Interruption and bizarreness effects in the recall of script-based text

Abstract

Recall of script, script-irrelevant, and script-interruptive actions in script-based stories was examined in four experiments. By varying the plausibility of the script-irrelevant and the script-interruptive actions, the bizarreness effect (i.e., enhanced recall for bizarre, implausible actions) was assessed within the context of script-based text. In addition, presentation of script-interruptive actions actions allowed for an assessment of the interruption effect (i.e., enhanced recall for interruptive actions). A bizarreness effect was found, to the extent that implausible script-irrelevant actions were better recalled than their more plausible counterparts and script actions. However, implausible actions were not better recalled than script-interruptive actions, nor did bizarreness significantly enhance recall of script-interruptive actions. These results are discussed in terms of recent assumptions underlying interruptions underlying interruption and bizarreness effects, and in terms of recent assumptions about how scripted and nonscripted actions are retained in memory.

Examination of script and non-script based narrative retellings in children with autism spectrum disorders

“…Past research has shown that in typical development having prior knowledge of an event sequence allows one to produce more coherent and cohesive stories (Davidson, 1996;Davidson et al, 2000;Davidson, 2006;Shapiro & Hudson, 1991) because the individual is not tasked with constructing a script each time an event occurs, and instead can activate and elaborate on a previous event schema (Nelson, 1986;Davidson, 2006).…”

“…By 7 to 8 years of age, children have mastered traditional script narratives, including optional or elaborative elements in addition to the obligatory elements (Davidson et al, 2000;McCartney & Nelson, 1981;Slackman, Hudson, Fivush, 1986).…”

“…According to script-framework models, children form cognitive representations of these events that they experience repeatedly, either directly or indirectly (Nelson, 1986;Schank, 1975;Davidson & Jergovic, 1996;Schank & Ableson, 1977). Once an event is experienced enough that it becomes routine, an event schema is established which allows a child to know what to expect, and be free to focus on other aspects that are occurring within the context, such as social interactions or narrative production (Davidson, 2006;Davidson, Larson, Luo, & Burden, 2000). More specifically, it is believed that understanding event knowledge can help children predict what is likely to happen in a story, and may reduce 5 the cognitive resources needed to attend to other linguistic and/or story features (Constable, 1986).…”

Cultural Scripts of Traumatic Stress: Outline, Illustrations, and Research Opportunities

“…Notable script interruptions (e.g., failure of a treatment to make an expected difference, as in Lemelson and Tucker, 2017) can aid recall and recognition in the short term by serving as “tags” for script packages. Still, script-consistent information is more influential in shaping longer-term memory (Smith and Graesser, 1981; Davidson et al, 2000). Notably, although shorter-term memories may not last, they are still culturally noteworthy, as they provide people with short-lived, but important, opportunities to transmit stories to others.…”

Humour mediates the facilitative effect of bizarreness in delayed recall

“…Although there is some support for the surprise hypothesis (e.g. Hirshman, Whelley, & Palij, 1989), the bulk of empirical research suggests that surprise is either unrelated to the facilitative effects of bizarre elaboration (Davidson, Larson, Luo, & Burden, 2000; McDaniel, Einstein, DeLosh, May, & Brady, 1995) or significantly related to only disruptive effects of bizarre elaboration (Worthen, Starns, Loveland, & Eisenstein, 2006).…”