exp #5: the rumor chain activity*
The 5th memory test was conducted with 3 volunteers. The first person stayed in the room and the other 3 was asked to leave. Mr. Anthony then read out a story about a hijacker on a plane and Pang was told to remember as much as possible. Then Maytee came into the room and Pang was asked to retell the story to him, then he did the same thing when Daniel came in. Daniel then retold the story to the class. Here is the story:
A Qantas International 747 that was going to Los Angeles took off the Bangkok International Airport. A passenger near the rear of the aircraft announced that he was hijacking for the People’s Revolutionary Army.
The Hijacker then held a 357 magnum gun to the head of Jack Straw, a flight attendant, and forced him to open the cockpit door. There the hijacker held the gun at the head of the pilot, Jane Smith, and forced her to change course to Cuba. While the pilot radioed Bangkok to report the situation she suddenly threw the microphone at the hijacker who fell backwards through the open cockpit door and onto the floor.
The angry passengers forced the gun off him and tied him up. The plane returned to Bangkok and in a few minutes the hijacker was arrested.
One thing that was very significant that we found is leveling, or simplifying material. We noticed that the story got shorter and shorter as more and more detail was lost. Another important thing we saw was sharpening, or highlighting or emphasizing some material; in this particular story retelling, the details about the gun and the plane stayed even thought the story was retold 3 times. Assimilation also happened—it is changing details to better fit the subjects’ own background or knowledge, or schemas. We found that they were more focused on the schema of the pilot and the flight attendant and forgot about the passengers completely. Also, although in the story the pilot was a woman and the flight attendant a man, as the story was repeated the pilot turned into a man and the stewardess into a woman. They changed crucial information due to the schema in their minds. We then discussed how real eye-witness accounts and rumors are not very reliable some of the time because the story somehow changes each time it is retold.
A Qantas International 747 that was going to Los Angeles took off the Bangkok International Airport. A passenger near the rear of the aircraft announced that he was hijacking for the People’s Revolutionary Army.
The Hijacker then held a 357 magnum gun to the head of Jack Straw, a flight attendant, and forced him to open the cockpit door. There the hijacker held the gun at the head of the pilot, Jane Smith, and forced her to change course to Cuba. While the pilot radioed Bangkok to report the situation she suddenly threw the microphone at the hijacker who fell backwards through the open cockpit door and onto the floor.
The angry passengers forced the gun off him and tied him up. The plane returned to Bangkok and in a few minutes the hijacker was arrested.
One thing that was very significant that we found is leveling, or simplifying material. We noticed that the story got shorter and shorter as more and more detail was lost. Another important thing we saw was sharpening, or highlighting or emphasizing some material; in this particular story retelling, the details about the gun and the plane stayed even thought the story was retold 3 times. Assimilation also happened—it is changing details to better fit the subjects’ own background or knowledge, or schemas. We found that they were more focused on the schema of the pilot and the flight attendant and forgot about the passengers completely. Also, although in the story the pilot was a woman and the flight attendant a man, as the story was repeated the pilot turned into a man and the stewardess into a woman. They changed crucial information due to the schema in their minds. We then discussed how real eye-witness accounts and rumors are not very reliable some of the time because the story somehow changes each time it is retold.
-- yuki
posted by Unknown at 2:24 PM
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