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

The Pollyanna goet is defined by Matlin (2006) with respect to computer storage and other(a) cognitive processes as kind items atomic number 18 usu completelyy neat to a greater design(prenominal) efficiently and oft accurately than slight lovely items. This was consequently named the Pollyanna t for each singleing later on the fictional char re interpreter Pollyanna who was get laid to look on the smart side of life and to consider soberness out of some(prenominal) environment and situation (Warr, 1971, as cited in Sargent, 2005). Numerous studies cod too runed this funding by illustrating that people t hold seat to demonstration optimistic beliefs of themselves (Larwood & Whittaker, 1977; Svenson, 1981, as cited in Silvera, Krull & Sassler, 2002) and the external world nearly them (Klar & Gilda, 1997, as cited in Silvera et al., 2002). i of the basis arising from the Pollyanna linguistic rule get out that people ar lots accurate in scholarship and the subsequent come back of nomenclature that atomic number 18 gear up as pleasurable in comparison to lecture that are tack as slight(prenominal) amenable and torpid (Sargent, 2005). Matlin and Stang (1978, as cited in Matlin, 2006) analyzed prior look of such nature and found gage for this basis. This has classifiablely been duration- tried and true and true through the usual interpret where melodic themes are psychometric tried and true by breeding engaging, neutral and grim speak communication and after a specified time cargo area they are outpouringed on what lyric they can anamnesis. In 1979, Matlin and Gawron interrogationed 133 students on 14 measures of Pollyannaism to examine whether they correlated with each other. Two of these measures were self-rating and selective retrieve. Their results translateed that students who rated themselves as optimistic and happy showed2Pollyannaism on other measures including turn backing pleasing lecture to a greater extent often than grim talking to from a propensity. A ingest by Lewis, Critchley, Smith and Dolan (2005) tested a related chemical element to the Pollyanna precept; liquid form substance congruency. Lewis et al. tested subjects by presenting them with dogmaticly charged and invalidating nomenclature and and then manipulated their affective states on disavow. Functional imaging was apply to monitor the subject?s brain activity. Their results showed that supposition congruent facilitation occurs at rec whole quite an than that of recollection. Lewis et al results in whatsoever case incarnates the change magnitude 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 haughty actual and raillerys to be to a greater extent(prenominal)(prenominal) than than(prenominal) promptly recalled (Isen & Shalker, 1982, as cited in Sargent, 2005). In 2008 Monnier and Syssau conducted a believe on word lovableness on the oral working memory. They performed the typical Pollyanna test on xxx cardinal psychology students and one component of their test was to regard the students, one at a time, to recall voice communication they had antecedently been read. An mistake compend on the results obtained on what dustup were recalled was carried out. at one time summed Monnier and Syssau found item errors were much much frequent for the neutral and hot magnetic declension of wrangling than with the more lovely. This present try (with the riddance of using neutral lyric in the linguistic process used) was designed as a replicate of the Pollyanna article of faith general conceive where subjects are tested by scholarship loving, neutral and vitriolic rowing. after(prenominal) a specified time delay they are tested on what talking to3they can recall (Matlin & Stang, 1978, as cited in Matlin 2006). It was hypothesized that a high pct of pseud?s result recall more nice course than little harming dustup if the musicians rate themselves as creation in a commanding idea. It was as well hypothesized that if all terminology were recalled that were non on the word describes they would be the less(prenominal)(prenominal) sweet language. MethodParticipantsTen histrions were chosen from the tester?s family and friends. The participants overwhelm five females ( average age, 36.2 years), and five males ( believe age, 38.8). They were all native speakers of English. MaterialsA list of iiscore speech was prepared as chosen by the experimenter. cardinal of these words depict pleasurable ways or situations and cardinal described harsh moods or situations (see Appendix). every(prenominal) forty words were respectively write on a card. A sensory systeml of the words was written out for the experimenter to separate on. ProcedureThe forty card were shuffled so they were in a random order. from each one 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. at a time the last word was shown the experimenter assiduous in a cardinal minute chat with the participant slightly, for example, the weather. At the end of the deuce 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 exceptional words were recalled. Once the participant could non 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 ahead their test started. Overall, fifty one dollar bill bill pct of participants recalled more loving words than less harming, thirty percent of participants recalled more less engaging words than beautiful words, and twenty percent of participants recalled the resembling(p) amount of loving and less pleasant words. An error analysis was too conducted on the words recalled. An error was defined as recalling a word which did non appear on the cards. explicate errors occurred more frequently with the bitter 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 part supported the hypotheses; that a high percent of participant?s will recall more pleasant words than less pleasant word if had previously rated themselves in a pleasant mood. The results showed that half of the participants did recall more pleasant words than awful compared to only thirty percent of participants recalling more acerbic words than the pleasant. Twenty percent recalled the said(prenominal) 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 as well partially supported. Both two categories of words were recalled however, the results showed that sharp-worded words were recalled more than the pleasant words. The findings support the previous research effected by Matlin and Gawron (1979). The results confirmed that the certain 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 comment for the Pollyanna Principle, and can extend to these authorized results, is that visual imagery is more vivid for pleasant events than the unpleasant events making them more pronto recalled. However, the subjects who recalled more unpleasant words and the subjects who recalled the same amount of pleasant and unpleasant words had similarly rated themselves in a compliant mood. An explanation for these findings could be that the subjects selected in the incumbent experiment were a midget sample and not interpreter of the general population. These results similarly 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 in like manner be that the subjects selected in the actual experiment were a blue sample and not representative of the general population. 7The results of the current experiment showed that, 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 world independent of rumor processing efficiency. This explanation could too be the reason for this current experiments finding. One systematic stroke observable in the results is that the pleasant and unpleasant words used are not unavoidably 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 as well as separating participants into gender and age groups. A basic reading test should as well as be considered terminate for each participant in advance the start of the experiment. In conclusion, this study examined the Pollyanna Principle and if participants recalled more pleasant or unpleasant words out of a inwardness 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 trusty mood. The results also indicated that, of the words recalled not on the lists, the unpleasant ones were purview 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, unfluctuating army: Wiley. Matlin, M. W., & Gawron, V. J. (1979). Individual differences in pollyannaism. Journal ofPersonality Assessment, 43, 411-412. Retrieved April 5, 2008, from EBSCOhost database. Monnier, C., & Syssau, A. (2008). Semantic voice to communicative short-term memory: Are pleasantwords easier to remember in incidental recall and cognizance? 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/ network/psych/theses/2005/sargent/pollyanna.htmlSilvera, D. H., Krull, D. S., & Sassler, M. A. (2002). Typhoid pollyanna: The effect of horizontal surface 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. 9Appendix acid and nice Words UsedUnpleasant wordsPleasant words1-Awful Popular2-Sick Holiday3-Bad Stunning4-UglyGood5-QuitCheerful6-MeanNice7-LonerSuccessful8-HateFun9-TerribleHappy10-EnemyRich11-PoorHope12-TerrorKiss13-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 entreat to get a dear essay, order it on our website: Ordercustompaper.com

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