Even in predominantly religious societies, there are substantial individual differences in religious commitment. Why is this? One possibility is that differences in social conformity (i.e. the tendency to think and behave as others do) underlie inclination towards religiosity. However, the link between religiosity and conformity has not yet been directly examined. In this study, we tested the notion that non-religious individuals show dampened social conformity, using both self-reported and neural (EEG-based ERPs) measures of sensitivity to others’ influence. Non-religious vs religious undergraduate subjects completed an experimental task that assessed levels of conformity in a domain unrelated to religion (i.e. in judgments of facial attractiveness). Findings showed that, although both groups yielded to conformity pressures at the self-report level, non-religious individuals did not yield to such pressures in their neural responses. These findings highlight a novel link between religiosity and social conformity, and hold implications for prominent theories about the psychological functions of religion.

Subjective memory evaluation is important for assessing memory abilities and complaints, alongside objective measures. In both research and clinical settings, questionnaires are used to examine memory beliefs and knowledge, perceived memory ability, and memory complaints. Although they provide a structured measure of self-reported memory, there is some debate as to whether subjective evaluation accurately reflects memory abilities. Specifically, the disconnect between subjective and objective memory measures remains a longstanding issue within the field. Thus, it is essential to evaluate the benefits and limitations of questionnaires that are currently in use. This review encompasses three categories of subjective memory questionnaires: metamemory, self-efficacy, and complaints. Factors influencing self-evaluation of memory including knowledge and beliefs about memory, ability to evaluate memory, recent metamemory experiences, and affect are examined. The relationship between subjective and objective memory measures is explored and considerations for future development and use of memory questionnaires are provided.

Recalling names is a difficult task in everyday life and names are often forgotten. The face-name mnemonic strategy proposes to improve name recall by assigning semantic information to face-name pairs through imagery. The technique involves three steps: transforming the name into an imageable object, selecting a prominent facial feature, and imagining the name transformation interacting with the prominent facial feature. Name recall involves mentally retracing these steps. Previous research has shown positive outcomes with this strategy, but there is limited exploration of strategy components and potential strategy use in real life. Here, we examined the effectiveness of three mnemonic strategies on name recall and explored strategy adherence and potential use in real life with questionnaires. Across two experiments, we found that a modified version of the mnemonic resulted in significantly higher name recall when participants complied with strategy instructions compared to when participants were instructed to recall to the best of their ability. Questionnaire responses showed that uninstructed participants used repetition, focused on distinct facial features, or related the individual in the photo to familiar people to recall names. We propose that the name-transformation mnemonic strategy can be applied to forenames when learning names to improve recall.

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