Asymmetry of happiness and sadness in effects on memory in normal college students: Comment on Hasher, Rose, Zacks, Sanft, and Doren.

Research suggests that, whereas induced happiness tends to facilitate the recall of positive material, induced mild sadness often does not facilitate the recall of negative material symmetrically. These results are compatible with those reported by L. Hasher et al (see record 1986-03061-001) but also suggest that their failure to observe effects of mild depression on recall should not be overgeneralized to conclude that affective states other than mild sadness have negligible effects on cognitive processes. Possible mediators of these phenomena are discussed, and their potential relevance to the understanding of clinical depression and of the cognitive representation of various affective states is considered. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)