The influence of emotion regulation strategy on covert and overt retrieval practice effects

Previous research has examined how emotion regulation influences human memory in the context of negative emotional stimuli. However, the specific impact of emotion regulation on the retrieval practice effects, particularly covert and overt formats, remains unclear. This study conducted three experiments to investigate how two commonly used emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) affect the covert and overt retrieval practice effects. In Experiment 1, a modified retrieval practice paradigm was employed with a 3 (emotion regulation strategy: cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, control) × 2 (learning condition: retrieval practice vs. restudy) mixed-design. The results revealed that cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression differentially affected the retrieval practice effect. Moreover, Experiments 2 and 3 investigated how different emotion regulation strategies influence the effects of both overt and covert retrieval practice. The results not only replicated the findings from Experiment 1 but also revealed that cognitive reappraisal effectively mitigated the disruptive effects of negative emotion on both overt and covert retrieval practice. In sum, cognitive reappraisal was a successful emotion regulation strategy that improved retrieval practice processes.