Emotional content affects the fidelity of visual working memory recall

Our working memory (VWM) is susceptible to distortions influenced by various sources. This study investigates how the emotional valence of faces leads to systematic biases in VWM recall. To explore this, we implemented a delayed-reproduction task using a cued recall from a memory set of three faces. Thirty-one participants recalled the emotional valence of a target face, specified by its serial position (1, 2, or 3), by selecting a response from a continuous spectrum of 19 morphed faces. Data were analyzed using Generalized Linear Mixed-Effects Models (GLMMs) to account for trial-to-trial dependencies and individual differences. The findings demonstrate a robust "diminished intensity" bias: intensely emotional faces, both happy and sad, were consistently recalled as being more neutral than they were. This central tendency effect was the primary source of recall error. The magnitude of this bias was further modulated by cognitive load (cued serial position) and trial history. Emotional content systematically distorts VWM representations, largely driven by a regression toward the mean. This suggests that fundamental cognitive mechanisms, such as central tendency bias, are key drivers of how emotional information is maintained and recalled, with recall fidelity being shaped by an interplay between stimulus intensity, cognitive load, and temporal dynamics.