COVID-19 and Memory: A Novel Contamination Effect in Memory
Category
Journal Article
Authors
Gaëtan Thiebaut, Alain Méot, Arnaud Witt, Pavol Prokop, Patrick Bonin
Year
2022
Title
COVID-19 and Memory: A Novel Contamination Effect in Memory
Journal / book / conference
Evolutionary Psychology
Abstract
The Behavioral Immune System (BIS, Schaller & Park, 2011) is a defense system whose function is to protect against pathogen
exposure. Memory is an important component of this system (Fernandes et al., 2017). We investigated “contamination effects” in
memory in relation to COVID-19. Photographs of everyday objects were shown to adults (N=80) in the hands of either a healthy
or a contagious person who had contracted SARS-CoV-2. “Contaminated objects” were recalled better than “non-contaminated
objects” suggesting that a contamination effect in memory in humans is easily acquired in the absence of apparent visual cues of disease.
Issue
20
Volume
2
Pages
1-10
Keywords
COVID-19, pathogens, adaptive memory, behavioral immune system
relative links
- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/14747049221108929