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Cited by 175Memory Processes and InfluencesMedia Influence and HealthNarrative Theory and Analysis

Memory and comprehension of narrative versus expository texts: A meta-analysis

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Mar, Raymond A., Li, Jingyuan, Nguyen, Anh T. P., Ta, Cindy P.·2021·Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
DOI 10.3758/s13423-020-01853-1PMC PMC8219577
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Abstract

We acquire a lot of information about the world through texts, which can be categorized at the broadest level into two primary genres: narratives and exposition. Stories and essays differ across a variety of dimensions, including structure and content, with numerous theories hypothesizing that stories are easier to understand and recall than essays. However, empirical work in this area has yielded mixed results. To synthesize research in this area, we conducted a meta-analysis of experiments in which memory and/or comprehension of narrative and expository texts was investigated. Based on over 75 unique samples and data from more than 33,000 participants, we found that stories were more easily understood and better recalled than essays. Moreover, this result was robust, not influenced by the inclusion of a single effect-size or single study, and not moderated by various study characteristics. This finding has implications for any domain in which acquiring and retaining information is important.

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  • A meta-analysis by Mar et al. (2021) found that people are significantly better at understanding and remembering stories than essays.

    “A recent meta-analysis by Mar and colleagues (2021), which examined 75 samples from more than 33,000 participants, found that people are significantly better at understanding and remembering stories than essays.”

    From Stories in Action. (2022) · cites this paper as Mar et al., 2021

    The Discussion reports that stories were easier to comprehend and recall than expository texts; its 95% confidence interval for the overall effect excludes zero, supporting a significant advantage. But the Method (Coding outcome) specifies 78 samples, not the 75 stated in the citing sentence, while confirming 33,078 participants. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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Authors
Mar, R. A., Li, J., Nguyen, A. T. P., & Ta, C. P.
Affiliations
York University (CA)
Corresponding author
Mar, Raymond A.
ORCID
Venue
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2021-01-06
Volume
28
Issue
3
Pages
732-749
ISSN
  • 1069-9384 (ISSN-L)
  • 1531-5320
DOI
10.3758/s13423-020-01853-1
PMC
PMC8219577
OpenAlex
W3120832668
Cited by
175
References
8
Citations by year
2026: 31 · 2025: 33 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 51 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 9
FWCI
4.14
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Psychonomic Bulletin & Review (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (435-2017-1030)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Literature and Literary Theory › Media Influence and Health
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Literature and Literary Theory › Narrative Theory and Analysis
Keywords
narrative texts, expository texts, text comprehension, memory for text, story recall, reading comprehension, information retention
MeSH terms
Humans, Reading, Mental Recall, Comprehension, Narration

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