Department or Program

Neuroscience

Abstract

Boundary extension (BE) is a phenomenon where observers remember more of a scene than what was physically seen, recreating a previously seen image with a more expansive view (Intraub & Berkowits, 1996; Intraub & Richardson, 1989). While there is much work on the spatial mechanisms of BE, it may involve other cognitive functions, like emotion. However, previous studies show inconsistent findings on the impact of the emotional valence of stimuli within a scene on boundary extension; some show that negative stimuli contribute to a boundary constriction effect rather than an expansion effect. This study aims to gain a comprehensive understanding of whether the emotional valence of a stimulus—negative, neutral, or positive—or the arousal—low, medium, or high—impacts the boundary extension phenomenon. The study consisted of a computer-generated paradigm viewing stimuli of different valence and arousal. Experiment 1 did not find a main effect of valence but did find that scene images produced a boundary constriction effect as compared to images rated as “animal,” “object,” or “person.” Experiment 2 found no main effect of arousal on boundary extension/constriction. The results of this study contribute to existing research on boundary extension/constriction and the potential emotion and memory correlates of boundary distortions.

Level of Access

Open Access

First Advisor

Houck, Lindsay

Date of Graduation

5-2023

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Number of Pages

46

Components of Thesis

1 pdf file

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