Mood congruent memory is a concept that describes how the emotions an individual feels tend to generate specific memories that link with the certain emotion. Emotions and moods are contributing factors that that help to shape all of our memories. In psychological terms, they act as retrieval cues for human memories. When a memory is stored inside our brain, not only is the actual event stored, but the specific emotion or mood one was feeling during that experience is also stored. If someone is in a good mood, a memory in which they felt excited or happy will be triggered. However if someone is in a bad mood, a memory in which they felt angry or sad will potentially be triggered. A person can remember events more easily when they are currently in the same state of mind as they were in the memory that was stored.
An example of this that I had experienced in my own life was categorizing negative emotions with negative memories. I had been really upset one day about a certain grade on an assignment and the only memory that happened to cross my mind was thinking back to the last day of camp. In this situation, I felt even more upset than I did at the current moment. The last day of camp is extremely depressing and represents many unhappy thoughts. It means that summer is ending, school is about to start, and you have to say goodbye to the people you have been spending the entire summer with. I eventually reached that same level of sadness after the flashback had crossed my mind.
Retrieval cues are important in breaking down the true meaning of having memories. I always find myself recalling previous memories that had occurred in my life. I may have written about a negative mood, however there are plenty of times in which I can write about being in a good mood and recalling a happy memory. Our memories would not appear so realistic without assistance from our emotions and moods. It would be difficult for someone to accurately retrieve an old memory. Different states of mind affect the process of how our brain encodes, stores, and retrieves memories.