Study 1 compared the short-term recall of tngrams that had been rated as liked or disliked by 23 elderly (age > 60) outpatients diagnosed as major depressive; 23 matched, normal elderly individuals; and 23 younger control subjects As we hypothesized, the depressed patients recalled more tngrams that they rated as disliked than tngrams they rated as liked. Both normal groups had the opposite pattern, but younger control subjects recalled significantly more liked tngrams than did older subjects Study 2 measured the differential recall of the elderly depressives while level of depression was manipulated through successful therapy. As we hypothesized, the change from a depressed to a nondepressed state across therapy correlated with a change from the superiority of disliked tngrams in recall to a supenonty of liked tngrams in recall. Implications for the relation between mood disorder, affective tone, and differential recall are discussed Recent studies of experimentally induced mood state have demonstrated differential effects on the recall of information of positive and negative hedonic tone (Bower, 1981; Isen,