Innovators in
Cognitive Neuroscience

Buddhika Bellana

York University

February 28, 2022 at 12:00 PM ET

Charitable cause:
Resource Generation

Title:
Narrative thinking lingers in spontaneous thought

Abstract:
Stories have an ability to transport us into alternate worlds. Whether it be in the form of a novel, a movie, or a vivid anecdote from conversation, this immersive quality is a central feature of how we engage with stories. Interestingly, stories also tend to persist in our minds. Most of us can easily think of a story that has stuck with us – one we could not shake for hours or even days – however, to date little empirical work exists on this phenomenon. If narratives can elicit a persistent influence on thought, how can we measure it in the laboratory? What are its cognitive properties? What are its consequences for our understanding of memory? In this talk, I will present the results of a series of experiments using a free association paradigm and techniques from natural language processing to begin unpacking the lasting influence of stories on spontaneous thought.

American Sign language (ASL) interpretation and
closed captioning will be provided.