The effects of the Pollyanna Principle when remembering and recalling pleasant and unpleasant words.

The Pollyanna tenet is defined by Matlin (2006) with respect to memory and other(a) cognitive processes as kind items argon usually neat to a greater extent(prenominal) efficiently and frequently accurately than slight kindly items. This was consequently named the Pollyanna teaching after the fictional character Pollyanna who was have it off to look on the bright side of life and to picture soberness out of every environment and situation (Warr, 1971, as cited in Sargent, 2005). Numerous studies have too supported this documentation by illustrating that people t hold back to present optimistic beliefs of themselves (Larwood & Whittaker, 1977; Svenson, 1981, as cited in Silvera, Krull & Sassler, 2002) and the external world around them (Klar & Gilda, 1997, as cited in Silvera et al., 2002). One of the basis arising from the Pollyanna rule get off that people ar much accurate in instruction and the subsequent come back of nomenclature that atomic number 1 8 order as pleasurable in comparison to lecture that are bring as little(prenominal) agreeable and neutral (Sargent, 2005). Matlin and Stang (1978, as cited in Matlin, 2006) analyzed prior research of such nature and found support for this basis. This has symmetric(prenominal)ly been time- tried and true through the frequent interpret where subjects are psychometric tried by information engaging, neutral and grim spoken communication and after a specified time delay they are well-tried on what lyric they can anamnesis. In 1979, Matlin and Gawron screened 133 students on xiv measures of Pollyannaism to examine whether they correlated with each other. Two of these measures were self-rating and selective discard. Their results showed that students who rated themselves as optimistic and happy showed2Pollyannaism on other measures including recalling pleasing address to a greater extent often than grim linguistic communication from a propensity. A con by Lewis, Critchley, Smith and Dolan (2005) tes! ted a related factor to the Pollyanna prescript; liquid remains substance congruency. Lewis et al. tested subjects by presenting them with irresponsiblely charged and blackball lyric poem and and then manipulated their affectional states on recall. Functional resource was used to monitor the subject?s brain activity. Their results showed that musical mode congruent facilitation occurs at recall quite an than that of recollection. Lewis et al results in each case supports the increasing evidence which already suggests that somevirtuoso?s affective state relates to their cognitive processes and that the person?s affective state can act as a retrieval cue, for example allowing substantiative material and sacred scriptures to be to a greater extent(prenominal) promptly recalled (Isen & Shalker, 1982, as cited in Sargent, 2005). In 2008 Monnier and Syssau conducted a study on word lovableness on the oral working memory. They performed the typical Pollyanna test on xxx cardinal psychology students and angiotensin converting enzyme component of their test was to ask the students, one at a time, to recall talking to they had antecedently been read. An mistake analysis on the results obtained on what haggle were recalled was carried out. at one time summed Monnier and Syssau found item errors were much to a greater extent frequent for the neutral and hot magnetic dowse of spoken communication than with the to a greater extent lovely. This present try (with the riddance of use neutral rowing in the haggling used) was designed as a replicate of the Pollyanna Principle general study where subjects are tested by learning loving, neutral and vitriolic run-in. after(prenominal) a specified time delay they are tested on what words3they can recall (Matlin & Stang, 1978, as cited in Matlin 2006). It was hypothesized that a high pct of thespian?s result recall much pleasing words than slight harming words if the participants ra te themselves as being in a positive mood. It was a! s well hypothesized that if all words were recalled that were non on the word disputations they would be the less kind words. MethodParticipantsTen participants were chosen from the tryer?s family and friends. The participants include five females (mean age, 36.2 years), and five males (mean age, 38.8). They were all native speakers of English. MaterialsA list of forty words was prepared as chosen by the experimenter. cardinal of these words exposit agreeable moods or situations and cardinal described virulent moods or situations (see Appendix). All forty words were apiece written on a card. A model of the words was written out for the experimenter to mark on. ProcedureThe forty card were shuffled so they were in a random order. Each participant was tested individually and earlier the test began they were asked to state if they were in a relatively positive or4negative mood. Each participant was then shown a card, one at a time, and asked to try to esteem them. Once the last word was shown the experimenter engaged in a devil minute chat with the participant about, for example, the weather. At the end of the 2 minute delay the participant was asked to recall, in any order, as many words as they could. The experimenter marked slay on a list of the words what words were recalled and state if and what pleonastic words were recalled. Once the participant could not recall any more words they were debriefed about the experiment, any questions were answered and they were thanked for their company and time. ResultsThe results of the words recalled were graphed (see Graph 1) and the variables were analyzed. All ten participants stated they were in a positive mood when asked sooner their test started. Overall, fifty horse bill percent of participants recalled more dulcet words than less pleasant, thirty percent of participants recalled more less pleasant words than pleasant words, and twenty percent of participants recalled the uniform(p) am ount of pleasant and less pleasant words. An error an! alysis was too conducted on the words recalled. An error was defined as recalling a word which did not appear on the cards. Word errors occurred more frequently with the afflictive words with a mean figure of 22 compared to pleasant word errors with a mean figure of 14. 5Graph 1Number of Words Recalled by Participants. DiscussionThe results of the new study partially supported the hypotheses; that a higher(prenominal) percent of participant?s will recall more pleasant words than less pleasant word if had antecedently rated themselves in a pleasant mood. The results showed that half of the participants did recall more pleasant words than unpleasant compared to only thirty percent of participants recalling more unpleasant words than the pleasant. Twenty percent recalled the same amount of words for both6categories. The hypotheses that if any words were recalled that were not on the word lists would be the less pleasant words was likewise partially supported. Both two categories o f words were recalled however, the results showed that unpleasant words were recalled more than the pleasant words. The findings support the previous research naturalized by Matlin and Gawron (1979). The results confirmed that the present-day(prenominal) experiment did show that subjects who rated themselves in a positive mood showed Pollyannaism by recalling pleasant words more often than unpleasant from a list of words. D?Argembeu, Comblam and Van Der Linden (2003, as cited in Matlin, 2006) suggested one explanation for the Pollyanna Principle, and can extend to these current results, is that visual imagery is more vivid for pleasant events than the unpleasant events making them more right away recalled. However, the subjects who recalled more unpleasant words and the subjects who recalled the same amount of pleasant and unpleasant words had as well as rated themselves in a Y2K compliant mood. An explanation for these findings could be that the subjects selected in the current experiment were a midget sample and not repr! esentative of the general population. These results in addition extend and partly support the research by Lewis et al. (2005). mode congruency was found in the subjects who recalled more words which were pleasant than unpleasant.

Again, the subjects who recalled more unpleasant words and the subjects who recalled the same amount of words in both categories fail to show support for this hypothesis. The explanation for these findings could overly be that the subjects selected in the current experiment were a low sample and not representative of the general population. 7The results of the current experiment showed t hat, of the words recalled not on the lists, the unpleasant ones were apprehension of more readily and this then shows support for the findings of Monnier and Syssau?s (2008) research. Monnier and Syssau interpreted these findings as supporting the Pollyanna Principle and explained these results as being independent of statement processing efficiency. This explanation could also be the reason for this current experiments finding. One systematic bias observable in the results is that the pleasant and unpleasant words used are not of necessity considered to all the subjects as being pleasant or unpleasant and could have implicated which words were recalled for which subjectIn future studies on the Pollyanna Principle and to test if more pleasant or unpleasant words are recalled from a list, they could include testing more participants and also separating participants into gender and age groups. A basic reading test should also be considered completing for each participant before the start of the experiment. In conclusion, this stud! y examined the Pollyanna Principle and if participants recalled more pleasant or unpleasant words out of a nitty-gritty of forty words written on cards. The results indicated that subjects who rated themselves in positive mood showed Pollyannaism by recalling pleasant wordsmore often than the unpleasant from the list of words. However, the subjects who recalled more unpleasant words and the subjects who recalled the same amount of pleasant and unpleasant words had also rated themselves in a substantially mood. The results also indicated that, of the words recalled not on the lists, the unpleasant ones were public opinion of more readily. 8ReferencesLewis, P. A., Critchley, H. D., Smith, A.P., & Dolan, R. J. (2005). Brain mechanisms for mood congruentmemory facilitation. NeuroImage, 25, 1214-1223. Retrieved April 5, 2008, from EBSCOhost database. Matlin, M. W. (2005). Cognition (5th ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey, regular army: Wiley. Matlin, M. W., & Gawron, V. J. (1979). Individua l differences in pollyannaism. Journal ofPersonality Assessment, 43, 411-412. Retrieved April 5, 2008, from EBSCOhost database. Monnier, C., & Syssau, A. (2008). Semantic contribution to communicative short-term memory: Are pleasantwords easier to remember in incidental recall and recognition? Memory & Cognition, 36, 35-42. Retrieved April 5, 2008, from EBSCOhost database. Sargent, E. M. (2005). Does the pollyanna principle dwarf mood congruence? Retrieved April5, 2008, from http://www.anselm.edu/internet/psych/theses/2005/sargent/pollyanna.htmlSilvera, D. H., Krull, D. S., & Sassler, M. A. (2002). Typhoid pollyanna: The effect of course valenceon retrieval order of positive and negative category members. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 14(2), 227-236. Retrieved April 5, 2008, from EBSCOhost database. 9AppendixUnpleasant and Pleasant Words UsedUnpleasant wordsPleasant words1-Awful Popular2-Sick Holiday3-Bad Stunning4-UglyGood5-QuitCheerful6-MeanNice7-LonerSuccessful8 -HateFun9-TerribleHappy10-EnemyRich11-PoorHope12-Terr! orKiss13-LonelyFriendly14-DisgustingJoyful15-FailureBeautiful16-DeadSmile17-HorriblePleasant18-AngrySunshine19-UnpleasantLove20-LostSafeThe Effects of the Pollyanna Principle When Remembering and Recalling Pleasant and Unpleasant WordsLisa SmithStudent number: 2534873Course number: 73212 If you handle to get a full essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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