Premium
Humour mediates the facilitative effect of bizarreness in delayed recall
Author(s) -
Worthen James B.,
Deschamps Joseph D.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
british journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.536
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8295
pISSN - 0007-1269
DOI - 10.1348/000712608x298476
Subject(s) - psychology , elaboration , recall , cued recall , context (archaeology) , cognitive psychology , developmental psychology , free recall , social psychology , paleontology , philosophy , humanities , biology
The first empirical study focused exclusively on the influence of bizarre elaboration on memory (Delin, 1968) indicated a significant relationship between bizarreness and recall after a 15‐week delay. However, that study was strongly criticized on methodological grounds. The present study offers a conceptual replication of Delin's historically significant study which sought to verify his influential, yet criticized, results and to test the possibility that a humour response mediates the relationship between bizarre elaboration and recall using multiple regression procedures. In keeping with Delin's findings, the results of the present study suggest that bizarre elaboration facilitates both free and cued recall after a substantial delay. The results also suggest that the facilitative effects of bizarreness are mediated by humour. The findings are discussed in the context of a comprehensive theory of bizarreness effects.