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How "mere" is the mere ownership effect in memory? Evidence for semantic organization processes
1Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany.
Consciousness and Cognition
|September 30, 2016
Summary
The mere ownership effect (MOE) shows better memory for self-assigned items. This memory boost relies on semantic processing, suggesting a "me" versus "not-me" categorization underlies the MOE.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- The mere ownership effect (MOE) demonstrates enhanced memory for items associated with the self compared to those associated with others.
- The underlying cognitive mechanisms driving the MOE, particularly the role of semantic processing, require further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the extent to which semantic processing contributes to the mere ownership effect.
- To determine if the MOE is contingent upon the nature of stimuli (meaningful vs. meaningless) and processing tasks (semantic vs. perceptual).
Main Methods:
- Conducted six experiments manipulating stimulus meaningfulness and task type (semantic vs. perceptual classification) alongside self/other assignment.
- Assessed memory performance using free recall and analyzed recall clustering patterns.
Main Results:
- The MOE was absent for meaningless stimuli, indicating a reliance on semantic content.
- Spontaneous semantic processing occurred for meaningful stimuli regardless of self/other assignment.
- The MOE disappeared when a semantic classification task was used but persisted with a perceptual task.
- Self-assigned items exhibited greater clustering in free recall compared to other-assigned items.
Conclusions:
- Semantic processing plays a crucial role in establishing the mere ownership effect.
- The MOE may stem from an organizational principle categorizing information as "me" versus "not-me".
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