An unpleasant event that evokes strong emotions will be remembered more accurately by a man than by a woman, say Canadian psychologists, whose conclusions are published by the International Journal of Psychophysiology.
Very little research has focused on how valuation and arousal independently affect memories. We mean to what extent we find the experience attractive or repulsive, and how strong it evokes emotions, says study author Dr Marc Lavoie of the University of Montreal.
On computer screens, the subjects viewed a series of photos that corresponded to four categories: low valuation and low arousal (e.g. photo of a crying baby), low valuation and high arousal (e.g. war photos), high valuation and low arousal (e.g. cat photos), and high valuation and high arousal (e.g. erotic photos).
In the second round, the photos were mixed with new ones, and the participants were to decide if they had seen them before. At the same time, using an electroencephalograph, scientists measured the activity of their brains.
Canadians concluded that among women, photos that evoked strong emotions made it difficult to recognize them in subsequent rounds. A more accurate memory of positive experiences was also observed in the ladies. Arousal images and those associated with unpleasant experiences, in turn, were better remembered by men.