Can Memory Bias be Modified? The Effects of an Explicit Cued-Recall Training in Two Independent Samples

Cognitive bias modification (CBM) has been found to be effective in modifying information-processing biases and in reducing emotional reactivity to stress. Although modification of attention and interpretation biases has frequently been studied, it is not clear whether memory bias can be manipulated through direct training of emotional recall. In two studies (in undergraduate students and in a community sample), memory bias for emotional verbal stimuli was trained with cued recall of either positive or negative words. We did not find evidence for malleability of memory bias for trained stimuli or induction of emotional reactivity to stress in either study. The training did, however, stimulate training-congruent incorrect recall in the community sample. Although we found no evidence for the direct modification of memory bias, the more global effect obtained with respect to retrieval of emotional information from memory holds promise for CBM-memory studies in clinical samples.