TY - JOUR
T1 - Adaptive Memory
T2 - The Mnemonic Value of Animacy
AU - Nairne, James S.
AU - VanArsdall, Joshua E.
AU - Pandeirada, Josefa N.S.
AU - Cogdill, Mindi
AU - LeBreton, James M.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported, in part, by a grant from the National Science Foundation (BCS-0843165). J. N. S. Pandeirada was, in part, supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology Fellowship (SFRH/BPD/81438/2011).
PY - 2013/10
Y1 - 2013/10
N2 - Distinguishing between living (animate) and nonliving (inanimate) things is essential for survival and successful reproduction. Animacy is widely recognized as a foundational dimension, appearing early in development, but its role in remembering is currently unknown. We report two studies suggesting that animacy is a critical mnemonic dimension and is one of the most important item dimensions ultimately controlling retention. Both studies show that animate words are more likely to be recalled than inanimate words, even after the stimulus classes have been equated along other mnemonically relevant dimensions (e.g., imageability and meaningfulness). Mnemonic "tunings" for animacy are easily predicted a priori by a functional-evolutionary analysis.
AB - Distinguishing between living (animate) and nonliving (inanimate) things is essential for survival and successful reproduction. Animacy is widely recognized as a foundational dimension, appearing early in development, but its role in remembering is currently unknown. We report two studies suggesting that animacy is a critical mnemonic dimension and is one of the most important item dimensions ultimately controlling retention. Both studies show that animate words are more likely to be recalled than inanimate words, even after the stimulus classes have been equated along other mnemonically relevant dimensions (e.g., imageability and meaningfulness). Mnemonic "tunings" for animacy are easily predicted a priori by a functional-evolutionary analysis.
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U2 - 10.1177/0956797613480803
DO - 10.1177/0956797613480803
M3 - Article
C2 - 23921770
AN - SCOPUS:84885356149
SN - 0956-7976
VL - 24
SP - 2099
EP - 2105
JO - Psychological Science
JF - Psychological Science
IS - 10
ER -