Horn, S. , Bell, R. , Bayen, U. & Buchner, A.
Heinrich-Heine-Universitaet Duesseldorf
Prospective memory (PM) refers to self-initiated remembering of intended actions after a delay. One influential perspective in evolutionary psychology implies that the human mind comprises cognitive modules for social exchange, including a module serving to enhance memory for cheaters. We assumed that PM tasks may be particularly sensitive and ecologically valid in this regard, given the high importance for any future interaction to remember cheaters. In our study, participants first played a trust game with computerized opponents who either cooperated, defected, or were neutral in terms of social exchange. In a subsequent PM task, faces of the previous cooperators, defectors, and neutral persons appeared as target events, mixed with distracter faces that did not occur in the trust game. A multinomial model analysis revealed that the prospective component of the PM task (i.e., remembering that something needs to be done) was increased for defectors relative to cooperators or neutral persons. These findings indicate that event-based PM is particularly sensitive to socially relevant targets.