CE28 - Cognition, éducation, formation tout au long de la vie

Stone-age memory in a modern world: Further evidence from contamination effects – SAM

Stone-age memory in a modern world

According to the adaptive memory view, our ability to remember is likely suited to solving problems related to fitness (reproductive value), especially those that were important in the ancestral environments in which human memory evolved. A contamination effect in memory has recently been demonstrated and it supports such a conception of human memory.

Contamination effects in memory as evidence in favor of the adaptive memory view

The ANR-SAM project aims to study contamination effects in memory in depth at two levels: «ultimate« and «proximal«. First, we will study the various contextual characteristics that can potentially generate this memory effect (ultimate aspects). Next, we will try to identify the mechanisms underlying the contamination effect in memory, and in particular the role of the emotion of disgust (proximal aspects). The investigation of the contamination effect in memory at these two levels is original and innovative because the two levels of explanation are important and complementary.

The first goal of our studies will be to provide further evidence that, given our ancestors' recurring problem of avoiding contamination, we should be able to remember better items that potentially threaten our health. Indeed, remembering items that are contaminated is useful for survival, and thus adaptive, since it makes it possible to avoid these items when they are encountered again in a future situation (e.g., objects touched by someone who is sick). Therefore, a first series of studies (will be designed to further test the general hypothesis that things that are processed in relation with contamination are remembered better than things that are not related with contamination issues. In the second part of the research project, we will plan a series of studies aimed at addressing the critical issue of how contamination effects in memory come about, namely the proximate mechanisms that may underpin these effects. We will examine (1) the role of the emotion of disgust; (2) the involvement of death-related thoughts; and (3) the role of attentional processes.

April 2021:
The contamination effect in memory (= better retention of «contaminated things« than «uncontaminated things«) is obtained implicitly AND explicitly.

A single clue indicating contamination (e.g., person with the flu) is able to produce a contamination effect in memory, and not only when various signs of contamination are present (e.g., faces with the scars of different diseases).

The hypothesis that objects touched by contaminated hands (by traces of urine or faeces) are remembered better than objects touched by clean hands has not been verified, possibly because the contamination situation did not appear to be sufficiently threatening to the health of individuals.

This project should also have practical implications.
In the field of prevention campaigns against certain diseases (influenza, gastroenteritis), one issue is related to the type of message that should be given to the public at large in order to fight against the spread of the epidemic.
In the field of education, adopting an evolutionary perspective in the classroom, or in the university, can have tangible benefits because it forces one to think functionally about the learning process. Indeed, it has been shown that when information is related to survival issues it is remembered better.

Bonin, P., Thiebaut, G., Witt, A., & Méot, A. (2019). Contamination Is “Good” for Your Memory! Further Evidence for the Adaptive View of Memory. Evolutionary Psychological Science, 5, 300–316.

Thiebaut, G., Méot, A., Witt, A., Prokop, P., & Bonin, P. (2021). The behavioral immune system: how does it contribute to our understanding of human behavior? In A. M. Columbus (Ed.), Advances in Psychology Research Vol. 144. New York: NovaScience Publishers.

Thiebaut, G., Méot, A., Witt, A., Prokop, P., & Bonin, P. (2021). “Touch me if you can!”: Individual differences in disease avoidance and social touch. (EHBEA [European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association] 2021, 15th Conference (Digital), 24-27 March 2021. (Poster presentation).

According to the adaptive memory view, our capacity to remember is likely tuned to solving fitness-based problems, particularly those prominent in the ancestral environments in which memory evolved. Supporting this view, it has been shown that contaminated things (or items processed in relation to contamination) are remembered better than non-contaminated things (or items not processed in relation to contamination), but studies on this issue are very few. The research project is about contamination effects in long-term memory. A first series of studies will further test the ultimate hypothesis that things that are processed in relation with contamination are remembered better than things are not related with contamination issues. A second series of studies will address the critical issue of how these effects come about, i.e., the proximate mechanisms. We will examine the role of the emotion of disgust; the involvement of death-related thoughts; the role of attentional processes.

Project coordination

Patrick BONIN (LABORATOIRE D'ETUDE DE L'APPRENTISSAGE ET DU DEVELOPPEMENT - UMR 5022)

The author of this summary is the project coordinator, who is responsible for the content of this summary. The ANR declines any responsibility as for its contents.

Partner

LAPSCO LABORATOIRE DE PSYCHOLOGIE SOCIALE ET COGNITIVE
Trnava University / Department of Biology
LEAD LABORATOIRE D'ETUDE DE L'APPRENTISSAGE ET DU DEVELOPPEMENT - UMR 5022

Help of the ANR 146,637 euros
Beginning and duration of the scientific project: October 2019 - 36 Months

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