Organization of Public Events in Long-Term Memory

Abstract

A model of "historical memory" is proposed. This model identifies three primary levels of organization (the news event, the public narrative, the historical period) and allows public events to be associated with personal information. Three experiments were conducted to evaluate this model: a verbal protocol study, a response time study, and a free-association study. In accordance with the model, these studies demonstrated that (a) associations between same-narrative events tend to be stronger than other interevent associations, (b) political events are more likely to be related to accessible historical periods than are nonpolitical events, and (c) public events are often stored with accessible personal information. These studies also indicated that (d) political events are more likely than nonpolitical events to be embedded in public narratives and (e) nonpolitical events are more likely than political events to be associated with personal information.