Memory bias in the assessment and recall of pre-exam anxiety: how anxious was I?

✍ Scribed by David J. Keuler; Martin A. Safer

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 107 KB
• Volume: 12
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0888-4080
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-0720(199812)12:7<s127::aid-acp582>3.0.co;2-2

✦ Synopsis

This study investigated retrospective evaluations of past emotional states. Twenty-nine graduate students rated their anxiety one day prior to their comprehensive examination. Approximately 1 month later, they attempted to recall their pre-exam anxiety ratings. Half the students recalled after being informed that they had passed the exam, while the others recalled while still awaiting a decision. Students as a whole, but especially those who knew they had passed, recalled being more anxious than what they had reported initially. Thus one's recollection of a prior emotional state may be in¯uenced by one's current emotional state.