Episodic memory is the hallmark of building one’s life narrative, sense of identity and self. It is a multi-component function including representation of items, associations, and coherent retrieval of all associations within an event. Substantial evidence showed that all components of episodic memory function develop from childhood into adulthood distinctively. Another line of research conducted with adults showed that emotion can have detrimental influence on memory depending on memory modality (item vs associative) and valence (positive vs negative). Although these two lines of inquiry (age and emotion) are well studied in the literature, they rarely crossed each other.
The current thesis presents a systematic investigation of how emotion shapes episodic memory in children and adults using a cross-sectional design. Emotional valence was manipulated through the presentation of sad, happy, neutral, and angry facial expressions. Experiments 1 and 2 examined the effects of negative emotion (sad faces) on associative memory and memory coherence, whereas Experiment 3 focused on the effects of negative emotion (angry faces) on both item and associative memory. Experiment 4 investigated the influence of positive emotion (happy faces) on associative memory and memory coherence. Across experiments, the results replicated previous findings by demonstrating age-related differences in associative memory alongside comparable levels of memory coherence between children and adults. Age-related differences were also observed for item memory, depending on stimulus category. Specifically, children showed poorer memory for faces compared with adults, whereas no age-related differences emerged for object memory, consistent with prior literature. With respect to emotional influences across age-groups, the studies yielded novel results. Particularly, sad facial expressions reduced associative memory not only in adults but also in children of varying age range, while comparable levels of memory coherence were observed for neutral and negative events (Experiments 1 and 2). Experiment 3 revealed distinct developmental effects of anger. In children, anger enhanced memory for faces, with no observed differences in associative memory. In adults, face memory remained intact, whereas associative memory was impaired by anger expressions. Object memory was not significantly influenced by the accompanying facial expressions in either children or adults. Experiment 4 showed that positive emotion did not affect associative memory; however, positive events were retrieved coherently by both children and adults. The results of Experiments 1–2-4 suggest broadly similar emotional influences on memory across age ranges, whereas Experiment 3 shows the distinct developmental effects of anger expression. The findings of this thesis are disseminated across three research articles, which comprise three chapters of this dissertation.
Understanding how emotional memories are constructed from childhood into adulthood is a crucial first step toward developing more comprehensive theories of emotional memory. This emerging area of research has the potential to inform clinical applications by elucidating how memory traces retained from childhood may function as both protective and risk factors for mental well-being.
