Remember rhythm and rime: Memory and narratives in science communication

Abstract

Abstract. Narratives include several characteristics that make them memorable, understandable and enjoyable. To study how memorable different ways are of presenting information 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 retained in the long-term as a part of the knowledge appropriation process. In this work I discussed that narratives can be seen as mnemonic structures that superimpose an artificial, logical structure on data which is not necessarily related. In this way scientific factual information can be communicated by being embedded in a mnemonic structure (the story) which facilitates future recollection. Narratives can also be seen as secondary modelling systems in which information is represented and organised by means of a plot. This enables us to make sense of reality and prepare information in an organised structure ready for future recall. Narratives offer information that is contextualised in real-life situations (episodes). When an episode in a narrative work evokes emotion in the reader, this incident may become memorable. Narratives also enable higher memory spans because the information included in them is grouped and organised in a semantic mode. Organisation and semantic links are, in turn, important factors for paired recall association, which represents an important aid in retrieving information from memory by association. Story schemas consist of abstract, content-free knowledge about the structure of a typical story. For science communication, one of the advantages of story schemas is that the lay public is already familiar with them; they represent a widespread and well-established knowledge that can be used, without previous instruction. The use of story schemas could enhance the communication process by facilitating several different stages in memory process. In this work I suggests that narratives represent an interesting tool for science communication to convey science not only in an attractive and reliable format, but also in a long lasting way.

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