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Concept information

phenomenon > memory phenomenon > positivity bias

Preferred term

positivity bias  

Definition(s)

  • Memory bias leading older people to preferentially remember positive events rather than negative or emotionally neutral events.

Broader concept(s)

Related concept(s)

Synonym(s)

  • positivity effect
  • positivity memory bias

Belongs to group

Bibliographic citation(s)

  • • Charles, S. T., Mather, M., & Carstensen, L. L. (2003). Aging and emotional memory : The forgettable nature of negative images for older adults. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 132(2), 310‑324. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.132.2.310

    [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed]
  • • Guillaume, C., Eustache, F., & Desgranges, B. (2009). L’effet de positivité : un aspect intriguant du vieillissement. Revue de neuropsychologie, 1(3), 247–253. https://doi.org/10.3917/rne.013.0247

    [Study type: literature review / Access: open]
  • • Hamilton, L. J., & Allard, E. S. (2020). Words matter : Age-related positivity in episodic memory for abstract but not concrete words. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 27(4), 595‑616. https://doi.org/10.1080/13825585.2019.1657556

    [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed]
  • • Joubert, C., Davidson, P. S. R., & Chainay, H. (2018). When do older adults show a positivity effect in emotional memory? Experimental Aging Research, 44(5), 455‑468. https://doi.org/10.1080/0361073X.2018.1521498

    [Study type: empirical study, replication / Access: closed]
  • • Mather, M., & Carstensen, L. L. (2005). Aging and motivated cognition : The positivity effect in attention and memory. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9(10), 496‑502. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2005.08.005

    [Study type: literature review / Access: closed]
  • • Mather, M., & Knight, M. (2005). Goal-directed memory : The role of cognitive control in older adults’ emotional memory. Psychology and Aging, 20(4), 554‑570. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.20.4.554

    [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed]
  • • Reed, A. E., Chan, L., & Mikels, J. A. (2014). Meta-analysis of the age-related positivity effect: Age differences in preferences for positive over negative information. Psychology and Aging, 29(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035194

    [Study type: meta-analysis / Access: closed]

Creator

  • Frank Arnould

Moderator variable(s)

  • • Attention: effect observed when stimuli are encoded in a full attention condition and not in a divided attention condition (Joubert et al., 2018 ; Mather & Knight, 2005).
  • • Word concreteness : absence of positivity effect for concrete words but presence for abstract words, especially among older people (Hamilton & Allard, 2020).

In other languages

URI

http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/P66-T7FC6MF2-F

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