Stories, Statistics, and Memory

Thomas Graeber (), Christopher Roth and Florian Zimmermann
Additional contact information
Thomas Graeber: Harvard Business School

No 208, ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series from University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany

Abstract: For most decisions, we encounter relevant information over the course of days, months or years. We consume such information in various forms, including quan-titative data about collections of observations – statistics – and qualitative content about individual instances – stories. This paper proposes that the information type –story versus statistic – shapes selective memory. In controlled experiments, we doc-ument a pronounced story-statistic gap in memory: the average impact of stories on beliefs fades by 33% over the course of a day, but by 73% for statistics. Guided by a model of selective memory, we disentangle different mechanisms underlying the story-statistic gap. The similarity between relevant information in memory and the prompt drives the gap. Irrelevant information that is similar to the prompt, on the other hand, impedes successful recall.

Keywords: Memory; Belief Formation; Stories; Narratives; Statistical Information. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 90 pages
Date: 2022-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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https://www.econtribute.de/RePEc/ajk/ajkdps/ECONtribute_208_2022.pdf Third version, 2024 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Stories, Statistics, and Memory* (2024)
Working Paper: Stories, statistics, and memory (2023)
Working Paper: Stories, Statistics, and Memory (2022)
Working Paper: Stories, Statistics, and Memory (2022)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:208

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