Amy Jacobsz Canli 27/01/18

Study 1 Canli et al 2000

Background- An experiment was needed to test the connection between amygdale activation and emotional
based long term memory recall.
1. Aims-to investigate whether the amygdale is sensitive to different levels of intensity to emotions based on
subjective emotional experiences.
2. To investigate whether the degree of emotional intensity affects the role of the amygdale in aiding memory
recall of stimuli classed as emotional.
Participants: All women, All right handed, 10 in total.
Procedure and Design
During an FMRI scan participants were asked to look at 96 images. The images range from highly negative 1.17 to
neutral 5.44 for valence. They were also rated from tranquil 1.97 to highly arousing 7.63. The scenes were in a
randomized order for each participant. They were shown each image for 2.88 seconds with an interval of 12.96
seconds between each image, during this time participants starred at a cross screen. After each image participants
had to press a button rating the picture on a scale 0-not emotionally intense to 3-emotionally intense.

 Results:Amygdala activation was higher with emotion-

Three weeks later participants
were called in for a surprise
memory test. They viewed all 96
images again along with 48 new
foils. They were asked whether
they remembered the picture
with certainty or it was familiar
or forgotten.
ally arousing images.
 Participants rating of emotional intensity reflected the
valence ratings of the images
 The % of remembered images increased as the valence
rating of the image increased while the % of forgotten
images increased as the valence of the image decreased.
 The degree of left amygdala activation predicted whether
an image would be remembered, familiar or forgotten.

Conclusion-The amygdala is sensitive to individually experienced emotional intensity of images, the activity in
the left amygdala during encoding can predict subsequent memory and the degree of amygdala activation during
encoding can predict subsequent memory is a function of emotional intensity.
Application-Understanding of how emotional intensity affects memory recall can be used in adverts to help
make adverts more memorable.

Strengths
Standardized procedure; set time, interval between
images- experiment can easily be repeated.
Controls; valence rating, unexpected memory test-
shows IV caused DV.
Quantitative data; easily analyzed and objective
Consent; participants volunteered
Weaknesses
Low mundane realism; looking at images in an FMRI
is not an everyday activity.
Generalisability; only females and only 10 participants
so results may not be true for the whole population.
Ethics; Psychological damage-disturbing images.
Discomfort; mouth piece in during experiment.