How can I use it? The role of functional fixedness in the survival-processing paradigm
- PDF / 418,212 Bytes
- 9 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 113 Downloads / 201 Views
BRIEF REPORT
How can I use it? The role of functional fixedness in the survival-processing paradigm Meike Kroneisen 1,2 & Michael Kriechbaumer 2 & Siri-Maria Kamp 3 & Edgar Erdfelder 1
# The Author(s) 2020
Abstract After imagining being stranded in the grasslands of a foreign land without any basic survival material and rating objects with respect to their relevance in this situation, participants show superior memory performance for these objects compared to a control scenario. A possible mechanism responsible for this memory advantage is the richness and distinctiveness with which information is encoded in the survival-scenario condition. When confronted with the unusual task of thinking about how an object can be used in a life-threatening context, participants will most likely consider both common and uncommon (i.e., novel) functions of this object. These ideas about potential functions may later serve as powerful retrieval cues that boost memory performance. We argue that objects differ in their potential to be used as novel, creative survival tools. Some objects may be low in functional fixedness, meaning that it is possible to use them in many different ways. Other objects, in contrast, may be high in functional fixedness, meaning that the possibilities to use them in non-standard ways is limited. We tested experimentally whether functional fixedness of objects moderates the strength of the survival-processing advantage compared to a moving control scenario. As predicted, we observed an interaction of the functional fixedness level with scenario type: The survivalprocessing memory advantage was more pronounced for objects low in functional fixedness compared to those high in functional fixedness. These results are in line with the richness-of-encoding explanation of the survival-processing advantage. Keywords Memory . Evolution . Survival-processing effect . Functional fixedness
Introduction An evolutionary perspective on human memory focuses on the conditions under which our cognitive systems process information especially well (Nairne, Thompson, & Pandeirada, 2007). Consistent with ideas based on evolutionary psychology, experiments showed better memory for material that is relevant for certain adaptive ends such as social exchange (e.g., Buchner, Bell, Mehl, & Musch, 2009; Kroneisen, Woehe, & Rausch, 2015), mating (Allan, Jones, DeBruine, & Smith, 2012), or learning an association between
* Meike Kroneisen [email protected] 1
School of Social Sciences, University of Mannheim, D-68131 Mannheim, Germany
2
University of Koblenz-Landau, Landau, Germany
3
Department of Psychology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany
potentially dangerous stimuli (e.g., snakes, spiders) and aversive stimuli, such as shock (see Öhman & Mineka, 2001). In the survival-processing paradigm, participants are instructed to imagine being stranded in the grasslands of a foreign land, without any food or water, and in danger of predators. A list of items is then presented that participants are required to r
Data Loading...
