Effect of mood on lexical decisions
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Abstract
This experiment investigated the effects of induced elation and depression on lexical decision times for positive, negative, and neutral words. Contrary to prediction, decision times for mood-congruent words were not faster than decision times for mood-incongruent words. Following the lexical decision task and while still in an induced elated or depressed mood, subjects were given a surprise recall test for the words presented during the lexical decision task. Mood-incongruent words tended to be recalled better than mood-congruent words. Several possible explanations of these unexpected findings are discussed.