Year of Award

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Name

Clinical Psychology

Department or School/College

Department of Psychology

Committee Chair

Stuart Hall

Commitee Members

Daniel Denis, Allen Szalda-Petree, Christine Fiore, Sarah Certel

Keywords

cognitive reappraisal, emotion regulation, prospective memory

Abstract

Prospective memory necessitates the deliberate formation and timely execution of preplanned intentions. The degree of cognitive demand required is thought to be lower for focal compared to non-focal prospective memory cues. While negatively evocative focal cues have been shown to improve prospective memory performance, it is unclear if and to what extent the cognitive reappraisal of negative emotion impacts prospective memory performance. Cognitive reappraisal is often utilized to help individuals effortfully attenuate negative emotions and reduces the chronic burden on cognitive resources. In the present study, we hypothesized that more effective cognitive reappraisal is associated with better prospective memory performance. A total of 106 healthy undergraduate students (M age = 23 years, SD = 7.33) completed computerized taskbased measures of prospective memory and cognitive reappraisal, utilizing standardized negatively evocative images. Number of correctly remembered prospective memory targets as well as reaction times to them were dependent variables. Results showed a marginally statistically significant relationship between prospective memory accuracy and cognitive reappraisal (r2= .17, p = .069). Further, the relationship regarding prospective memory reaction times and cognitive reappraisal was significant (r2 = -.28, p = .003). Findings suggest that cognitive demand of prospectively remembering negative targets is higher for individuals with less effective cognitive reappraisal. These findings have implications for clinical practice as they allow a more nuanced understanding of how the engagement and regulation of emotional stimuli can impact prospective memory performance.

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