Psychological mechanisms of socially guided memory encoding and the role of oxytocin

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Ullrich Wagner
• Subject Area: Social Psychology, Industrial and Organisational Psychology ; General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology
• Term: from 2017 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 324469518

Human memory formation typically takes place in social settings. Nevertheless, traditional memory research has so far widely neglected the role of social factors in memory formation. The present project will investigate how social processing determines memory encoding, i.e. the initial stage of memory formation. The primary hypothesis is that human memory encoding is critically determined by the social context in which stimuli are encountered, even in the absence of any encoding intention (incidental encoding). Specifically, it is assumed that stimuli encountered in a social context will be better remembered than stimuli encountered in a non-social context. Initial studies on this topic have confirmed such social enhancement of memory encoding (SEME) in paradigms comparing memory performance for stimuli that were processed either individually (non-social encoding condition) or together with another person (social encoding condition). Based on these initial findings demonstrating the phenomenon per se, the applicant will perform six comprehensive experiments to specify for both verbal and visual memory the psychological and neurophysiological determinants of SEME, which are widely unknown so far. Specifically, five research issues expected to be of primary relevance as possible factors determining SEME will be addressed in more detail: (1) the role of perceived similarity and closeness between the partners, (2) the role of a cooperative attitude between the partners (3) the role of emotional processing, (4) the role of elaborative mentalizing, (5) and - on the neurobiological level - the role of oxytocin as a hormone known to be critically implicated in processes of human social cognition. The results will not only be theoretically important, by enabling a test of partly opposing predictions from different current theories on fundamental mechanisms of social cognition. A better understanding of SEME is also essential from a broader perspective, because socially shared stimulus processing is ubiquitous in everyday life. Identifying the mechanisms by which such social stimulus processing transforms into memory encoding to form enduring socially shared mental representations would thus be an essential step in understanding the social nature of human life per se, because such socially established memory representations ultimately determine the 'shared reality' or 'common ground' on which individuals act in their social environment. Ultimately, this new knowledge will also contribute to procedural improvements in real-life, especially in educational and in clinical settings, by applying it to a better understanding of socially shared information processing in teacher-pupil interactions and in socially determined etiologies and therapies in certain disorders of social cognition.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants