IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v13y2022i1d10.1038_s41467-022-32113-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Narrative thinking lingers in spontaneous thought

Author

Listed:
  • Buddhika Bellana

    (Johns Hopkins University
    York University)

  • Abhijit Mahabal

    (Pinterest)

  • Christopher J. Honey

    (Johns Hopkins University)

Abstract

Some experiences linger in mind, spontaneously returning to our thoughts for minutes after their conclusion. Other experiences fall out of mind immediately. It remains unclear why. We hypothesize that an input is more likely to persist in our thoughts when it has been deeply processed: when we have extracted its situational meaning rather than its physical properties or low-level semantics. Here, participants read sequences of words with different levels of coherence (word-, sentence-, or narrative-level). We probe participants’ spontaneous thoughts via free word association, before and after reading. By measuring lingering subjectively (via self-report) and objectively (via changes in free association content), we find that information lingers when it is coherent at the narrative level. Furthermore, and an individual’s feeling of transportation into reading material predicts lingering better than the material’s objective coherence. Thus, our thoughts in the present moment echo prior experiences that have been incorporated into deeper, narrative forms of thinking.

Suggested Citation

  • Buddhika Bellana & Abhijit Mahabal & Christopher J. Honey, 2022. "Narrative thinking lingers in spontaneous thought," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-16, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-32113-6
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32113-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-32113-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-022-32113-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kuhn, Max, 2008. "Building Predictive Models in R Using the caret Package," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 28(i05).
    2. L. J. Shrum & James E. Burroughs & Aric Rindfleisch, 2005. "Television's Cultivation of Material Values," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 32(3), pages 473-479, December.
    3. Dion, Michelle L. & Sumner, Jane Lawrence & Mitchell, Sara McLaughlin, 2018. "Gendered Citation Patterns across Political Science and Social Science Methodology Fields," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 26(3), pages 312-327, July.
    4. David J. Foster & Matthew A. Wilson, 2006. "Reverse replay of behavioural sequences in hippocampal place cells during the awake state," Nature, Nature, vol. 440(7084), pages 680-683, March.
    5. Lu, Jackson G. & Akinola, Modupe & Mason, Malia F., 2017. "“Switching On” creativity: Task switching can increase creativity by reducing cognitive fixation," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 63-75.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Prabal Das & D. A. Sachindra & Kironmala Chanda, 2022. "Machine Learning-Based Rainfall Forecasting with Multiple Non-Linear Feature Selection Algorithms," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 36(15), pages 6043-6071, December.
    2. Paulo Infante & Gonçalo Jacinto & Anabela Afonso & Leonor Rego & Pedro Nogueira & Marcelo Silva & Vitor Nogueira & José Saias & Paulo Quaresma & Daniel Santos & Patrícia Góis & Paulo Rebelo Manuel, 2023. "Factors That Influence the Type of Road Traffic Accidents: A Case Study in a District of Portugal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-16, January.
    3. Ephrem Habyarimana & Faheem S Baloch, 2021. "Machine learning models based on remote and proximal sensing as potential methods for in-season biomass yields prediction in commercial sorghum fields," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-23, March.
    4. Alexander Wettstein & Gabriel Jenni & Ida Schneider & Fabienne Kühne & Martin grosse Holtforth & Roberto La Marca, 2023. "Predictors of Psychological Strain and Allostatic Load in Teachers: Examining the Long-Term Effects of Biopsychosocial Risk and Protective Factors Using a LASSO Regression Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(10), pages 1-20, May.
    5. Tang, Kayu & Parsons, David J. & Jude, Simon, 2019. "Comparison of automatic and guided learning for Bayesian networks to analyse pipe failures in the water distribution system," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 186(C), pages 24-36.
    6. Daifeng Xiang & Gangsheng Wang & Jing Tian & Wanyu Li, 2023. "Global patterns and edaphic-climatic controls of soil carbon decomposition kinetics predicted from incubation experiments," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.
    7. Tranos, Emmanouil & Incera, Andre Carrascal & Willis, George, 2022. "Using the web to predict regional trade flows: data extraction, modelling, and validation," OSF Preprints 9bu5z, Center for Open Science.
    8. Štefan Lyócsa & Petra Vašaničová & Branka Hadji Misheva & Marko Dávid Vateha, 2022. "Default or profit scoring credit systems? Evidence from European and US peer-to-peer lending markets," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 8(1), pages 1-21, December.
    9. Marta Huelin Gorriz & Masahiro Takigawa & Daniel Bendor, 2023. "The role of experience in prioritizing hippocampal replay," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, December.
    10. Marcos Rodrigues & Fermín Alcasena & Pere Gelabert & Cristina Vega‐García, 2020. "Geospatial Modeling of Containment Probability for Escaped Wildfires in a Mediterranean Region," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 40(9), pages 1762-1779, September.
    11. Giovanny Pillajo-Quijia & Blanca Arenas-Ramírez & Camino González-Fernández & Francisco Aparicio-Izquierdo, 2020. "Influential Factors on Injury Severity for Drivers of Light Trucks and Vans with Machine Learning Methods," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-28, February.
    12. Zander S. Venter & Adam Sadilek & Charlotte Stanton & David N. Barton & Kristin Aunan & Sourangsu Chowdhury & Aaron Schneider & Stefano Maria Iacus, 2021. "Mobility in Blue-Green Spaces Does Not Predict COVID-19 Transmission: A Global Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-12, November.
    13. G. Brooke Anderson & Keith W. Oleson & Bryan Jones & Roger D. Peng, 2018. "Classifying heatwaves: developing health-based models to predict high-mortality versus moderate United States heatwaves," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 146(3), pages 439-453, February.
    14. Van Belle, Jente & Guns, Tias & Verbeke, Wouter, 2021. "Using shared sell-through data to forecast wholesaler demand in multi-echelon supply chains," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 288(2), pages 466-479.
    15. repec:sus:susewp:0323 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Claire Heeryung Kim & Kelly B. Herd & H. Shanker Krishnan, 2023. "The creative touch: the influence of haptics on creativity," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 113-124, March.
    17. Marcelo Vinhal Nepomuceno & Michel Laroche, 2017. "When Materialists Intend to Resist Consumption: The Moderating Role of Self-Control and Long-Term Orientation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 143(3), pages 467-483, July.
    18. Jun Wang & Jinyong Huang & Yunlong Hu & Qianwen Guo & Shasha Zhang & Jinglin Tian & Yanqin Niu & Ling Ji & Yuzhong Xu & Peijun Tang & Yaqin He & Yuna Wang & Shuya Zhang & Hao Yang & Kang Kang & Xinchu, 2024. "Terminal modifications independent cell-free RNA sequencing enables sensitive early cancer detection and classification," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    19. Ali Al-Ramini & Mohammad A Takallou & Daniel P Piatkowski & Fadi Alsaleem, 2022. "Quantifying changes in bicycle volumes using crowdsourced data," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 49(6), pages 1612-1630, July.
    20. Liu, Xin Lucy & Lu, Jackson G. & Zhang, Hongyu & Cai, Yahua, 2021. "Helping the organization but hurting yourself: How employees’ unethical pro-organizational behavior predicts work-to-life conflict," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 88-100.
    21. Elodie Gentina & L. J. Shrum & Tina M. Lowrey & Scott J. Vitell & Gregory M. Rose, 2018. "An Integrative Model of the Influence of Parental and Peer Support on Consumer Ethical Beliefs: The Mediating Role of Self-Esteem, Power, and Materialism," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(4), pages 1173-1186, July.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-32113-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.