete recall tests but may emerge on a single recall test of long duration. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the negative generation effect (a reversal of the typical generation effect produced under certain conditions) is abolished by multiple recall tests. In both experiments, the generate condition produced greater hypemnesia (increased recall over tests) than did the read condition.