The Role of Social Identity in Memory Integration

Abstract: An adaptive memory system has to support both the encoding of individual episodes as well as generalization and inference across several episodes. The latter of these two goals is achieved by memory integration in which a memory representation is updated to accommodate new information. However, the circumstances leading to either separate encoding or generalization are still unknown. Building on literature implicating social identity in memory processes, this investigation for the first time examined social identity as a moderating factor in that trade-off. In Experiment 1, a common memory integration paradigm was adapted to investigate the influence of ingroup and outgroup source personas that presented one of two overlapping episodes on memory integration. While finding the expected ingroup advantage for memory of individual episodes, there was a surprising outgroup advantage for inferences across episodes. Experiment 2 investigated the influence of social identity in an implicit memory integration paradigm to examine whether the value attached to social identity symbols spreads to neutral stimuli through memory integration. While this mechanism was not evident on a group level, first signs of a behavioral correlate were found in that the extent of decision bias partly depended on the importance of the social identity and the evaluation of the social symbols. In conclusion, this investigation underlines the importance of considering social identity in memory integration and offers implications for the literature on collective memory as well as political discourse.