Allan Kevin, Morson Suzannah, Dixon Susan, Martin Douglas, Cunningham Sheila J
a School of Psychology, College of Life Sciences and Medicine , University of Aberdeen , Aberdeen , UK.
b Psychology Division, School of Social and Health Sciences , Abertay University , Dundee , UK.
Q J Exp Psychol (Hove). 2017 Jun;70(6):1074-1084. doi: 10.1080/17470218.2016.1209532. Epub 2016 Aug 24.
The self-reference effect (SRE) in memory is thought to depend on specialized mechanisms that enhance memory for self-relevant information. We investigated whether these mechanisms can be engaged "by proxy" when we simulate other people, by asking participants to interact with two virtual partners: one similar and one dissimilar to self. Participants viewed pairs of objects and picked one for themselves, for their similar partner, or their dissimilar partner. A surprise memory test followed that required participants to identify which object of each pair was chosen, and for whom. Finally, participants were shown both partners' object pairs again, and asked to indicate their personal preference. Four key findings were observed. Overlap between participants' own choice and those made for their partner was significantly higher for the similar than the dissimilar partner, revealing participants' use of their own preferences to simulate the similar partner. Recollection of chosen objects was significantly higher for self than for both partners and, critically, was significantly higher for similar than dissimilar partners. Source confusion between self and the similar partner was also higher. These findings suggest that self-reference by proxy enhances memory for non-self-relevant material, and we consider the theoretical implications for functional interpretation of the SRE.
记忆中的自我参照效应（SRE）被认为依赖于专门的机制，这些机制会增强对自我相关信息的记忆。我们通过让参与者与两个虚拟伙伴互动来研究当我们模拟他人时，这些机制是否可以“通过代理”被激活，这两个虚拟伙伴一个与自己相似，一个与自己不同。参与者查看成对的物品，并为自己、与自己相似的伙伴或与自己不同的伙伴挑选一个。随后进行了一个突击记忆测试，要求参与者识别每对物品中被选中的是哪一个以及是为谁选的。最后，再次向参与者展示两个伙伴的物品对，并要求他们指出自己的个人偏好。观察到了四个关键发现。与不同伙伴相比，参与者自己的选择与为相似伙伴所做选择之间的重叠对于相似伙伴而言显著更高，这揭示了参与者利用自己的偏好来模拟相似伙伴。对自己所选物品的回忆显著高于对两个伙伴所选物品的回忆，并且关键的是，对相似伙伴所选物品的回忆显著高于对不同伙伴所选物品的回忆。自我与相似伙伴之间的来源混淆也更高。这些发现表明通过代理的自我参照增强了对非自我相关材料的记忆，并且我们考虑了对SRE功能解释的理论意义。
