ABSTRACT
Organizing the continuous flow of experiences into meaningful events is a crucial prerequisite for episodic memory. Prediction error and event segmentation both play important roles in supporting the genesis of meaningful mnemonic representations of events. We review theoretical contributions discussing the relationship between prediction error and event segmentation, as well as literature on episodic memory related to prediction error and event segmentation. We discuss the extent of overlap of mechanisms underlying memory emergence through prediction error and event segmentation, with a specific focus on attention and working memory. Finally, we identify areas in research that are currently developing and suggest future directions. We provide an overview of mechanisms underlying memory formation through predictions, violations of predictions, and event segmentation.
Subject(s)
Memory, Episodic , Humans , Memory, Short-Term , AttentionABSTRACT
We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) while anxious and avoidant participants performed an emotional face recognition task featuring happy and angry faces. The avoidant attachment individuals were more accurate on angry trials, whereas anxious attachment individuals were more accurate on happy trials. FN400 amplitude was larger in the anxious attachment group than in the avoidant attachment group. Both groups produced larger N170 amplitudes in response to angry faces. However, happy faces evoked shorter N170 latencies in the anxious attachment group while angry faces evoked shorter N170 latencies in the avoidant group. Our results demonstrate that the processing of emotional stimuli differs between individuals with anxious and avoidant attachment styles. These differences start at early stages of stimulus processing and yield perceptual biases in the two attachment orientations. This appears to underlie differences in the later stage of recognition of emotional stimuli.
