Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Adaptive Function of Distributed Remembering: Contributions to the Formation of Collective Memory

  • Published:
Review of Philosophy and Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Empirical research has increasingly turned its attention to distributed cognition. Acts of remembering are embedded in a social, interactional context; cognitive labor is divided between a rememberer and external sources. The present article examines the benefits and costs associated with distributed, collaborative, conversational remembering. Further, we examine the consequences of joint acts of remembering on subsequent individual acts of remembering. Here, we focus on influences on memory through social contagion and socially shared retrieval-induced forgetting. Extending beyond a single social interaction, we consider work that tracks the propagation of socially shared retrieval-induced forgetting throughout larger networks made up of several agents. Although much work has focused on how distributing cognition can augment memory, this is not the primary lesson we draw from the conversational remembering literature. Rather, mnemonic convergence between communicators is a boon to sociality. It allows the formation and maintenance of mnemonic communities, rather than expanding capacity or accuracy of memory per se.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. There is a long tradition in studies of collaborative remembering that refers to facilitation when the individual remembers more in the group recounting than they would alone. Meudell et al. (1995) employ the term in their studies of cross-cueing, as do Basden and Basden in several of their studies (e.g., Basden et al. 1997). One can also go back to Geen (1971) as well. Hirst and Echterhoff (2012) built on this tradition when they defined collaborative facilitation similarly to the present paper. On the other hand, several recent uses of the term seem to employ it as a contrast to collaborative inhibition: that is, with facilitation, as opposed to inhibition, the group recall is greater than the nominal recall. Both Rajaram and Pereira-Pasarin (2010), Meade et al. (2009) and the Macquarie group (e.g., Harris et al. 2011) use the term collaborative facilitation in this way. In order to be clear, we qualify the term collaborative facilitation here and elsewhere in the paper.

References

  • Allen, V. 1965. Situational factors in conformity. In Advances in experimental social psychology, vol. 2, ed. L. Berkowitz, 133–175. New York: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, M., and B. Levy. 2007. Theoretical issues in inhibition: Insights from research on human memory. In Inhibition in cognition, ed. M. Anderson and B. Levy, 81–102. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, M., and K. McCulloch. 1999. Integration as a general boundary condition on retrieval-induced forgetting. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 25: 608–629.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, J.R., and R. Milson. 1989. Human memory: An adaptive perspective. Psychological Review 96: 703–719.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, M., R. Bjork, and E. Bjork. 1994. Remembering can cause forgetting: Retrieval dynamics in long-term memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 20L: 1063–1087.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Asch, S.E. 1956. Studies of independence and conformity: A minority of one against a unanimous majority. Psychological Monographs 70(9): 1–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Assmann, J., and J. Czaplicka. 1995. Collective memory and cultural identity. New German Critique 65: 125–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baron, R.S., J.A. Vandello, and B. Brunsman. 1996. The forgotten variable in conformity research: impact of task importance on social influence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 71(5): 915–927.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartlett, F.C. 1932. Remembering: A study in experimental and social psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Basden, B., D. Basden, S. Bryner, and R. Thomas. 1997. A comparison of group and individual remembering: Does collaboration disrupt retrieval strategies? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 23(5): 1176–1189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bauml, K.-H., and C. Kuhbandner. 2007. Remembering can cause forgetting-but not in negative moods. Psychological Science 18: 111–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bjork, R.A. 1989. Retrieval inhibition as an adaptive mechanism in memory. In Varieties of memory and consciousness: Essays in honor of Endel Tulving, ed. H.L. Roediger and F.I.M. Criak, 309. Hillsdale: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brandon, D., and A. Hollingshead. 2004. Transactive memory systems in organizations: Matching tasks, expertise, and people. Organization Science 15(6): 633.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, A., A. Coman, and W. Hirst. 2009. The role of narratorship and expertise in social remembering. Social Psychology 40(3): 119–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruner, J.S. 1990. Acts of meaning. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Calhoun, C. 1994. Social theory and the politics of identity. In Social theory and the politics of identity, ed. C. Calhoun, 9–36. Cambridge: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caporael, L. 1997. The evolution of truly social cognition: The core configuration model. Personality and Social Psychology Review 1(4): 276–298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chan, J., K. McDermott, and H. Roediger. 2006. Retrieval-induced facilitation: Initially nontested material can benefit from prior testing of related material. Journal of Experimental Psychology. General 135(4): 553–571.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, N., and G. Stephenson. 1989. Group remembering. In Psychology of group influence, 2nd ed, ed. P. Paulus, 357–391. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coman, A., and W. Hirst. 2012. Cognition through a social network: The propagation of induced forgetting and practice effects. Journal of Experimental Psychology. General 141.2: 321–336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coman, A., D. Manier, and W. Hirst. 2009. Forgetting the unforgettable through conversation: Socially shared retrieval-induced forgetting of September 11th memories. Psychological Science 20: 627–633.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coman, A., Kolling, A., Lewis, M., and W. Hirst. 2012. Mnemonic convergence: From empirical data to large-scale dynamics. Manuscript under review.

  • Cuc, Ozuru, Manier, and Hirst. 2006. On the formation of collective memories: The role of a dominant narrator. Memory & Cognition 34(4): 752–762.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cuc, A., J. Koppel, and W. Hirst. 2007. Silence is not golden: A case for socially shared retrieval-induced forgetting. Psychological Science 18: 727–737.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dalton, A.L., and M. Daneman. 2006. Social suggestibility to central and peripheral misinformation. Memory 14(4): 486–501.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donald, M. 2001. A mind so rare: The evolution of human consciousness. New York: W W Norton & Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Donald, M. 2010. The exographic revolution: neuropsychological sequelae. In The cognitive life of things: Recasting the boundaries of the mind, ed. L. Malfouris and C. Renfrew, 71–79. Cambridge: McDonald Institute Monographs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ebbinghaus, H. 1913. In Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology, ed. H.A. Ruger and C. E. Bussenius Trans. New York City: Teachers College, Columbia University.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Echterhoff, G., S. Groll, and W. Hirst. 2007. Tainted truth: Overcorrection for misinformation influence on eyewitness memory. Social Cognition 25(3): 367–409.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edelson, M., T. Sharot, R. Dolan, and Y. Dudai. 2011. Following the crowd: Brain substrates of long-term memory conformity. Science 333: 108–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gabbert, F., A. Memon, K. Allan, and D.B. Wright. 2006. Memory conformity: Disentangling the steps towards influence during a discussion. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 13(3): 480–485.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geen, R.G. 1971. Social facilitation of long-term recall. Psychonomic Science 24: 89–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gould, J.L. 1975. Honey bee recruitment: The dance-language controversy. Science 189: 685–693.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, C., P. Keil, J. Sutton, A. Barnier, and D. McIlwain. 2011. We remember, we forget: Collaborative remembering in older couples. Discourse Processes 48(4): 267–303.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirst, W. 2010. The contribution of malleability to collective memory. In The cognitive neuroscience of mind: A tribute to Michael S. Gazzaniga, 139–153. Cambridge: MIT Press.

  • Hirst, W., and A. Brown. 2011. On the virtues of an unreliable memory: Its role in grounding sociality. In Grounding sociality: Neurons, minds, and culture, ed. G. Semin and G. Echterhoff, 95–114. New York: Psychological Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirst, W., and G. Echterhoff. 2008. Creating shared memories in conversations: Towards a psychology of collective memory. Social Research 75: 78–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirst, W., and G. Echterhoff. 2012. Remembering in conversations: The social sharing and reshaping of memories. Annual Review of Psychology 63: 55–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirst, W., and D. Manier. 2008. Towards a psychology of collective memory. Memory 16: 183–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hobsbawm, E. 1972. Social criminality: Distinctions between socio-political and other forms of crime. Bulletin of the Society for the Study of Labour History 25: 5–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutchins, E. 1995a. How a cockpit remembers its speed. Cognitive Science 19: 265–268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hutchins, E. 1995b. Cognition in the wild. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, M., Hashtroudi, and D.S. Lindsay. 1993. Source monitoring. Psychological Bulletin 114: 3–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, R.D. 2005. Balkan ghosts: A journey through history. NY: Picador.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koppel, J., Wohl, D., Meksin, R., and W. Hirst. 2011. The role of expertise and resistance in moderating socially shared retrieval-induced forgetting. Manuscript in preparation.

  • Kuhl, B.A., and A.D. Wagner. 2009. Forgetting and retrieval. In Handbook of the neurosciences for the behavioral sciences, ed. G.G. Berntson and J.T. Cacioppo, 506–605. Hoboken: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loftus, E., and K. Ketchum. 1994. The myth of repressed memory: False memories and allegations of sexual abuse. NY: St, Martin’s Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loftus, E., and J. Palmer. 1974. Reconstruction of automobile destruction: An example of the interaction between language and memory. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior 13(5): 585–589.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lynch, K. 1960. The image of the city. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malafouris, L. 2010. The Brain-Artifact Interface (BAI): A challenge for archeology and cultural neuroscience. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 5: 264–273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meade, M.L., and H.L. Roediger. 2002. Explorations in the social contagion of memory. Memory and Cognition 30(7): 995–1009.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meade, M.L., T.J. Nokes, and D.G. Morrow. 2009. Expertise promotes facilitation on a collaborative memory task. Memory 17: 39–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Metcalf, P., and R. Huntington. 1991. Celebrations of death: The anthropology of mortuary ritual. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meudell, P.R., G.J. Hitch, and M.M. Boyle. 1995. Collaboration in recall: Do pairs of people cross-cue each other to produce new memories? Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. A, Human Experimental Psychology 48: 141–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newman, E., and D. Lindsay. 2009. False memories: What the hell are they for? Applied Cognitive Psychology 23: 1105–1121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nora, P. 1989. Between memory and history: Les Lieux de Mémoire 1984. Representation 26: 7–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norman, D. 2002. Distributed cognition. In Foundations of cognitive psychology: Core readings. Cambridge: MIT Press.

  • Olick, J.K., and J. Robbins. 1998. Social memory studies: From “Collective memory” to the historical sociology of mnemonic practices. Annual Review of Sociology 24: 105–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olick, J., V. Vinitzky-Seroussi, and D. Levy (eds.). 2011. The collective memory reader. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peker, M., and A.I. Tekcan. 2009. The role of familiarity among group members in collaborative inhibition and social contagion. Social Psychology 40(3): 111–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinker, S. 2003. The blank slate: The modern denial of human nature. NewYork: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rajaram, S., and L. Periera-Pasarin. 2010. Collaborative memory: Cognitive research and theory. Perspectives on Psychological Science 5(6): 649–663.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roediger, H. 2010. Reflections on intersections between cognitive and social psychology: A personal exploration. European Journal of Social Psychology 40(2): 189–205.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roediger, H., M. Meade, and E. Bergman. 2001. Social contagion of memory. Psychological Bulletin Review 8: 365–371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schacter, D.L., and S.D. Slotnick. 2004. The cognitive neuroscience of memory distortions. Neuron 44: 149–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schacter, D., S. Guerin, and P. St. Jacques. 2011. Memory distortions: An adaptive perspective. Trends In Cognitive Science 15(10): 467–474.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schuman, H., C. Rieger, and V. Gaidys. 1994. Generations and collective memories in Lithuania. In Autobiographical memory and the validity of retrospective reports, ed. N. Schwartz and S. Sudman, 313–333. NY: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Skagerberg, E., and D. Wright. 2008. Manipulating power can affect memory conformity. Applied Cognitive Psychology 22(2): 207–216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stone, C., A. Barnier, J. Sutton, and W. Hirst. 2010. Building consensus about the past: Schema consistency and convergence in socially shared retrieval-induced forgetting. Memory 18: 170–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stone, C. Barnier, A., Sutton, J., and W. Hirst. 2012. Forgetting our personal past: socially shared retrieval-induced forgetting for autobiographical memories. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. doi:10.1037/a0030739.

  • Tooby, J., and L. Cosmides. 1992. The psychological foundations of culture. In Adapted mind: Evolutionary psychology and the generation of culture, ed. J.J. Barkow, L. Cosmides, and J. Tooby. NY: Oxford Univeristy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tulving, E. 1985. Memory and consciousness. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne 26(1): 1–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vaiva, G., G. Ducrocq, K. Jezequel, B. Averland, P. Lestavel, A. Brunet, and C.R. Marmar. 2003. Immediate treatment with propranolol decreases posttraumatic stress disorder two months after trauma. Biological Psychiatry 54: 1471.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Von Frisch, K. 1967. The dance language and orientation of bees. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walther, E., H. Bless, F. Strack, P. Rackstraw, D. Wagner, and L. Werth. 2002. Conformity effects in memory as a function of group size, dissenters and uncertainty. Applied Cognitive Psychology 16(7): 793–810.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wegner, D., R. Erber, and P. Raymond. 1991. Transactive memory in close relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 61(6): 923–929.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weldon, M., C. Blair, and P. Huebsch. 2000. Group remembering: Does social loafing underlie collaborative inhibition? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 26(6): 1568–1577.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, D., and D. Villalba. 2012. Memory conformity affects inaccurate memories more than accurate memories. Memory 20(3): 254–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, D., S. Mathews, and E. Skagerberg. 2005. Social recognition memory: The effect of other people’s responses for previously seen and unseen items. Journal of Experimental Psychology. Applied 11(3): 200–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, D., K. London, and M. Waechter. 2010. Social anxiety moderates memory conformity in adolescents. Applied Cognitive Psychology 24(7): 1034–1045.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yerushalmi, Y.H. 1982. Zakhor: Jewish history and Jewish memory. Seattle: Univeristy of Washington Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zerubavel, E. 1999. Social mindscapes: An invitation to cognitive sociology. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the National Science Foundation Grant BCS-0819067.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, The New School For Social Research, 80 5th Avenue, 5th Floor, New York, NY, 10003, USA

    Martin M. Fagin, Jeremy K. Yamashiro & William C. Hirst

Authors
  1. Martin M. Fagin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jeremy K. Yamashiro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. William C. Hirst
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martin M. Fagin.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fagin, M.M., Yamashiro, J.K. & Hirst, W.C. The Adaptive Function of Distributed Remembering: Contributions to the Formation of Collective Memory. Rev.Phil.Psych. 4, 91–106 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13164-012-0127-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13164-012-0127-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation