On the Flexibility of Social Source Memory: A Test of the Emotional Incongruity Hypothesis

Autor/inn/en	Bell, Raoul; Buchner, Axel; Kroneisen, Meike; Giang, Trang
Titel	On the Flexibility of Social Source Memory: A Test of the Emotional Incongruity Hypothesis
Quelle	In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 38 (2012) 6, S.1512-1529 (18 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0278-7393
DOI	10.1037/a0028219
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Altruism; Cooperation; Cheating; Memory; Attitudes; Expectation; Context Effect; Human Body; Recognition (Psychology); Visual Discrimination; Classification; Hypothesis Testing; Germany + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Altruistic behavior; Altruismus; Co-operation; Kooperation; Prellen; Gedächtnis; Attitude; Einstellung; Verhalten; Expectancy; Erwartung; Menschlicher Körper; Recognition; Wiedererkennen; Classification system; Klassifikation; Klassifikationssystem; Hypothesenprüfung; Hypothesentest; Deutschland
Abstract	A popular hypothesis in evolutionary psychology posits that reciprocal altruism is supported by a cognitive module that helps cooperative individuals to detect and remember cheaters. Consistent with this hypothesis, a source memory advantage for faces of cheaters (better memory for the cheating context in which these faces were encountered) was observed in previous studies. Here, we examined whether positive or negative expectancies would influence source memory for cheaters and cooperators. A cooperation task with virtual opponents was used in Experiments 1 and 2. Source memory for the emotionally incongruent information was enhanced relative to the congruent information: In Experiment 1, source memory was best for cheaters with likable faces and for cooperators with unlikable faces; in Experiment 2, source memory was better for smiling cheater faces than for smiling cooperator faces, and descriptively better for angry cooperator faces than for angry cheater faces. Experiments 3 and 4 showed that the emotional incongruity effect generalizes to 3rd-party reputational information (descriptions of cheating and trustworthy behavior). The results are inconsistent with the assumption of a highly specific cheater detection module. Focusing on expectancy-incongruent information may represent a more efficient, general, and hence more adaptive memory strategy for remembering exchange-relevant information than focusing only on cheaters. (Contains 7 figures and 3 tables.) (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org/publications
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10