Mood State and Recall Biases: the Role of Affect

92 As early as 1968, Velten proposed a method for inducing mood states in controlled laboratory situations, opening up a new chapter in basic research on human emotions. The procedure used by Velten consisted in drawing up three lists of 60 sentences in the first person (i.e., self-referential). Each list had a different emotional content: depressive, euphoric or neutral. There were three groups of subjects, so that each group read only one of the three lists of sentences. Subsequently, all subjects were administered various psychological tests, and it was found that this simple procedure induced a mood state capable of producing marked differences in writing speed, decision-making speed, word association and subjective expression of affect. The importance of these results is due to the fact that, until now, basic research on emotions has focused on its antecedents, especially cognitive determinants, on the analysis of subjective experience and on physiological concomitants; but not so much on the way emotional states alter psychological functioning. Currently, it is accepted that a particular mood state includes not only an affective component, that is, a subjective experience, but also a cognitive context and a general state of the organism (Mayer, Salovey, Gomberg-Kaufman and Blainey, 1991). However, as regards the relationships between these different components, a variety of approaches can be found. There are those who argue that it is thinking that produces both affective states, that is, the experience of emotion, and behaviours associated with the emotions and all other effects derived from them (Lazarus, 1982). Others, like Zajonc (1980), defend the primacy of affect over cognition. Finally, there are intermediate propositions, such as those of Teasdale and Fogarty (1979), who suggest a reciprocal relationship between cognition and affect, since, while some cognitions might produce changes in mood states, these states may, in turn, affect or alter certain cognitive processes, such as memory. Bower (1981, 1987, 1992) made a considerable contribution to research on the relationship between emotion and cognition, demonstrating the influence of mood states on memory and other cognitive processes, developing new experimental procedures, producing an important body of empirical data and formulating an influential theory on the relationship between emotions and cognition. MOOD STATE AND RECALL BIASES: THE ROLE OF AFFECT