The effect of mood on picture recognition

This research examined the effects of induced mood on picture recognition. Seventy-five Algoma University students were induced into a happy, neutral or sad mood using a mood induction strategy similar to the one devised by Velten (1968). In completion of this mood inducing task, subjects were then presented 60 pictures of faces (20 happy, 20 neutral, and 20 sad) at a rate of 0.5 seconds each. Following the picture presentation, participants completed a mood adjective checklist to test the effectiveness of the mood inducing procedure. Subjects then identified out of a second set of 93 pictures, which images they had seen earlier. Results showed that the mood inducing procedure had an insignificant effect on subject's mood, however happy pictures were better recognized across all three mood groups, than neutral and sad pictures.