The effect of post-learning arousal on memory in education
by Erol Ozcelik
International Journal of Innovation and Learning (IJIL), Vol. 18, No. 2, 2015

Abstract: Cognitive psychological and neurobiological studies have shown that presenting emotional events after learning enhances memory performance. It has been suggested that arousal induced by emotional stimuli modulates memory consolidation. However, little is known about the memory consolidation process in education. The goal of this study is to investigate the effect of post-learning arousal on memory consolidation in an applied educational setting. Participants were presented with either emotionally arousing or neutral pictures after they studied the instructional materials. Their memory for instructional materials was tested by an immediate free-recall test and a recognition test administered after one week. The results suggest that presenting emotionally arousing pictures compared to neutral pictures enhanced recognition memory performance. These findings support that emotional stimuli facilitated consolidation of memory traces. By incorporating theories in cognitive psychology and neurobiology and using them in an educational setting, this study proposes a novel way to enhance learning through emotional arousal.

Online publication date: Fri, 31-Jul-2015

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Innovation and Learning (IJIL):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

Username:        Password:          Forgotten your password?

Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com