Date created: | Last Updated:

Category: Project

Description: High levels of alexithymia are associated with impaired memory for emotional, but not neutral words. Two experimental studies were conducted to determine if a similar memory deficit would be observed for non-verbal socially-relevant stimuli. Thirty-nine female undergraduates (study 1) viewed a series of photographs of faces with different expressions (neutral, angry, happy or sad) and 38 female students (study 2) viewed film-clips of realistic social interactions, which were either neutral in tone or featured anger, happiness or sadness. Participants were asked to identify the emotion portrayed and were subsequently given a recognition memory test for these stimuli. They also completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS). Memory for angry faces was negatively related to alexithymia (‘difficulty describing feelings’ (DDF) subscale of the TAS-20. Similarly, memory for realistic social interactions featuring anger, happiness and sadness was negatively related to alexithymia (‘difficulty identifying feelings’ (DIF) and DDF of the TAS-20). These memory deficits were evident in the conscious recollection of the stimuli and were independent of the effects of mood. Our findings are largely consistent with studies using verbal material and confirm that alexithymia is related to deficits in the conscious recollection of emotional material.