Collaborative Remembering in Conversational Narration

Top Cogn Sci. 2019 Oct;11(4):733-751. doi: 10.1111/tops.12378. Epub 2018 Sep 8.

Abstract

This chapter introduces an epistemic perspective on narration and illustrates, based on data from storytelling in free natural conversation, how collaborative remembering can instantiate distributed cognition: first, when tellers deploy expressions of forgetfulness or explicitly enlist the aid of other participants; second, during various forms of collaborative turn sequencing with rapid speaker shift and a high degree of overlap; third, when conversational participants cooperate to produce a mosaic-like narrative consisting of their partially separate perspectives and contributions; and fourth, when they weave their voices into a single narrative thread in a Goffmanian team performance.

Keywords: Conversation; Distributed cognition; Narration; Remembering; Team performance; Turn-taking.

MeSH terms

  • Cognition / physiology*
  • Communication
  • Humans
  • Mental Recall / physiology*
  • Narration*
  • Social Behavior
  • Verbal Behavior / physiology*