that are represented in the studies mentioned previously within the paradigm of semantic memory. The contradiction of the valence theory is in studies where the moods of the participants were found to represent mood-incongruence. The incongruence is especially particular in findings of valence asymmetry, in which those who were in a current negative mood recalled more positively associated words or memories. A proposed reason for this occurrence is that the individuals who are recalling positive memories while in negatively affective states are confounded by their personal attitudes, levels of self-esteem and their world views. Therefore, it has been found that samples of individuals who have higher levels of self-esteem or more positively world views tend to remember more positive events even when in a negatively affective state. These people are able to thus control their own retrieval processes than individuals who have lower self-esteem or negative world views. Theory of categorical conception In opposition to the conundrum of the valence theories of mood-congruence, proponents such as Paula Niedenthal propose a theory of categorical conception. The theory of categorical conception argues that mood-congruence of current affective states and memory recall are subject to attentional strengths and deficits in category matching. Instead of all emotions being either negative or positive, as represented in the theory of valence, emotions are seen as distinct categories. The theory of categorical conception assumes that an individual's current affective state determines what they pay attention to. The attention can be implicitly or explicitly encoded. For instance, if an individual is sad, they will pay more attention to the aspects of their environment that are congruent with sadness such as melancholy or dreary weather. Therefore, if someone is frequently depressed, they are more likely to pay attention to representations of their depression and create a larger memory repertoire of depressed memories than happy memories. Being that the person has a higher number of encoded memories that have negative or sad connotations, they are then more likely to experience a higher level of mood congruent memories than more happy memories. Social psychology connection Moreover, in social psychology, "mood congruency" refers to a cognitive mechanism that explains a wide variety of mood effects in which there is a match in affective valence between people's mood and their responses (Mayer et al., 1992). Cognitive therapy pays special attention to mood congruence due to the use of mood repair strategies, which are