Discuss the role of emotion in psychology Essay

Emotion is very much the greatest cause for either compound take or impaired devolve. by dint of m both studies psychologists have engraft that it is non exclusively accompaniments we store in our entrepot but the emotion contact them. revolutionarysflash memories involve an enduring imprint of solvents surrounding an in-chief(postnominal) incident, the keeping is not the howevert itself but where you were and what you were doing when you heard rough it. Sheingold and Tenney (1982) provided certainty to bridge over the image of instant memories. Participants were asked about personal memories and put in most had genuine memories for when they were told and who told them. They found the flash bulb memories were bullocky and remained conformable over time however there is no way of checking the accuracy of these memories.As shown by Sheingold and Tenney, a flashbulb repositings characteristic involves consistency and has an lasting nature and they besides involve a high level of worked up input which gratuitys to better recall of the event. However Wright (1993) found evidence that goes against this definition, the field of operation involved looking at at peoples memories of the Hillsborough football game disaster in 1989, 5 moths aft(prenominal) the event. It was found that most of the participants didnt cover up powerful flashbulb memories in fact many people had reconstructed their memories and had abstruse their own with other peoples accounts. This evidence whence goes against the idea that flashbulb memories remain consistent over time.On the other hand Conway (1994) suggested that the reason nigh studies dont support flashbulb memories is because the event wasnt significant to the individualists. Conway et al used Mrs Thatchers resignation as the basis for the creation of flashbulb memories. 11 months after 86% of the UK participants has a strong and consistent flashbulb storage comp ard to only 29% participants from other countries. This research suggests that flashbulb memories will only be strong if the event surrounding it is significant to the individual the UK participants would have been more(prenominal) aw be and committed to Mrs Thatchers resignation than participants from other countries.The character of emotion is recollection can likewise cause impaired memory. Freud proposed the idea of repression uncalled-for memories are pushed down into the un aware encephalon so you forget them. Freud described this lick as a way of the swelled head protecting itself from emotional conflict which is a great deal the result of harsh experiences. Williams (1994) interviewed women who has been admitted to hospital on the grounds of sexual assault, 20years previously, (they were told the conduct was a follow up of medical care). Williams found that 38% of the women did not show any recall of being sexually ill-treated and that 16% of the women that did, said that at unity time they c ouldnt remember they had. This study therefore provides strong evidence to support the repression theory, a woundtic event was repress and some couldnt recall it even 20 years later.Repressed memories are defined as a traumatic event placed beyond apprised awareness. Because of this placement, these memories can also affect conscious thought. Forgetting a traumatic event, like Williams (1994) research, has also been studied through case studies. champion of the most famous is Bavers (1981) study on sirhan sirhan, the man who shot Robert Kennedy, who has no recall of doing so.In this case the emotions of regret and daunt were probably the cause of the repression and the reason he cannot remember what he did. It has also been suggested that quash memories can also cause c erstrn and disordered behaviour. A study that supports this concept was carried out by Karon and Widener (1997) who found that once trauma was recalled in therapy, mental complaint in World War 2 veterans com pletely alleviated, therefore supporting Freuds theory.However Loftus and Pickrell (1995) found evidence against Frueds repression theory. The study was called unconnected in the philia of attention and the false memory of getting lost in a shopping centre as a child was implanted into the participants. After the debriefing 20% thus far held to their belief that this happened to them, even though it was a false memory showing trauma has a great affect on memory even though the memory was false but going against Frued as the memory wasnt real.Another study by Loftus and Palmer make upd a theory called the gun effect this was during a highly emotional event such as a robbery or assault, an eye witnesses recall was altered due to their commission on a weapon being used. ultimately a depressive state also has an define on memory. damaging emotions oft create a negative recall virgule which makes dismay people only focus on negative and unhappy experiences a mood dependent m emory. Lyketsos (2001) found in support of this that depression may lead people to be inattentive and so they dont encode new memories into the long term memory well, therefore recall is much poorer. In barely support of this Antikainen et al (2001) studied 174 depressed patients and found they performed better on memory tasks and had fewer memory problems after 6 months treatment.In conclusion emotion plays an important role in memory. It can often lead to enhanced memory, such as flashbulb memories, or impaired memory such as the repression of traumatic experiences. Negative emotion is also responsible for a lack of memory such as when someone is depressed. Overall memories are more often than not influenced by emotion the more dogmatic we are the more seeming we are to recall, the more negative the less likely we will recall and are more likely to forget.