Paired-Associate Learning

The present study evaluated an important variable in neuropsychology, which is the impact of patient emotional associations to verbal stimuli during memory testing. Accurate and detailed memory testing is vital to the diagnosis and treatment of neuropathology (e.g. traumatic brain injury). Students were asked to learn a series of word pairs that varied in emotional valence: positive (happy—merry), negative (slay—murder), and neutral or original (curtains—blinds). A one-way repeated-measures ANOVA illustrated a significant effect of emotional valence [F(2 ) = 14.5, p<0.001], with recall for the neutral/original word pairs (M = 8.3) being significantly greater than recall for the negative (M = 5.4) and positive (M = 5.13) word pairs. Since the emotional (negative or positive) word pairs were synonyms, they could have been more difficult to recall than the neutral/original word pairs. The neutral/original word pairs may also have been higher in imagery than the emotional word pairs. Implications for future research will be discussed. Paired-Associate Learning Research in the area of learning and memory has rapidly expanded during the last few decades. Researchers now have access to an extensive body of knowledge about the use of mnemonic devices or associations between semantically related words. The present study used an exploratory technique to evaluate the use of semantically associated words in relation to learning and memory. The present study focused on paired associative memory, which is an important neuropsychology issue in which emotional associations to verbal stimuli are tested for better understanding of cognitive processes. Emotional valence effect on memory and learning is also of great importance for the area of neuropsychology. This study is also specifically relevant to the improvement and understanding of college learning. It was hypothesized that emotional valence will have an effect on memory and learning, and the negative words would be recalled more frequently than positive or neutral/original words. However, the findings partially support this hypothesis. The neutral/original word pairs were recalled more frequently than either the negative or positive word pairs, a result attributed to the higher imagery of the neutral/original pair words. After numerous studies, scientists are able to identify the areas of the brain associated with memory. The structures involved in learning and memory include the