In a recent episode of “Behavioural Science Uncovered”, a podcast with a particular focus on the research process, briq Research Director Florian Zimmermann talks about his paper “Associative Memory and Belief Formation,” co-authored with Benjamin Enke and Frederik Schwerter.
The paper experimentally investigates the idea that people are more likely to recollect items that are cued by current context. This is because (i) people do not constantly have access to their beliefs so they may need to reconstruct prior information from memory; (ii) similar real-world news are often embedded in similar memorable contexts. The paper finds a predictable and quantitatively meaningful role of associative memory in the formation of beliefs.
To learn more about the paper and the origins of the project, but also about Florian’s experience preparing an ERC starting grant application, and what his typical working day looks like, tune in to the podcast at bsuncovered.com!
