Effects of Congruity between Criterion of choosing and Word Pair Type on Intentional Memory

This study examined the relationship between the recall of chosen words and congruity between the selection criterion and type of pairs in intentional memory. Participants were asked to select a more pleasant or unpleasant word from two types of pairs, pleasant–neutral and unpleasant–neutral, and to remember the chosen word presented in the learning phase, followed by the free recall phase. Although the pleasant words selected from the pleasant–neutral pairs were equally recalled as in the unpleasant–neutral pairs, the chosen unpleasant words from unpleasant–neutral pairs were recalled more often than those in the pleasant–neutral pairs. These results suggest that the recall of the chosen words was determined by the congruity between the criteria of choosing and the type of paired words and the negativity bias in memory.