Enhanced source memory for names of cheaters

Original article:

Enhanced source memory for names of cheaters

Evolutionary Psychology 7(2): 317-330 Raoul Bell, Institute of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich-Heine University, D-40225 Düsseldorf, Germany, raoul.bell@uni-duesseldorf.deAxel Buchner, Institute of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich-Heine University, D-40225 Düsseldorf, Germany, axel.buchner@uni-dusseldorf.de

Abstract

The present experiment shows that source memory for names associated with a history of cheating is better than source memory for names associated with irrelevant or trustworthy behavior, whereas old-new discrimination is not affected by whether a name was associated with cheating. This data pattern closely replicates findings obtained in previous experiments using facial stimuli, thus demonstrating that enhanced source memory for cheaters is not due to a cheater-detection module closely tied to the face processing system, but is rather due to a more general bias towards remembering the source of information associated with cheating.

Keywords

Social Contract Theory, cheater detection, context memory, reciprocal altruism, cooperation

Full article

Download PDF (free)