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Stories, Statistics, and Memory

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  • Graeber, Thomas
  • Roth, Christopher
  • Zimmermann, Florian

Abstract

For most decisions, we rely on information encountered over the course of days, months or years. We consume this information in various forms, including abstract summaries of multiple data points -- statistics -- and contextualized anecdotes about individual instances -- stories. This paper proposes that we do not always have access to the full wealth of our accumulated information, and that the information type -- story versus statistic -- is a central determinant of selective memory. In controlled experiments we show that the effect of information on beliefs decays rapidly and exhibits a pronounced story-statistic gap: the average impact of stories on beliefs fades by 33% over the course of a day, but by 73% for statistics. Consistent with a model of similarity and interference in memory, prompting contextual associations with statistics improves recall. A series of mechanism experiments highlights that the lower similarity of stories to interfering information is the key driving force behind the story-statistic gap.

Suggested Citation

  • Graeber, Thomas & Roth, Christopher & Zimmermann, Florian, 2022. "Stories, Statistics, and Memory," CEPR Discussion Papers 17683, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:17683
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    2. Roth, Christopher & Schwardmann, Peter & Tripodi, Egon, 2024. "Misperceived effectiveness and the demand for psychotherapy," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    3. Rossello, Giulia & Martinelli, Arianna, 2025. "The effect of lobbies' narratives on academics' perceptions of scientific publishing: A survey experiment," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    4. Guo, Junjie & Tang, Li & Xie, Shihan & Yin, Penghui, 2025. "Navigating fiscal fog: Household expectations in an uncertain fiscal environment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    5. Ahmed, Haseeb & Giffin, Erin & Manian, Shanthi, 2025. "Memory constraints in adoption of productive technologies," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).
    6. Robin Musolff & Florian Zimmermann, 2025. "Model Uncertainty," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2025_697, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    7. Enke, Benjamin & Schwerter, Frederik & Zimmermann, Florian, 2024. "Associative memory, beliefs and market interactions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    8. Benjamin Christoffersen & Arvid Hoffmann & Zwetelina Iliewa & Lena Jaroszek, 2025. "Experience Effects on Wall Street vs. Main Street: Field and Lab Evidence of Context Dependence," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2025_684, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    9. Marta Serra-Garcia, 2026. "The Attention-Information Trade-Off," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 116(5), pages 1579-1610, May.
    10. Bocar A. Ba & Abdoulaye Ndiaye & Roman G. Rivera & Alexander Whitefield, 2024. "Mispricing Narratives after Social Unrest," Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute Working Papers 096, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    11. George Loewenstein & Zachary Wojtowicz, 2023. "The Economics of Attention," CESifo Working Paper Series 10712, CESifo.
    12. Hong, Eunpyo & Kottimukkalur, Badrinath & Noh, Joonki, 2026. "Uncertain Text and Price Reactions to Earnings Releases," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    13. Qiang Chen & Tianyang Han & Jin Li & Ye Luo & Zigan Wang & Yuxiao Wu & Xiaowei Zhang & Tuo Zhou, 2025. "Can AI Master Econometrics? Evidence from Econometrics AI Agent on Expert-Level Tasks," Papers 2506.00856, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2026.
    14. Ge, Erqi, 2025. "Political speeches and stock market performance: Evidence from China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).
    15. Anwesha Banerjee & Katharina Momsen, 2025. "(Un-)scientifically Spun: Narratives, Belief Updating, and Pro-Environmental Behavior," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 88(12), pages 3873-3903, December.
    16. Andrea Amelio & Florian Zimmermann, 2023. "Motivated Memory in Economics—A Review," Games, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, January.
    17. Angelico, Cristina, 2024. "The green transition and firms' expectations on future prices: Survey evidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 221(C), pages 519-543.
    18. Dor Morag & George Loewenstein, 2025. "Narratives and Valuations," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 71(6), pages 5376-5395, June.
    19. Burdin, Gabriel & Landini, Fabio, 2025. "Beliefs and the Demand for Employee Ownership," IZA Discussion Papers 18196, IZA Network @ LISER.
    20. Mo, Zhexun & Kaeppel, Katharina & Schröder, Carsten & Yang, Li, 2025. "When Facts Fail: Experimental Evidence on Perceptions and Preferences towards Chinese Investments in Germany," SocArXiv 74k3v_v1, Center for Open Science.
    21. Francesco Bilotta & Alberto Binetti & Giacomo Manferdini, 2025. "Blameocracy: Causal Rhetoric in Politics," Papers 2504.06550, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2025.

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