Date of Award
Spring 5-2019
Degree Type
Honors College Thesis
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Mark Huff
Advisor Department
Psychology
Abstract
Researchers have suggested that individuals possess a disease-avoidance system designed to detect and remember potential sources of harmful pathogens, a system termed the behavioral immune system. Recently, Fernandes, Pandeirada, Soares, and Nairne (2017) reported an increase in memory for objects associated with individuals that are contaminated with a disease. My thesis extends this finding by examining whether disease-related memory benefits are due to the mere presence of a disease or whether the disease needs to be perceived as contagious and thereby threatening to facilitate memory. Two experiments, one between- and one within-subjects, were designed to test memory performance in the context of diseased sources. Participants auditorily studied lists of associates read by individuals afflicted with a contagious disease (influenza), a noncontagious disease (cancer), or a healthy control. In both experiments, recall and recognition did not significantly differ across the three disease conditions providing evidence that disease-related information may not affect memory processes.
Copyright
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Recommended Citation
Pazos, Laura, "Contagious or Not Contagious: Is that the Question? Evaluating the Effects of Disease Contagion on Memory for Word Lists" (2019). Honors Theses. 637.
https://aquila.usm.edu/honors_theses/637
