This study examines the effect of self versus others' reference on retention ofinformation, i.e., traits and behavioural statements in a series of four experiments under the incidentalretentionparadigm. The effects of arousal, affective state of the subject, and valence of material on the self versus others' reference were investigated. The results suggest the facilitative effect of self-reference on retention across different types of materials, tasks, and affective states. Self emerged to be a strong cognitive schema which mediates and regulates behaviour in many ways. Self-reference may be used as an effective mnemonic device in the teaching-learning processes. Developmental investigations of self-referenced encoding warrant further research.
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