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Memory and Story

Throughout history, some stories survived, others died.  Those stories that survived lived on despite illiteracy and the lack of the printing presses.  Why did some stories die while others survived? Survival of the fittest stories is explored in Memory in Oral Traditions: The Cognitive Psychology of Epic, Ballads, and Counting-out Rhymes.  Using research on memory, psychologist David C. Rubin shows that it's no accident that some narratives survived.  The narratives that survived have specific structure, and use specific literary devices - theme, imagery, and rhythm. Who cares?  Every speaker should. As a speaker, you must keep your audience's attention.  But the correlation between attention and retention is surprisingly weak...continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime & Federalism on July 30, 2008 (boomark / email).