Effects of Stimulus Valence on Recognition Memory and Endogenous Eyeblinks: Further Evidence for Positive-Negative Asymmetry

Japanese college students viewed a series of positive and negative stimulus words printed in katakana, a Japanese syllabary. Jacoby's process-dissociation procedure was used to assess the roles of conscious and unconscious processes in stimulus recognition. There was a stronger conscious recollective component in recognition of negative items and a higher correct rejection rate for negative stimuli, replicating American findings reported by Robinson-Riegler and Winton, and Ortony, Turner, and Antos. In addition, during the encoding phase, negative stimuli were associated with more eyeblinks and longer eyeblink latencies than positive stimuli; this pattern suggests greater cognitive activity in response to negative stimuli, consonant with Taylor's mobilization-minimization hypothesis. The eyeblink response, as measured in the present research, represents a new method for assessing the positive-negative asymmetries that are characteristic of the mobilization process.