The issue of euthanasia in Germany and the Netherlands: Consequence of implicit historical memories and implications for the future.
Significantly based on different historical experiences, people in Germany and the Netherlands vary in their attitudes to euthanasia. This project focuses on contemporary attitudes to euthanasia in both nations and their historical, legal, and psychological determinants and implications for the future. Of particular interest are implicit and explicit historical memories which reflect the national awareness of this topic.
In order to analyze explicit collective memories associated with the issue of euthanasia, the study encompasses a historical analysis of the theme which results in a representative census in both nations. The analyses of implicit memory processes include several methods: Positive and negative emotional valence as well as appetitive and aversive motivations of euthanasia-related terms will be assessed by means of an implicit association test. In this test, positive/negative and appetitive/aversive associations result in reaction time changes indicative for motivational aspects in the implicit information processing of topics related to euthanasia. We expect that people in the Netherlands will show more positive and appetitive associations in contrast to people in Germany which are assumed to show more negative and aversive associations. To further elucidate the role of positive and negative associations with regard to implicit memory functions, we apply an affective priming paradigm. In the affective priming paradigm, positive and negative prime stimuli are presented prior to the target stimuli. The time needed to evaluate the target stimuli depends on the congruent/incongruent valence of the experimentally induced associations between the prime and the target stimuli. Overall, the results on implicit and explicit memory processes will be compared in each participant to test for possible dissociations in terms of a missing coherence between explicit and implicit memory functions. Multi-channel electroencephalographic recordings as well as functional magnetic resonance imaging will be assessed to depict the neurophysiological correlates of the proposed effects on the behavioral level. Finally, the project aims on future perspectives to deal with the issue of euthanasia. For this purpose participants have to decide on several aspects of a draft law concerning euthanasia.
