Forming Collective Memories: From local influences to global mnemonic convergence

本研究探讨了集体记忆是如何形成、维持、改变和遗忘的。 集体记忆是如何形成的？在很大程度上，集体记忆的形成是通过交流行为发生的。 一个人可能与另一个人谈论过去的事件，或者一个人可能在互联网上观看有关事件的视频。最终，这些记忆中的一些会在整个群体中传播。本研究探讨了人与人之间的交流行为如何建立、加强、改变和削弱人们对自己和他人集体过去的记忆。 它测试了这种人际影响在网络中传播的机制，影响了那些没有直接联系的人的记忆，并对整个网络中形成的集体记忆产生了显着影响。提出了三组实验。使用修改版本的串行再现任务，第一组检查在何种程度上的三个会话的影响的兴趣-强化，诱导遗忘，植入的记忆-传播在不同大小的传输链。它测试了这种传播的程度是否是这些会话影响力的函数，以及这些影响力是否是社会关系和沟通媒介的函数。第二个阶段探索记忆聚合，也就是说，一个人链聚合到相同的共享记忆的程度。具体地说，它调查的范围内的传播是否不能超过传输链的长度，如果收敛发生。第三阶段超越了传播链，进入复杂的社交网络。现在，它探讨了记忆收敛的程度是传播程度的函数，或者反过来，会话影响的强度，以及网络中所有配对个体之间的平均长度。它还引入聚类系数作为感兴趣的附加变量。这项拟议中的研究第一次汇集了两个相关的研究：一个是新兴的基于实验的心理学文献，关于交流对二人记忆的影响，另一个是广泛讨论的关于通过社交网络传播影响力的研究。这种协同办法产生了一种具有很大普遍适用性的模式，特别是在国家安全领域。它的跨学科性将把个人记忆的心理学研究与网络和社会联系的工作联系起来。因此，从事拟议研究的研究生将接受独特的培训。 总的来说，拟议的研究提供了一个经验基础的集体记忆形成的模式，将影响社会上重要的issues.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

The present research explores how collective memories are formed, maintained, changed, and forgotten. How do collective memories form? To a large extent, the formation of collective memories occurs through acts of communication. One person might talk to another person about a past event, or one person might watch a video about an event on the Internet. Eventually, some of these memories are propagated throughout the group. The present research examines how acts of person-to-person communication can establish, strengthen, change and weaken what people remember of their own and others' collective past. It tests the mechanisms by which this interpersonal influence can spread across a network, affect the memories of those with whom there is no direct connection, and in so doing, have a marked effect on the collective memory formed across the network. Three sets of experiments are proposed. Using a modified version of the serial reproduction task, the first set examines the extent to which the three conversational influences of interest - reinforcement, induced forgetting, and the implantation of memories - spread across transmission chains of various sizes. It tests whether the extent of this propagation is a function of the strength of these conversational influences and whether these strengths, in turn, are a function of social relationships and the medium of communication. The second phase explores mnemonic convergence, that is, the extent to which a chain of individuals converges onto the same shared memories. Specifically, it investigates whether the extent of propagation can not exceed the length of the transmission chain if convergence is to occur. The third phase moves beyond transmission chains to complex social networks. It now probes for the degree to which mnemonic convergence is a function of both the extent of propagation, or in turn, the strength of conversational influences, and the average length between all pairings of individuals in the network. It also introduces cluster coefficients as an additional variable of interest. The proposed research brings together for the first time two strands of relevant research: the burgeoning experimentally-based psychological literature on the effect of communication on memory in dyads and the widely discussed work on the propagation of influence through social networks. This synergistic approach produces a model with great general applicability, particularly in the domain of national security. Its interdisciplinarity will link psychological research on individual memory with work on networks and social connectedness. As a result, graduate students working on the proposed research will receive a unique training. Overall, the proposed research provides an empirical foundation for a model of collective memory formation that will impact on societally important issues.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.