Adaptive Repulsion of Long-Term Memory Representations Is Triggered by Event Similarity.

ABSTRACT: We tested whether similarity between events triggers adaptive biases in how those events are remembered. We generated pairs of competing objects that were identical except in color and varied the degree of color similarity for the competing objects. Subjects (N = 123 across four experiments) repeatedly studied and were tested on associations between each of these objects and corresponding faces. As expected, high color similarity between competing objects created memory interference for object-face associations. Strikingly, high color similarity also resulted in a systematic bias in how the objects themselves were remembered: Competing objects with highly similar colors were remembered as being further apart (in color space) than they actually were. This repulsion of color memories

SUBMITTER: Chanales AJH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8726589 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature