How does prestige bias affect information recall during a pandemic?

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Social Psychology

Background:

• The prestige theory of evolution suggests memory favors information from high-status individuals.
• Existing evidence primarily focuses on content bias, not prestige bias in recall.
• Prestige bias may aid information selection in uncertain environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate prestige bias in information recall during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• To compare prestige bias against models lacking prestige characteristics.
• To explore factors influencing memory during a public health crisis.

Main Methods:

• An online experiment involving fictitious text exposure.
• Participants underwent surprise memory recollection tasks.
• Data analyzed using generalized linear mixed models, Poisson family, and logistic regression.

Main Results:

• Prestige bias was only prioritized in recall within the family model, not universally.
• Prestige influenced recall of specific information, indicating cultural attraction.
• Trust in science-oriented profiles significantly affected information recall during the health crisis.

Conclusions:

• Human memory recall is multifaceted, with multiple factors acting concurrently.
• Prestige bias plays a nuanced role in memory, particularly for specific cultural information.
• Trust in scientific sources is a critical factor in information recall during health crises.