| From the perspective of evolutionary psychology,Nairne(2007)found that there is a survival processing advantage on memory,that is when participants processing items for their relevance to survival scenario would show better memory than other scenarios that don’t involve survival.Many studies have also repeated this result,proving that the survival processing advantage effect of memory is stable.Considering the correlation between survival and death in concept semantics,survival can be regarded as avoidance of death.Then Hart and Burns(2012)studied on death,and found that death scenarios can also make memory better.In order to determine whether death processing can explain to some extent the effect of memory survival and processing,the researchers compared the survival processing with the death processing,and failed to get the same conclusion.There are two main explanations for the advantages of survival processing:explanation based on the evolutionary psychology view that remember that fit to the living environment can help us better to reproduce our gene to the next generation,our memory system could be shaped more functional and fitness-relevant;while others advocate that survival processing effect can be explained by the basic psychological process,for example the deeper processing degree,more item-specific processing or more relational processing.Considering remember the background information when remember things itself at the same time is more favorable for survival,so if evolution explanation of survival processing advantage effect explanation is correct,survival processing effect should be found on source memory.To understand whether the survival processing has a similar effect on source memory like on item memory will be promoted to provide strong evidence or reasonable question for evolutionaryexplanation,and compare survival and death on source memory would provide us more evidence for if survival and death scenarios are similar in a new way.The researchers also studied the effects of survival processing on location memory,processing background and other source memory,and the results did not get the same conclusion.Some studies can also repeat the survival processing effect in source memory,while some studies show that survival processing does not improve the source memory.Br?der(2011)use the position information as the index,but did not find a difference in survival processing group and control group in position memory;Nairne(2012)require participants judge the relevance of 8 line draws to survival or control condition,the 8picture were food or animal which appear on the screen in different position,finally participants judge the poison each line draws appeared early and they found a survival processing advantage in source memory;Nairne(2014)and asked the subjects to judge the degree of correlation of some words to survival processing scenario,determine the relevant degree of some other words to the control scenario,finally participant judge words appeared in which scenario.The results showed that when the control scenario was judging the degree of pleasure words,words appeared in survival scenario didn’t show better source memory,while survival processing advantage was found when control group use a moving scenario.A total of three experiments were conducted in this study.Study 1 improved some problems existing in previous studies such as: survival and death scenario does not match well,the control group and the experimental group motivated different depth of processing.Aimed to study the effect of survival and death scenario on recall memory,we compared survival and death on processing and priming.Study 1 is a 3(survival,death,control)×2(processing,priming)between-subject design.Our result show that:(a)survival and death scenario improved recall on processing and priming;(b)there is no difference between survival and death,neither on processing nor on priming.In study 2 and study 3,we studied the effects of survival processing and death processing on source memory,study what similarities and differences between survival processing and death processing.In study 2 we use the processing context for the index,each participant judge the relevance of some words to survival,death and moving scenario,then participants should judge words were appeared in which scenario.But we failed to repeat survival or death processing advantage effect.In study 3 we use the processing times for the index,survival,death and control groups totally.Participants in each group judge the relevance of words to scenario,half of words appeared only once,while the other half appeared twice,finally participant judge how many times each word appeared.The results showed that similar to item memory,source memory also had the advantage effect of survival processing and death processing,and the superiority effect of survival processing and the superiority effect of death processing were similar,the difference was not significant.Totally,our study showed that: the survival processing not only have advantage effect to recall memory and recognition memory,but also can make the source memory increased;death and survival processing are similar,have a positive effect on item memory and source memory,and the survival processing and death processing in improving memory of similar degree.Our results conform to the evolutionary theory of the explanation of the advantages of survival processing. |
