THE EVENINGS BAD-NEWS - EFFECTS OF COMPELLING NEGATIVE TELEVISION-NEWS IMAGES ON MEMORY

This study examined the relationship between compelling negative images in television news and memory for information in the stories. Memory differences were found before, during, and after the presence of negative compelling images. Memory was worse for material that preceded the negative scenes. During negative scenes, memory was worse for semantically intact audio information such as speech than for nonsemantic aural information such as screams or crashing noises. Memory for visual material presented after compelling negative images was better than memory for material presented before compelling negative images. Results are discussed in relation to retroactive inhibition and proactive facilitation of memory, and in relation to theories about the effects of emotion in cognitive processing.