Adaptative memory: the longevity and encoding independence of the animacy effect and its evidence in people with dementia

• Autor(a) principal: Félix, Sara Filipa Brilhante Paiva Silveira
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10773/26191
• topic: Adaptative memory; Animacy effect; Delayed recall; Dementia; Old people; Encoding instructions

Distinguishing animates from inanimates is essential for survival. Studies have demonstrated that people recall better animate / living related information (such as animals or humans) over inanimate / nonliving related information (such as objects). This mnemonic advantage is called the “animacy effect”. This project includes three studies that aim to extend the findings on the animacy effect. In Study 1 we collected normative data of animacy for a large set of 224 European Portuguese words and elaborated an animacy database. These data, obtained from 72 participants, allowed us to select the stimuli to be used in the second study. Study 2, which counted with 220 participants, we investigated the longevity of the animacy effect (immediate recall versus 48 hours delayed recall), as well as its independence from encoding instructions (intentional vs. incidental learning). The animacy effect remained significant in both retention intervals and the data revealed that it is independent of encoding. However, two significant interactions were also obtained, one between type of word and encoding and the other between retention interval and encoding. Both interactions were explained by larger effect sizes (Cohen’s d) in the incidental encoding condition over the intentional learning condition. In Study 3 we explored if the animacy effect remains in pathological memory conditions, specifically in patients diagnosed with dementia, as the literature is inconsistent in such field. The study was conducted by consulting data previously collected with 61 people with dementia on the memory item of the Portuguese version of the Mini-Mental State Examination. In such item, participants are asked to retain and recall three words that vary in their animacy status (pear, cat and ball). The results revealed a significant animacy effect in a set of patients diagnosed with dementia. As a whole, these studies provide new evidence about the independence of the animacy effect from encoding instructions as well as about its longevity in memory. The present outcomes suggest that this mnemonic advantage is preserved along the human life span (namely in later life) and seems to resist to the cognitive impairment (like dementia, a disease that mainly impairs memory). Furthermore, we make available to other researchers normative data on animacy which should be helpful for those interested in studying this variable in memory or other areas in which it has proven to be important. Generally, our findings reinforce the robustness of the animacy effect through a new set of experimental manipulations and the inclusion of new groups of participants