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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 4, 2026

A Behavioral Assay for Investigating the Role of Spatial Memory During Instinctive Defense in Mice

A Behavioral Assay for Investigating the Role of Spatial Memory During Instinctive Defense in Mice

Published on: July 21, 2018

Are survival processing memory advantages based on ancestral priorities?

Nicholas C Soderstrom¹, David P McCabe

¹Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1876, USA. nicholas.soderstrom@colostate.edu

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review

|February 18, 2011

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Memory recall is enhanced by survival relevance, but not specifically by ancestral threats. Even fictitious threats like zombies improved memory more than predator scenarios, challenging the ancestral priorities theory.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Evolutionary Psychology

Background:

Memory systems may be tuned to survival relevance.
Ancestral priorities theory suggests survival scenarios improve recall.

Purpose of the Study:

Investigate the specificity of survival processing advantages in memory.
Compare recall performance for ancestral vs. modern survival scenarios and threats.

Main Methods:

Participants rated words for survival relevance in four scenarios (ancestral/modern environment, ancestral/fictitious threat) or pleasantness.
Free recall task was administered after ratings.
Valence and arousal ratings were statistically controlled.

Main Results:

All survival scenarios improved recall compared to pleasantness ratings.
Zombie threat scenarios yielded higher recall than predator or attacker scenarios.
Recall did not differ between ancestral and modern environments.

Conclusions:

Survival processing enhances memory recall, but not exclusively through ancestral priorities.
Fictitious threats can elicit strong survival processing, challenging the specificity of the ancestral priorities theory.
Memory's adaptation to survival relevance may be broader than previously suggested.