Abstract
Abstract. Once upon a time, narratives were considered to be a non-reliable way of representing and communicating science. Nowadays, narratives are widely accepted as an accurate way of conveying science; they represent an effective emotional trigger, a lasting memory structure and a powerful aid for learning. To study how memorable different ways of presenting information can be is a fundamental task for science communication in order to evaluate materials that not only need to be understood by the general public but also need to be retained in the long term as a part of the communication process. In this paper, I will give a brief introduction to cognitive psychology and the study of memory in relation to narratives. Evidence from the field of memory studies suggests that narratives represent a good recall device. They can generate emotion, and this in turn is a way of focusing attention, promoting rehearsal in memory and inducing long-term potentiation. Similarly, a story produces semantic links that might assist in storing and retrieving information from memory. Studies suggest that memory span and paired-associate recall have implications in storing and recalling narratives. Evidence also suggests that the use of stories as modelling tools can organise information, provide schemas and allow extrapolation or prediction. Finally, literature in memory suggests that narratives have value as mnemonic devices.
Highlights
The question of how knowledge can be presented to the public in order to convey as much information as possible with maximum fidelity is a central one for science communication (Dornan, 1990; Durant et al, 1989)
Studying how memorable different text formats are represents a fundamental task for science communication in order to produce materials that are expected to be understood by individuals and stored in the long-term memory
Narratives have implications in short-term memory processes, I will concentrate on long-term memory, the most relevant features for science communication
Summary
The question of how knowledge can be presented to the public in order to convey as much information as possible with maximum fidelity is a central one for science communication (Dornan, 1990; Durant et al, 1989). Memory is one possible way of assessing learning (Sternberg, 2003) and, of judging the successful communication of information. Studying how memorable different text formats are represents a fundamental task for science communication in order to produce materials that are expected to be understood by individuals and stored in the long-term memory. Much of the information that we store in our memory is not acquired first hand, through personal experience, but second hand, through reading or listening to other people talk about their experiences (Cohen, 1989). The general rule for narratives (short stories, drama, comics, novels, etc.) appears to be that the meaning, the gist, the most important and most relevant facts are preserved by the memory (Cohen, 1989).
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