Grudzien, Ania Margo2020-09-292020-09-292020https://hdl.handle.net/1794/2575339 pagesPotential for memory confusion occurs when remembering highly similar objects encountered within the same context. Memory differentiation, an adaptive mechanism by which the brain distinguishes memories that share a high degree of representational overlap, emerges as a potential brain remedy. Differentiation can be understood as the ability to manipulate highly similar memories by exaggerating the differences between them in order to keep them distinct in mind. In this experiment, we examined differentiation of color memory in a visual spatial context. We employed a behavioral memory experiment, with computer generated colored object stimuli, operationalized as a color and location memory task. Students from the University of Oregon Human Subjects Pool were asked to memorize the spatial locations of colored object pairs. The colored objects were partitioned into two groups, a paired group (identical objects, highly similar in color), analogous to memories with a high degree of representational overlap, and a control group (different objects, highly similar in color), analogous to unique memories. A two-way ANOVA comparing color differentiation for object group and object location yielded a marginally significant effect of object group,en-USPsychologyHippocampal DifferentiationColor MemoryAdaptive MemoryVisual spatial memoryMemory DistortionsMemoryThesis/Dissertation