Can Emotions Aid Recall?

If you think keeping your head requires keeping your cool, think
again. Research suggests that suppressing emotions may actually
hamper your memory.

In a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, Jane Richards, Ph.D., of the University of Washington and
James Gross, Ph.D., of Stanford University, showed participants a film
depicting a married couple arguing heatedly. They asked half the subjects
to hide their emotions during the viewing, and while both groups later
described similar emotional experiences, those who hid their feelings
remembered far less.

Next, the researchers looked again at expressive suppression, or
hiding emotions, and at reappraisal, or consciously construing negative
stimuli as neutral or even positive. Subjects viewed slides of injured
accident victims and were told personal information about each. One-third
of the subjects were asked to conceal their emotions, another third were
told to view the slides with neutral detachment, while the remainder had
no special instructions. The results showed that participants who
suppressed their emotions recalled fewer details than the other
participants.

Richards suggests that hiding emotions requires continuous
self-monitoring, tapping mental resources critical in forming memories.
But defusing emotions at the outset appears to help people pay closer
attention. These findings hold important implications, especially when
both emotions and stakes are high, such as in the courtroom. "Expressive
suppression on the part of jurors—as they attempt to appear calm in
front of an entire courtroom—may drain cognitive resources that are
critical for evaluating and remembering instructions and
testimony."