记忆对话及身份标识对集体记忆的影响

Effects of memory conversation and group identity on collective memory

以往集体记忆的心理学研究侧重于理解集体记忆机制而忽视了记忆对话及身份变量的作用。本研究通过实验1操作记忆激活方式(对话、非对话)、实验2在实验1记忆对话基础上操作信息一致性(一致、不一致)、实验3进一步在信息不一致情况下操作身份标识(内群体、外群体),逐步考察对话和身份标识对集体记忆的作用,并分别在个体记忆和集体记忆指标上进行考察。结果显示:(1)对话作为单独变量可使集体记忆共同忘记的部分显著减少;(2)在对话基础上,一致性信息可使集体记忆共同记住的部分显著增加;(3)在对话基础上,当不一致信息来自外群体成员时可使人们集体记忆共同记住的部分显著增加,不一致信息来自内群体成员则不会产生显著影响。这表明,对话作为单独变量主要是通过影响集体记忆中共同忘记部分、而对话过程中的信息一致性和群体身份标识则主要通过影响人们集体记忆中共同记住部分来影响集体记忆。

Collective memory often appears in everyday conversations.Communicating with others about what hap-pened to the past inevitably affects our collective memory by social context.In recent years,several studies have believed that the formation of collective memory depends on a dynamic system of communication,but few research has started from dialogue and interaction backgrounds and used empirical methods to explore factors that may affect collective memory at the group level.On the basis of existing studies,this research thus explores factors that may influence collective memory in an interactive way(i.e.,memory conversation).It investigates how memory outcomes under this framework are affected by the interaction social context,which includes memory conversation,information matching,and group identity.First,the effect of conversation on collective memory was investigated.Specifically,Experiment 1 explored the effect of activating information content through memory conversation and adopted a single factor(activation mode:conversation vs.individual)pretest-posttest experimental design.Second,the effect of information matching on collective memory was determined.Experiment 2 adopted a single factor(information matching:matching vs.mismatching)pretest-posttest experimental design.Third,the effect of group identity on collective memory in memory conversation was investigated.Experiment 3 adopted a single factor(group identity:in-group vs.out-group)pretest-posttest experimental design.The results of the three experiments are as follows:(1)Conversation improved participants’free recall scores at the individual level,whereas the nominal group did not.At the collective level,the conversation did not affect the group’s collective memory convergence.However,the conversation reduced the number of items forgotten by participants in common.(2)Given matching information on memory conversation,individuals can perform better in free recall.Information matching does not affect collective memory convergence,but information matching can increase the number of items remembered in common among participants.(3)When inconsistent information comes from the outgroup,individuals’free recall performance is better.Only if the inconsistent information comes from the outgroup can make the collective memory among participants have more parts to remember in common.Meanwhile,inconsistent information from the ingroup and outgroup did not affect the number of items forgotten by participants in common.In conclusion,these findings have important implications for understanding the mechanism underlying the effects of memory conversation and group identity on collective memory.Moreover,the function of commu-nication is not to make the memory content close to facts,but to abstract our memories and remember things effectively.Our findings confirm that collective memory is not only recognized as an individual psychological phenomenon but also likely involves a kind of social property.Therefore,given the significant role of com-munication with collective remembering,placing people in a conversational background is a direct way to investigate collective memory.