Canadian Academy Discover, Publish, Thrive
Despite extensive research on memory for temporal information and the relationship between context and cognition, the impact of temporal context on memory formation and retention remains unclear. This study examined how religious practices, specifically Lent and Ordinary Time, affect memory using religious art as stimuli. Participants viewed artworks during these seasons, and their memory was tested immediately, after 1 day, and after 7 days. Results showed that congruent temporal context (Lent) enhanced memory for perceptual details but not for more complex information. This suggests that temporal context can influence memory, but its effects are limited to lower-level information processing.
Context significantly influences human cognition across various domains. In vision, the Ebbinghaus illusion shows how size perception depends on surrounding objects. Linguistic context aids word identification in hearing, while attention is drawn to objects inconsistent with their scene context. Memory benefits when encoding and retrieval contexts match, and context changes, such as moving through doorways, can disrupt memory. Context can be spatial or linguistic. This study focuses on the impact of temporal context on memory. Time as an organizing principle of episodic memory helps recall the order of events. Temporal contiguity, where recalling one item aids recall of those experienced nearby in time, suggests time as a contextual cue guiding memory access.
We explored how the temporal context of an event affects memory, focusing on categorical time (e.g., seasons) rather than specific times. Our hypothesis posited that certain time periods prime related concepts, aiding memory for congruent information. We tested this by examining how sacred art, viewed at different points in the Roman Catholic calendar, influenced memory. Artworks depicting the trial, execution, and resurrection of Jesus were shown during Lent (a time emphasizing these events) and Ordinary Time (less related to these themes). Lent’s distinct spiritual and visual context was expected to enhance memory for related art. Conducted at a Catholic university, our study leveraged participants’ familiarity with liturgical seasons. Art’s dual perceptual and conceptual nature allowed us to analyze temporal context effects at various representation levels, considering how abstraction impacts cognitive analysis.
Memories of experiences are captured at various levels of abstraction. For instance, text comprehension involves verbatim memory and event models, which include inferred information for deeper understanding. In vision, superficial understanding is based on perceptual memory (details like color and size), while interpretive understanding involves gist (e.g., “This depicts human suffering”). This study assessed memory for visual experiences, gist, and autobiographical memories related to art. It predicted that memory would be enhanced by temporal congruence, meaning people would better remember details, gist, and personal impacts if the context during learning and retrieval matched. This idea is supported by the concept of transfer-appropriate processing, where memory is better when retrieval processes align with those used during learning. Thus, memory performance was expected to improve when the temporal context of art viewing matched the season during which the art was experienced.
For this project, both representational and abstract art were used to study their differing cognitive impacts. Representational art generally elicits better comprehension and stronger emotional responses than abstract art. Titles help people understand abstract art better, and responses to representational art are more consistent. People prefer familiarity in representational art and novelty in abstract art. This study explores how the influence of temporal context on artistic style might differ, with no strong initial predictions.
We tested memory at different delays: immediately, 1 day, and 7 days after viewing. Memory changes over time, influenced by consolidation and retrieval processes, and different memory levels show varying forgetting patterns. Simplified memory tends to show curvilinear loss, while deeply encoded memory exhibits more linear forgetting. We explored these patterns in relation to perceptual and gist memory. Our study assessed memory for representational and abstract sacred art at perceptual, gist, and autobiographical levels, predicting enhanced memory with congruent temporal context. We anticipated different performance patterns for the art types and more linear forgetting for gist memory.
Time is a crucial element in episodic memory, allowing us to remember when events happened and their sequence. This study explored whether the temporal context in which an event occurs influences memory formation and retention. Participants viewed sacred art depicting events from Jesus Christ’s life during Lent/Easter or Ordinary Time. The study aimed to determine if the alignment of temporal context and visual content affects memory, considering factors like artistic style, types of memory, and retention intervals.
Results showed that temporal context did not impact initial engagement with the artworks but did influence memory for perceptual details. Memories were better during Lent/Easter than Ordinary Time, suggesting that a congruent temporal context enhances the encoding of perceptual qualities. However, inferential gist memory was unaffected by temporal context.
Retention patterns also varied by context. In the incongruent condition, memory decay followed a power function, indicating rapid initial forgetting. In the congruent condition, memory followed a linear pattern, suggesting richer, more complex memories. Autobiographical memory for engagement was more accurate over time in the congruent context, while in the incongruent context, participants overestimated their initial engagement.
Additional findings indicated higher engagement and better gist memory for abstract art compared to representational art, likely due to the cognitive effort required to interpret abstract pieces. Interest in art correlated with engagement but did not significantly impact other memory measures, except for religious involvement, which enhanced inferential gist memory.
Limitations include the study’s focus on Christian religious art and a predominantly Western, Christian sample. Future research should generalize findings to diverse subjects and participant backgrounds, and examine different memory retrieval processes. Overall, temporal context can influence memory by activating consistent semantic information, highlighting the embedded nature of cognition.
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