ABSTRACT Within the cognitive science of religion, some scholars hypothesize (1) that minimally counterintuitive (MCI) concepts enjoy a transmission advantage over both intuitive and highly counterintuitive concepts, (2) that religions concern counterintuitive agents, objects, or events, and (3) that the transmission advantage of MCI concepts makes them more likely to be found in the world’s religions than other kinds of concepts. We hypothesized that the memorability of many MCI supernatural concepts was due in large part to other characteristics they possess, such as their frequent and salient association with moral concerns and the alleviation of existential anxieties, and that without such characteristics they would fail to be memorable. We report the results of three experiments designed to test the relative contributions of minimal counterintuitiveness, moral valence, and existential anxiety to the memorability of supernatural ideas. We observed no main effects for minimal counterintuitiveness but did observe main effects for both moral valence and existential anxiety. We also found that these effects did not seem to stem from the greater visualizability of morally valenced concepts or concepts that concerned existential anxieties. These findings challenge important claims made by leading researchers regarding MCI concepts within the cognitive science of religion.

中文翻译：

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超自然概念的可记忆性：最小反直觉、道德效价和存在焦虑对回忆的影响

摘要 在宗教认知科学中，一些学者假设 (1) 最小违反直觉 (MCI) 概念比直觉和高度违反直觉的概念都具有传播优势，(2) 宗教涉及违反直觉的代理、对象或事件，以及 (3) ) MCI 概念的传播优势使它们比其他种类的概念更容易在世界宗教中被发现。我们假设许多 MCI 超自然概念的可记忆性在很大程度上是由于它们具有的其他特征，例如它们与道德问题的频繁和显着关联以及对存在焦虑的缓解，如果没有这些特征，它们将无法被记住。我们报告了三个实验的结果，这些实验旨在测试最小反直觉、道德效价和存在焦虑对超自然想法的可记忆性的相对贡献。我们没有观察到最小反直觉的主要影响，但确实观察到道德效价和存在焦虑的主要影响。我们还发现，这些影响似乎并非源于道德价值概念或涉及存在焦虑的概念的更大可视化。这些发现挑战了领先研究人员关于宗教认知科学中 MCI 概念的重要主张。我们没有观察到最小反直觉的主要影响，但确实观察到道德效价和存在焦虑的主要影响。我们还发现，这些影响似乎并非源于道德价值概念或涉及存在焦虑的概念的更大可视化。这些发现挑战了领先研究人员关于宗教认知科学中 MCI 概念的重要主张。我们没有观察到最小反直觉的主要影响，但确实观察到道德效价和存在焦虑的主要影响。我们还发现，这些影响似乎并非源于道德价值概念或涉及存在焦虑的概念的更大可视化。这些发现挑战了领先研究人员关于宗教认知科学中 MCI 概念的重要主张。