AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY Spring 2007, Vol. 120, No. 1, pp. 73–90 © 2007 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois Emotional arousal and memory: A test of the poststimulus processing hypothesis LYNN M. HULSE, KEVIN ALLAN, AND AMINA MEMON University of Aberdeen J. DON READ Simon Fraser University Emotional arousal is believed to enhance memory for details central to an episode but impair memory for peripheral details. However, new research suggests that arousal induced thematically (i.e., through involvement with an unfolding event) produces only memory enhancements. This article examines whether consciously controlled elaborative processing in the aftermath of an arousing experience is responsible. A dual task manipulation was used to prevent participants from ru- minating over a video that depicted an abduction and attack. Several indices of recall showed greater memory for emotional event details than for details from a neutral control video, which remained the case when the opportunity for post- stimulus elaboration was prevented. Thus, superior retention of the content of emotional experiences may arise from the way in which arousal is induced rather than through immediate postevent cognitions. In a comprehensive review of the existing literature, Christianson (1992) concluded that memory for emotional events tends to be greater than that for neutral events. However, this statement referred specifically to memory for central event details (i.e., details central to the appearance or meaning of the emotional stimuli). According to Christianson, peripheral details tend to be remembered less well when the event is emotional rather than neutral. Although the definition of what is peripheral varies across stud- ies—details that precede or succeed emotional stimuli (temporally periph- eral), details that are in the background of a scene (spatially peripheral), or details that are not critical to the event’s storyline or main characters (plot irrelevant or peripheral)—the pattern of effects on memory is the same and is particularly pronounced after a short retention interval. Christianson has since reiterated his conclusion (Christianson & Lind- holm, 1998) and has been supported by the findings from several newer empirical studies demonstrating that the presentation of emotionally arousing stimuli results in enhancing and impairing effects for central