Alexander learned the names of all fifty states of the United States while he was in a very happy mood. Later, while he was in a sad mood, he could remember only twenty of the states. However, when Alexander was again happy, he could remember all fifty states. The principle that best explains this memory effect is

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Mood congruency is the principle that states that memories are more easily recalled when the mood of the individual at the time of recall is the same as the mood of the individual at the time of encoding. In this case, Alexander was able to remember all fifty states when he was happy, but only twenty of the states when he was sad. This is because the happy mood at the time of recall was congruent with the happy mood at the time of encoding.

Alexander Learned the Names of All Fifty States of the United