Adaptive memory: Stereotype activation is not enough

Abstract

Studies have shown that survival processing leads to superior memorability. The aim of the present study was to examine whether this survival recall advantage might result from stereotype activation. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a pilot study and two experiments in which participants were primed with stereotypes (Experiment 1, professor and elderly person; Experiment 2, survival-stereotype). In Experiment 1, 120 undergraduates were randomly assigned to a survival, professor stereotype, elderly person stereotype, or moving scenario and rated words for their relevance to the imagined scenario. In Experiment 2, 75 undergraduates were given a survival, survival-stereotype (based on our pilot study), or moving scenario. Both experiments showed that survival processing leads to a greater recall advantage over the stereotype groups and control group. These data indicate that the mere activation of stereotypes cannot explain the survival recall advantage.

Adaptive Memory: Evaluating Alternative Forms of Fitness-Relevant Processing in the Survival Processing Paradigm

“…The survival encoding strategy leads to excellent retention [1], [6]–[12] and these findings have been corroborated and extended by other labs [13]–[17]. It appears unlikely that the memorial potency of survival processing can be sufficiently explained by a mediating factor of emotional arousal [15], [16] or stereotype activation [18].…”

The longevity of adaptive memory: Evidence for mnemonic advantages of survival processing 24 and 48 hours later

“…While it has been convincingly shown that survival-related processing can boost memory across different types of stimuli, memory domains, and research populations (Aslan & Bä uml, 2012;Burns, Burns, & Hwang, 2011;Burns, Hart, Griffith, & Burns, in press;Kang, McDermott, & Cohen, 2008;Kostic, McFarlan, & Cleary, 2012;Nairne, Pandeirada, & Thompson, 2008;Nairne, VanArsdall, Pandeirada, & Blunt, 2012;Otgaar et al, 2011;Otgaar, Howe, Smeets, Raymaekers, & van Beers, in press;Otgaar, Smeets, & van Bergen, 2010;Raymaekers, Smeets, Otgaar, Peters, & Merckelbach, in press;Smeets, Otgaar, Raymaekers, Peters, & Merckelbach, 2012;Weinstein, Bugg, & Roediger, 2008; but see Klein, 2012;Seamon et al, 2012), a common feature of all previous studies is that they were concerned with illustrating the beneficial effects of survival processing in the short run (typically 2Á3 minutes, maximum 10 minutes, see Savine, Scullin, & Roediger, 2011). Thus far not a single study has investigated the persistence of the survival recall advantage after extended delay periods.…”

A test of the survival processing advantage in implicit and explicit memory tests

“…In the years since Nairne et al's (2007) original study testing the survival processing advantage, several studies have further confirmed their results with the same, and some additional, comparison encoding tasks (e.g., a bank robbery scenario, Kang, McDermott, & Cohen, 2008; professor and elderly stereotype scenarios, Otgaar et al, 2011;itemspecific or relational processing, Burns, Burns, & Hwang, 2011; and a city survival scenario, Weinstein, Bugg, & Roediger, 2008). Studies have also generalized the survival processing advantage to picture stimuli (Otgaar, Smeets, & van Bergen, 2010) and to location memory (Nairne, VanArsdall, Pandeirada, & Blunt, 2012).…”