Page 37 - Media Effects Advances in Theory and Research

26 ZILLMANN

2. Events of consequence attract more attention and are more vigor-
ously processed than irrelevant events. Accordingly, storage and
retrieval of vital events are superior to those of inconsequential
events.

This assumption pertains to emotional reactivity and is well founded
in biological and neuroendocrine theory. Kety (1970), for instance, based a
survival theory on it, arguing that retaining and recalling information
about the encounter of emotion-arousing conditions, as these processes
serve the preparation of effective coping behavior, had great adaptive
value in the course of evolution. Retaining and recalling information
about events that failed to evoke emotions, in contrast, did not have such
value. It should be expected, therefore, that the vigilance of environmen-
tal screening is elevated during emotions, with more intense coding of
information into memory as a result (Heuer & Reisberg, 1990). It may be
considered firmly established, in fact, that informational displays that
evoke emotions are better recalled than those that do not (Christianson,
1992; Spear & Riccio, 1994).
Research focusing on retention and retrieval of emotional events has
actually led to clearly articulated mechanisms for the mediation of superior
access to the information about these events. A structure within the limbic
system, the amygdala, has emerged as the moderator that determines the
significance of events at the onset and during acute emotions (LeDoux,
1992). Essentially, this structure serves self-preservation by continually
monitoring the environment for threats and dangers of any kind, as well as
for opportunities toward gratification, and on encounter of such vital situa-
tions signals the magnitude of the condition. The behavior-energizing emer-
gency reaction (Cannon, 1929; Zillmann, 1996) unfolds alongside these emo-
tional developments. An essential part of this reaction is the systemic release
of adrenal catecholamines. In turn, part of this release is the central diffusion
of epinephrine. The excitatory effect of these hormones persists during emo-
tion and lingers for several minutes after the cessation of emotion. Superior
conditions for information coding prevail throughout the entire emotional
episode (Bower, 1992). The mechanism for the superior coding of emotion-
arousing exemplars thus can be stated as follows: Amygdaloid monitoring
prompts the discernment of exemplar salience that manifests itself, in part,
in the activation of central norepinephrine receptors, and the enhanced sen-
sitivity of these receptors creates the conditions for superior coding of emo-
tional exemplars into indelible memory (Cahill, Prins, Weber, & McGaugh,
1994; McGaugh, 1992; McGaugh & Gold, 1989).

3. The incidence of events of the same kind is coded, and basal
quantitative assessments are made on grounds of this coding.