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License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (CC BY 3.0)
When quoting this document, please refer to the following
DOI: 10.4230/OASIcs.CMN.2015.12
URN: urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-52775
URL: http://dagstuhl.sunsite.rwth-aachen.de/volltexte/2015/5277/
Go to the corresponding OASIcs Volume Portal

Breithaupt, Fritz ; Brower, Eleanor ; Whaley, Sarah

Optimal Eventfulness of Narratives

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Abstract

This study examines whether there is an optimal degree of eventfulness of short narratives. We ask whether there is a specific degree of eventfulness (unexpectedness) that makes them "stick" better than other stories so that they are maintained more faithfully in serial reproduction (telephone games). The result is: probably not. The finding is that there is an impressive correlation of eventfulness rankings of original stories and resulting retellings in serial reproduction, despite the change of many other story elements and almost regardless of low or high eventfulness. Put more simply, people remember and retell “eventfulness” accurately, even when the actual events and circumstances of a story are changed.

BibTeX - Entry

@InProceedings{breithaupt_et_al:OASIcs:2015:5277,
  author =	{Fritz Breithaupt and Eleanor Brower and Sarah Whaley},
  title =	{{Optimal Eventfulness of Narratives}},
  booktitle =	{6th Workshop on Computational Models of Narrative (CMN 2015)},
  pages =	{12--22},
  series =	{OpenAccess Series in Informatics (OASIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-939897-93-4},
  ISSN =	{2190-6807},
  year =	{2015},
  volume =	{45},
  editor =	{Mark A. Finlayson and Ben Miller and Antonio Lieto and Remi Ronfard},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl--Leibniz-Zentrum fuer Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{http://drops.dagstuhl.de/opus/volltexte/2015/5277},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-52775},
  doi =		{10.4230/OASIcs.CMN.2015.12},
  annote =	{Keywords: Narrative, Event, Eventfulness, Event cognition; Serial reproduction; Linear and bounded iteration, Event memory}
}

Keywords: Narrative, Event, Eventfulness, Event cognition; Serial reproduction; Linear and bounded iteration, Event memory
Collection: 6th Workshop on Computational Models of Narrative (CMN 2015)
Issue Date: 2015
Date of publication: 14.08.2015

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