Date of Graduation
12-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
Degree Level
Undergraduate
Department
Psychological Science
Advisor/Mentor
Levine, Bill
Committee Member/Reader
Paez, Rocio
Committee Member/Second Reader
Brown, Mitch
Committee Member/Third Reader
Levine, Bill
Committee Member/Fourth Reader
Hare, Laurence
Abstract
Literary devices used by a writer can influence and impact the manner in which readers respond and interact with a text. Both the perspectives readers are expected to take while reading and the amount of foregrounding in a text cognitively and affectively influence a reader’s experience. However, little research has explored what effects these factors have on verbatim memory. For this research, participants were instructed to read a short literary story either by identifying with the protagonist or as a spectator. After reading and completing a range of other tasks, participants were asked to select sentences they saw in the story verbatim. This research found there was a significant increase in memory for literary sentences compared to non-literary sentences, but no significant difference in memory between the two perspective conditions.
Keywords
Verbatim memory, foregrounding, literary devices, identification
Citation
Naylor, S. (2024). Enhancing Memory Through Literary Features. Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/psycuht/56