Research Article Emotion, Memory, and Attention in the Taboo Stroop Paradigm An Experimental Analogue of Flashbulb Memories

ABSTRACT—This study tested the binding hypothesis: that emotional reactions trigger binding mechanisms that link an emotional event to salient contextual features such as event location, a frequently recalled aspect of naturally occurring flashbulb memories. Our emotional events were taboo words in a Stroop color-naming task, and event location was manipulated by presenting the words in dif-ferent task-irrelevant screen locations. Seventy-two par-ticipants named the font color of taboo and neutral words, with instructions to ignore word meaning; in one condi-tion, several words were location consistent (i.e., always occupied the same screen location), whereas in another condition, several colors were location consistent. Then, in a surprise recognition memory test, participants re-called the locations of location-consistent words or colors. Although attention enhanced overall location memory for colors (the attended dimension during color naming), emotion (taboo vs. neutral words) enhanced location memory for words but not colors. These results support the binding hypothesis but contradict the hypothesis that emotional events induce imagelike memories more often than nonemotional events. The present study addresses ongoing theoretical and empirical issues associated with emotionally charged, or flashbulb, mem-ories. One issue concerns the main theoretical idea that has guided flashbulb memory research: analogies with photography and computer printouts. Several studies have demonstrated that naturally occurring flashbulb memories are less accurate or resistant to decay than these analogies would suggest (see, e.g.