The Pollyanna Principle: Selectivity in Language, Memory, and Thought

Originally published in Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, 1981, Vol 26(8), 648. Reviews the book, The Pollyanna Principle: Selectivity in Language, Memory, and Thought by Margaret W. Matlin and David J. Stang (1978). Pollyanna, it will be recalled, was the child who found the gift of a crutch, instead of the doll she so fervently desired, an occasion for joy and gratitude. There are, however, some discordant notes in the authors' symphony of evidence. They deal with these by invoking what they call the “intensity principle,” whereby events that are affectively highly polarized (including extremely unpleasant ones) are processed more efficiently than those that are neutral. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)