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Memory of fictional information: A theoretical framework

Gander, Pierre, Szita, Kata orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-3177-9980, Falck, Andreas and Lowe, Robert (2023) Memory of fictional information: A theoretical framework. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 20 (2). pp. 308-324. ISSN 1745-6924

Abstract
Much of the information people encounter in everyday life is not factual; it originates from fictional sources, such as movies, novels, and video games, and from direct experience such as pretense, role-playing, and everyday conversation. Despite the recent increase in research on fiction, there is no theoretical account of how memory of fictional information is related to other types of memory or of which mechanisms allow people to separate fact and fiction in memory. We present a theoretical framework that places memory of fiction in relation to other cognitive phenomena as a distinct construct and argue that it is an essential component for any general theory of human memory. We show how fictionality can be integrated in an existing memory model by extending Rubin’s dimensional conceptual memory model. By this means, our model can account for explicit and implicit memory of fictional information of events, places, characters, and objects. Further, we propose a set of mechanisms involving various degrees of complexity and levels of conscious processing that mostly keep fact and fiction separated but also allow information from fiction to influence real-world attitudes and beliefs: content-based reasoning, source monitoring, and an associative link from the memory to the concept of fiction.
Metadata
Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:Memory, fiction, fictionality, fictional information, mechanisms, fiction-reality distinction
Subjects:Medical Sciences > Psychology
Social Sciences > Communication
Social Sciences > Social psychology
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Science
DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Science > School of Communications
Publisher:Sage Publications, Inc.
Official URL:https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/174569162...
Copyright Information:Authors
ID Code:31840
Deposited On:14 Nov 2025 11:12 by Dr Kata Szita . Last Modified 14 Nov 2025 11:12
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