Shock and Awe Memory Enhancement
Bridgid Finn, PhD, postdoctoral researcher in psychology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) reports that learning is enhanced by negative emotion, not diminished by that negative emotion. Memory is reactive and dynamic, not stagnant requiring only neutral or positive emotions to enhance memory. Retrieval of a memory still engages one in processing information.
Finn offers an example of having a picture memory of a gun pointed at one just after taking the SAT, for example, probably isn’t the best situation for stored memory as there is an intri...