宠物能融入人类的自我吗？宠物相关信息的记忆加工优势探索

good human-pet relationship can offer many benefits to humans, yet the internal mechanisms of this significant, intimate bond remain unclear. Due to prolonged close contact, pet owners may regard their pets as part of their family and even incorporate pets into their self-concept, demonstrating an advantage in processing pet-related information.Based on this, this work comprised three studies, which systematically investigated the relationship between pet owners and their pets. In study 1, the Inclusion of Other in the Self (IOS) Scale and a self-concept questionnaire examined the relationship between the self-concept of pets and their owners. In Study 2, the R/K paradigm explored the processing characteristics of pet-related information by pet owners, with a focus on memory processing, and verified the presence of the pet reference effect. Finally, Study 3 utilized ERP technology to investigate the pet reference processing bias among pet owners from an electrophysiological perspective.The results indicated that: (1) Compared with non-owners, pet owners typically incorporate their pets into their self-concept to create a pet self. (2) Pet owners exhibit a stronger memory processing advantage for pet-related information and a significantly higher recognition rate for pet references in comparison to those for celebrities and semantic references. This recognition rate is similar to that for self-references and mother references. (3) The induced LPC amplitude for pet references was significantly higher than that for celebrity references, yet similar to that of mother references and significantly lower than self-references.To conclude, this study has demonstrated that pet owners tend to regard their pets as an extension of themselves, creating a pet self, and exhibit a pet reference effect on memory. However, the pet self essentially remains a relational self, maintaining a certain distance from the core self. Existing research on the self has emphasized significant others while excluding the realm of pets. More importantly, it is necessary to consider the impact of pets on individuals. Pet owners often regard their pets as cherished family members, fostering a strong bond that enables individuals to perceive their pets as an extension of themselves; this contributes to the positive effect of pets on individuals physical and mental well-being.