Forming Collective Memories: From local influences to global mnemonic convergence

The New School, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

The present research explores how collective memories are formed, maintained, changed, and forgotten. How do collective memories form? To a large extent, the formation of collective memories occurs through acts of communication. One person might talk to another person about a past event, or one person might watch a video about an event on the Internet. Eventually, some of these memories are propagated throughout the group. The present research examines how acts of person-to-person communication can establish, strengthen, change and weaken what people remember of their own and others' collective past. It tests the mechanisms by which this interpersonal influence can spread across a network, affect the memories of those with whom there is no direct connection, and in so doing, have a marked effect on the collective memory formed across the network. Three sets of experiments are proposed. Using a modified version of the serial reproduction task, the first set examines the extent to which the three conversational influences of interest - reinforcement, induced forgetting, and the implantation of memories - spread across transmission chains of various sizes. It tests whether the extent of this propagation is a function of the strength of these conversational influences and whether these strengths, in turn, are a function of social relationships and the medium of communication. The second phase explores mnemonic convergence, that is, the extent to which a chain of individuals converges onto the same shared memories. Specifically, it investigates whether the extent of propagation can not exceed the length of the transmission chain if convergence is to occur. The third phase moves beyond transmission chains to complex social networks. It now probes for the degree to which mnemonic convergence is a function of both the extent of propagation, or in turn, the strength of conversational influences, and the average length between all pairings of individuals in the network. It also introduces cluster coefficients as an additional variable of interest. The proposed research brings together for the first time two strands of relevant research: the burgeoning experimentally-based psychological literature on the effect of communication on memory in dyads and the widely discussed work on the propagation of influence through social networks. This synergistic approach produces a model with great general applicability, particularly in the domain of national security. Its interdisciplinarity will link psychological research on individual memory with work on networks and social connectedness. As a result, graduate students working on the proposed research will receive a unique training. Overall, the proposed research provides an empirical foundation for a model of collective memory formation that will impact on societally important issues. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.