Affective change greater for unpleasant than pleasant events in autobiographical memory of children and adults: A retrospective study

Research on autobiographical memory in adults shows affect associated with unpleasant events fades faster than affect associated with pleasant events, a phenomenon referred to as the fading affect bias (FAB; Walker et al., 2003). To investigate developmental differences in the intensity of emotion associated with autobiographical memories, 8-12-year-old children and adults retrospectively recalled and provided initial and current affect ratings for pleasant and unpleasant events experienced over the past year. Children and adults demonstrated the FAB, and the magnitude of the FAB was similar between age groups. Additionally, pleasant events that were frequently discussed with other individuals demonstrated low affective fading. Further, participants with low dispositional affect reported low affective fading of unpleasant events. Because the FAB is argued to support coping and positive perceptions of the self and the future, it is advantageous that this effect is observed by middle childhood.