Symbol/Meaning paired-associate recall: an "archetypal memory" advantage?
The theory of the archetypes and the hypothesis of the collective unconscious are two of the central characteristics of analytical psychology. These provoke, however, varying reactions among academic psychologists. Empirical studies which test these hypotheses are rare. Rosen, Smith, Huston and Gonzales proposed a cognitive psychological experimental paradigm to investigate the nature of archetypes and the collective unconscious as archetypal (evolutionary) memory. In this article we report the results of a cross-cultural replication of Rosen et al. conducted in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. In short, this experiment corroborated previous findings by Rosen et al., based on English speakers, and demonstrated a recall advantage for archetypal symbol meaning pairs vs. other symbol/meaning pairings. The fact that the same pattern of results was observed across two different cultures and languages makes it less likely that they are attributable to a specific cultural or linguistic context.
Department of Psychology, University of Basel, Missionstrasse60/62, Basel 4055, Switzerland.
Milena
M
Sotirova-Kohli
Department of Psychology, University of Basel, Missionstrasse60/62, Basel 4055, Switzerland.
Klaus
K
Opwis
Department of Psychology, University of Basel, Missionstrasse60/62, Basel 4055, Switzerland.
Christian
C
Roesler
Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
Steven M
SM
Smith
School of Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA.
David H
DH
Rosen
Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
Jyotsna
0000-0001-5340-4074
J
Vaid
Institute of Anatomy, University of Bern, Balzerstrasse 2, Bern 3000, Switzerland.
Valentin
V
Djonov
archetypes; collective unconscious; cross-cultural study; memory