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memory

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  • No visual on file
    Narrative Structure Entry #0530

    Why an unresolved ending is remembered longer

    An interrupted task stays in mind longer than a completed one, which is why unresolved endings outlive the stories that finish tidily.

    Master
    The hidden part #0530

    Completion releases attention. Anything left open keeps a claim on it.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Framing Effects Entry #0510

    The reason a question about blame changes the memory

    A question does not only retrieve a memory. It can edit one, and the edit is invisible to the person now doing the remembering.

    Master
    The hidden part #0510

    A question is an instruction to reconstruct. Its wording becomes part of what is reconstructed.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Cognitive Bias Entry #0101

    Why you remember the one bad review out of forty

    Thirty-nine people were satisfied. You are thinking about the fortieth. That is not a flaw in your attention; it is the oldest filing rule the mind has.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0101

    The complaint is not more truthful than the praise. It is only cheaper to remember, and the mind mistakes ease of recall for weight of evidence.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Narrative Structure Entry #0539

    The reason a brand story fails without a conflict

    Narrative comprehension is triggered by a departure from the expected. A description in which nothing goes wrong is processed as information, not as a story.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0539

    A story is the account of something that departed from the expected. Without the departure there is only a description.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Naming & Sound Entry #0564

    The reason renaming rarely changes perception alone

    A name is a pointer to accumulated experience. Change the pointer and the experience stays where it was, waiting to be reattached within weeks.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0564

    A rename does not move the associations. It gives them a short interval in which to find the new label.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Attention & Memory Entry #0194

    Why the tip of the tongue holds the shape of a word

    You can know a word begins with a hard sound, has three syllables and is foreign, and still not produce it. Knowing a thing and reaching it are separate operations.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0194

    A forgotten word arrives with a description of itself. That description is proof the record survives and only the route to it failed.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Attention & Memory Entry #0193

    The reason a story is easier to remember than a list

    A list gives memory nothing to hold on to. A story supplies causal links, and each link is a route back to the item on the other side of it.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0193

    A list stores items. A story stores routes between items, and a route can be walked from either end.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Scent Marketing Entry #1071

    Why a faint aroma is remembered when a strong one is resisted

    A faint scent slips past the attention filter, so it encodes into memory without the resistance a strong aroma provokes.

    Novice
    The hidden part #1071

    The shout is judged and often rejected — the whisper is ignored and always remembered.

    Open file