Efeitos da emoção em tarefas de monitorização da realidade

: uma exploração do papel da valência, ativação e tipo de estímulo

Abstract

The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of emotion on source memory, focusing on reality monitoring processes, namely the discrimination between perceived and imagined information. Two studies were conducted: the first manipulated the level of stimulus arousal (high, low) and the second manipulated valence (negative, neutral, positive), using both environmental sounds and images in both studies. The first included 28 young adults (23 females; Mage = 20.25) and the second 32 participants (30 females; Mage = 22.59). The results indicated that the source of information (heard/seen vs. imagined) had a consistent impact on source memory, with superior performance for heard or seen stimuli. In Study 1, only in the case of images was there better source memory performance for high (vs. low) arousal stimuli, with similar performance in the case of sounds. In its turn, in Study 2, the source of neutral valence stimuli was better remembered compared to negative stimuli, both for sounds and images. These data support the notion that the arousal and valence of information can distinctly influence reality monitoring processes, such as when we have to distinguish between real and mentally generated perceptions.

Date of Award	16 Jul 2025
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Diana Cristina Rodrigues Pereira (Supervisor) & Patrícia Oliveira-Silva (Co-Supervisor)