Survival processing in times of stress |
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Authors: | Tom Smeets Henry Otgaar Linsey Raymaekers Maarten J V Peters Harald Merckelbach |
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Institution: | (1) Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, the Netherlands |
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Abstract: | Recent studies have found that processing information according to an evolutionary relevant (i.e., survival) scenario improves
its subsequent memorability, potentially as a result of fitness advantages gained in the ancestral past. So far, research
has not revealed much about any proximate mechanisms that might underlie this so-called survival processing advantage in memory.
Intriguingly, research has shown that the memorability of stressful situations is enhanced via the release of stress hormones
acting on brain regions involved in memory. Since survival situations habitually involve some degree of stress, in the present
study, we investigated whether stress serves as a proximate mechanism to promote survival processing. Participants rated words
for their relevance to either a survival or a neutral (moving) scenario after they had been exposed to a psychosocial stressor
or a no-stress control condition. Surprise retention tests immediately following the rating task revealed that survival processing
and acute stress independently boosted memory performance. These results therefore suggest that stress does not serve as a
proximate mechanism of the survival processing advantage in memory. |
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