Better memory for intrinsic versus extrinsic details underlies the enhanced recollective experience of negative events

Abstract

Why we remember emotional events with an increased subjective sense of remembering (SSR) is unclear. SSR for neutral events is linked to memory for various kinds of details. Using the Remember/Know paradigm, participants provided written justifications of their Remember responses indicating what they specifically recollected about a negative or neutral photo seen during encoding. Crucially, Remember responses for negative photos were more often linked to memory for details of the stimuli (intrinsic details) versus details related to external associations (extrinsic details) or emotional reaction at encoding, suggesting that memory for intrinsic details underlies the enhanced SSR of negative stimuli.