Abstract

Depression is associated with impairments in memory processes. Evidence suggests there is poor recognition of positive information and quicker disengagement with positive information from working memory in depression compared to healthy controls. The working memory differences are hypothesized to be downstream effects of taxed working memory from rumination processes that impair reward learning. Furthermore, episodic memory impairments for positive information are hypothesized to be downstream effects of dopamine dysregulation from anhedonia in memory formation processes. The current study utilized the Diffusion Drift Model to examine whether anhedonia severity predicted differences in evidence accumulation using an index called drift rates in working and episodic memory tasks. One hundred and eight young adults completed a working memory task where they had to remember an abstract shape while presented with two positive, neutral, or negative distractors, followed by a surprise recognition test of the distractors the next day. Contrary to expectations, based on multivariate models, anhedonia severity did not predict differences in evidence accumulation rate. These results suggest that anhedonia symptoms may not be uniquely associated with memory processes for emotionally-valenced stimuli. Further studies should investigate the role of specific facets of anhedonia (e.g., anticipatory pleasure) and use different paradigms and neurophysiological measures to examine the proposed hypotheses.

Degree Date

Spring 5-17-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Department

Psychology

Advisor

Alicia Meuret, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Holly Bowen, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Thomas Ritz, Ph.D.

Format

.pdf

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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