Effects of Videotaped Violence on Hypermnesia for Imaginally Encoded Concrete and Abstract Words

Abstract

To assess whether increased arousal would differentially affect hypermnesia (enhanced recall) for imaginally encoded concrete and abstract words, two sets of materials (a violent videotape for high arousal and a bird-nest-building videotape for low arousal) were interpolated at four different points in a memory experiment. A pilot experiment measuring the change in heart rate before and after the viewing of two sets of materials confirmed the relationship between self-reported arousal and physiological state. Evidence suggests that only when arousing materials are experienced during the retention interval will hypermnesia be inhibited. In all conditions, concrete words were recalled at twice or more the rate of abstract words.