The contamination effect on recognition memory: adding evidence of an adaptive mnemonic tuning

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Memory Research

Background:

• The contamination effect enhances free recall for neutral items associated with disease cues.
• It is unknown if this effect extends to recognition memory or its underlying processes (recollection vs. familiarity).

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if the contamination effect influences recognition memory.
• To determine the memory processes (recollection/familiarity) involved in the contamination effect.
• To explore individual differences (health status, COVID-19 fear) in the contamination effect.

Main Methods:

• A Yes/No recognition task with Remember/Know judgments was used.
• Experiments were conducted online with American participants and in-person with Portuguese participants.
• Health Status and Fear of COVID-19 questionnaires were administered in Experiment 2.

Main Results:

• Objects previously associated with sick faces were better recognized than those associated with healthy faces.
• Participants reported more 'Remember' judgments for contaminated objects, indicating richer contextual memory.
• Illness recency positively correlated with the proportion of 'Remember' judgments.

Conclusions:

• The contamination effect significantly enhances recognition memory, particularly recollection.
• This effect is robust, replicated across different countries and methodologies.
• The findings highlight memory's role in disease avoidance and the impact of contamination cues.