We already knew that our memory is most effective in survival scenarios. But now a research team from CINTESIS – Center for Health Technology and Services Research, has shown that memory also improves when it comes to selecting a sexual partner. The article, published in the journal Evolutionary Psychology, was developed at the University of Aveiro and in partnership with the Purdue University in the United States of America.
Memory plays a key role in the mating process in animals. However, it was unknown if it would have the same importance among humans. In order to understand how reproduction interferes with the human memory capacity, the team of Portuguese and American researchers carried out two experiments.
In the experiments young women were shown different images of men faces accompanied by a brief description. The women were asked to rate the men as undesirable, neutral or desirable. The researchers then asked the participants to make the assessment using two different scenarios.
“A group of women were asked to assess the level of desirability of these men in order to establish a long-term love relationship,” explains Josefa Pandeirada. Another group of women was asked to evaluate exactly the same male faces but this time having in mind that these men were to be hired for a long term contract, as co-workers. “The existence of this second scenario served as a control,” explained the researcher and psychologist.
Subsequently, the women were asked to identify the faces they already knew from among others that were presented to them for the first time. When they recognized one of the faces, they had to list all the information they had been given previously.
“The results showed that women who evaluated male faces in the context of a love relationship remembered these faces more effectively compared to women who evaluated the same faces but in a context of potential co-workers,” she explains. Furthermore, when women assessed faces in only one setting, they were more effective in identifying which assessment was previously attributed to the male element when it was assessed in a love relationship context than when it was in the coworker setting.
These results contribute to the growing evidence that human memory may be particularly sensitive to aspects that have been relevant throughout our evolution. This ground-breaking research line on the field of memory, of which the researcher has been part from the earliest stage in collaboration with the scientist James Nairne of the Purdue University, has revealed that memory works particularly well in survival contexts, with animated elements and in situations of potential contamination. “This latest study adds the context of reproduction to this set of conditions,” she concludes.