The effects of acute stress on memory encoding are complex, and we do not yet know all of the conditions that can determine whether stress at encoding improves or impairs memory. Recent work has found that changing contexts between encoding and stress can abolish the effects of post-encoding stress on memory, suggesting that context may play an important role in the effects of stress on memory. However, the role of context in the effects of stress on memory encoding is not yet known. We addressed this gap by examining the effects of context on the influence of acute stress on memory encoding. In a 2 × 2 experimental design, participants (N = 103) completed either a stressor (i.e., Socially Evaluated Cold Presser Test) or control task (i.e., warm water control) before completing a memory encoding task, which occurred in either in the same room as or a different room from the stressor or control task. Memory retrieval was tested for each participant within the context that they completed the encoding task. We found that, relative to nonstressed (i.e., control) participants, stressed participants who switched contexts prior to encoding showed better memory for both negative and neutral images. In contrast, when the stressor or control task occurred in the same room as memory encoding, stress had no beneficial effect on memory. These results highlight the importance of the ongoing context as a determinant of the effects of stress on memory encoding and present a challenge to current theoretical accounts of stress and memory.

急性压力对记忆编码的影响是复杂的，我们还不知道可以确定编码时的压力是改善还是损害记忆的所有条件。最近的研究发现，改变编码和压力之间的背景可以消除编码后压力对记忆的影响，这表明背景可能在压力对记忆的影响中发挥重要作用。然而，上下文在压力对记忆编码的影响中的作用尚不清楚。我们通过研究环境对急性压力对记忆编码的影响来解决这一差距。在 2 × 2 实验设计中，参与者（N  = 103）在完成记忆编码任务之前完成压力源（即社会评价冷压测试）或控制任务（即温水控制），该任务发生在与压力源或控制任务位于同一房间或不同房间。在每个参与者完成编码任务的背景下测试记忆检索。我们发现，相对于无压力（即控制）参与者，在编码之前切换上下文的有压力参与者对负面和中性图像表现出更好的记忆。相反，当压力源或控制任务与记忆编码发生在同一房间时，压力对记忆没有有益影响。这些结果强调了持续环境作为压力对记忆编码影响的决定因素的重要性，并对当前压力和记忆的理论解释提出了挑战。