On the plasticity of the survival processing effect

DOI:	https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024493
URL:	https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51519247_...
Dokumenttyp:	Zeitschriftenartikel
Erscheinungsjahr:	2011
Titel einer Zeitschrift oder einer Reihe:	Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition
Band/Volume:	37
Heft/Issue:	6
Seitenbereich:	1553-1562
Ort der Veröffentlichung:	Washington, DC
Verlag:	American Psychological Assoc.
ISSN:	0278-7393 , 1939-1285
Sprache der Veröffentlichung:	Englisch
Einrichtung:	Fakultät für Sozialwissenschaften > Kognitive Psychologie u. Differentielle Psychologie (Erdfelder 2002-2019) Außerfakultäre Einrichtungen > GESS - CDSS (SOWI)
Fachgebiet:	150 Psychologie
Abstract:	Nairne, Thompson, and Pandeirada (2007) discovered a strong and rather general memory advantage for word material processed in a survival-related context. One possible explanation of this effect conceives survival processing as a special form of encoding: Nature specifically “tuned” our memory systems to process and remember fitness-relevant information. We tested this explanation by studying whether the survival processing effect is robust against encoding manipulations that do not affect the fitness relevance of information. Three experiments replicated a strong survival processing effect under standard conditions but showed that the mnemonic benefit of survival processing diminishes or even vanishes when participants focus on a single problem (Experiments 1 and 2) or technique (Experiment 3) of survival. We argue that it is not survival processing per se that facilitates recall but the richness and distinctiveness with which information is encoded.