Survival Processing Essay -- Sociology

Numerous studies have shown the human mind has a heightened ability to encode information relevant to our survival. During the standard paradigm used for proving a basis for survival processing, participants were instructed to imagine themselves in an unknown grassland without access to basic needs (Kostic, McFarlan, & Cleary, 2012). The subjects were then asked to rate a list of items based on how useful they would be given the survival scenario (Kostic et al., 2012). Following a short delay, the participants were then asked to recall or recognize items, which had previously been presented (Kostic et al., 2012). Based on the findings researchers were able to conclude words pertaining to our survival are better retained then words that are not, even when the survival scenario was changed to various situations such as a bank robbery (Kang, McDermott & Cohen, 2008), a vacation scene (Nairne, & Pandeirada, 2008), or survival in a large city setting (Nairne & Pandeirada, 2010). Although recent research has been able to clearly define what survival processing is there are more aspects, which have been explored and investigated which will be discussed within the confines of this paper. The two main areas that will be focused on are the mechanisms responsible for this phenomenon and some of its limitations; a conclusion will then be drawn on future directions of study within this topic. It could be assumed face perception would fit the criteria of important survival information and thus the advantages of survival processing would also be in effect. Yet a study conducted by Savine, Scullin and Roediger (2011) looked at survival processing in relation to faces to test if this was a limitation of this type of processing. Researchers cond... ... Cognition, 33(2), 263-273. Nairne, J. S., & Pandeirada, J. S. (2008). Adaptive memory: Remembering with a stone-age brain. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17, 239–243. Nairne, J. S., & Pandeirada, J. S. (2010). Adaptive memory: Ancestral priorities and the mnemonic values of survival processing. Cognitive Psychology, 61(1), 1-22. Savine, A. C., Scullin, M. K., & Roediger, H. (2011). Survival processing of faces. Memory & Cognition, 39(8), 1359-1373. Smeets, T., Otgaar, H., & Raymaekers, L. (2012). Survival processing in times of stress. Psychon Bull Rev, 19, 113-118. Tse, C., & Altarriba, J. (2010). Does survival processing enhance implicit memory?. Memory & Cognition, 38(8), 1110-1121. Weinstein, Y., Bugg, J. M., & Roediger, H. (2008). Can the survival recall advantage be explained by basic memory processes?. Memory & Cognition, 36(5), 913-919.