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Annotated Bibliography

How Does Emotion Affect Memory?

Kyle McDonald
Professor Malcolm Campbell
English 1103
3/1/16

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Annotated Bibliography
Buchanan, Tony W. "Retrieval of Emotional Memories." Psychological
Bulletin. U.S. National Library of Medicine, Sept. 2007. Web. 12 Mar.
2016.
This article examines the retrieval of emotional memories. It uses
books and other articles to support its claims. The research suggests that
the amygdala, in combination with the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, plays an
important role in the retrieval of memories for emotional events. Amygdala is present
during emotional situations and causes an emotion to be associated with the memory. The
article cites multiple books in order to support this statement. I will be able to use it in my
paper when talking about what parts of the brain control memory and emotion.
"Emotional Memory." Breakthrough Learning. Breakthrough Learning,
16 May 2013. Web. 1 Mar. 2016.
This article uses fewer sources to back up its statements, and seems to
generalize. Its not filled with a bunch of scientific words that I dont
know the meaning of, so it is intended for an average reader. The main
point the article makes is that the more emotion involved in a memory
whether it is sad or happy, it is easier to remember it. The article
claims that sharing an emotional memory with other people makes it
more powerful. People who have witnessed a terrible accident or a
murder will remember this for the rest of their lives. John Medina, in his
book, Brain Rules, describes how, when he was a child, he watched a
plane crash. Medina hurried home to tell his parents. He called his

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friends. He talked to investigators. He talked about it in school. The
combination of an extremely emotional event and talking about it,
sharing the experience with others, makes the memory extremely
powerful. This article will be useful when talking about the strength of
a memory impacted by emotion.
Dingfelder, Sadie F. "Feelings' Sway over Memory." American
Psychological Association, Sept. 2005. Web. 9 Mar. 2016.
This article focuses on tunnel memory and memory illusions. This
article was based off of a recent study in Cognition and Emotion (Vol.
18, No. 4, pages 559-574.). The study found that people in
emotionally stressful and intense situations focus on specific details.
It stated people experiencing negative emotions tend to focus in on
specific details, while happy people take in a situation more broadly. I
will be able to use this article in my paper when I talk about how
emotion impacts stressful memories.
"Research Areas." Emotion Affects Memory's Reliability. National
Science Foundation, 28 June 2010. Web. 3 Mar. 2016.
This article examines the distortion of memory due to emotion in
adults and children. Multiple sources and studies were used to create
the article. In one particular study scientists were able to find out that
the test subjects were able to remember words associated with
emotions, such as hurt easier than other words. I will be able to use

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this article when examining the effectiveness of emotion to remember
things.