The relationship between naturally occurring dysphoric moods, elaborative encoding, and recall performance

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to examine the effects of levels of naturally occurring dysphoria and elaborative encoding on recall. Previous research has indicated that the facilitative effects of elaborative encoding on recall are reduced by the induction of negative moods in laboratory settings. However, the effects of endogenous dysphoria on recall are less clear. In the present study, 82 subjects from a college population were categorised as dysphoria or nondysphoric on the basis of two self-report measures. They were then presented with sentences in both elaborated and nonelaborated form, and recall for target words embedded in the sentences was assessed. Results demonstrated that nondysphoric individuals benefited from elaborative encoding in recall performance, whereas dysphoric individuals did not. Results are discussed in terms of Ellis and Ashbrook's (1988) resource allocation model of depression.