We have already shown the relationships that exist between brainstorming and creativity and have made the case that, perhaps, creativity is a learned activity. In the sciences, this is much more self-evident.
In the STEM disciplines, the concept of brainstorming is quite different (or is it??) and is more in line with scientific thinking (i.e., feedback control theory) that we can actually diagram out:
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This diagram visually describes the concept of a feedback loop that controls the dynamic behavior of a ‘system’. In this case, brainstorming comes in when it involves the learner/knower receiving feedback so he or she can then adapt the variables in order to find a more correct solution. This process can actually be mapped out using mathematical equations. With story perhaps the ‘brainstorming’ part that comes into play is more in line with the sociological/psychological aspect of control theory aspects of the story line. We make observations about the central character in a story and evaluate whether he or she reacts sensibly to the conflicts that arise. Perceptual control theory (PCT) is a model of behavior based on the principles of negative feedback, but differs in important respects from engineering control theory.
In PCT theory, organisms (i.e., protagonists) control neither their own behavior, nor the external environmental variables surrounding them. Instead they can only control their own perceptions of those variables. Actions are not ‘controlled’, but varied. According to the standard catch-phrase of the field, “behavior is the control of perception”. This fundamentally contradicts the classical notion of linear causation of behavior by stimuli in which environmental stimuli are thought to cause behavioral responses, mediated (according to Cognitive Psychology) by intervening cognitive processes. In a story, when main characters make judgments about their environment, often misjudgments are made due to his or her misconceptions that shield the real causes. This is also where the moral of the story comes in that we translate into the so-called ‘teachable moments’ when learning takes place. They are made more memorable when empathy with the main character is produced (see the concept of ‘relevance’ in ARCS motivation theory).
In case you haven’t figured it out by now, in this course we are making a strong case for story as a construct/framework for knowledge acquisition, whether it be in K-12 or business situations. In fact, a friend and colleague of mine is a man by the name of Rick Stone (no relation to Biz Stone). Among other things he is the president of Story Work Institute, a consulting firm that uses story as a framework to help clients brand their image and ‘tell their story’ to the public. If we had the time this term one of the assignments I would have liked to have you do would be to list all the ways/industries/situations story can be used and make a list of those companies/institutes that so this. I will leave this on my wish list for the future.
Schema Theory
One book we have yet to cover on story constructs is Stories, Scripts and Scenes: Aspects of Schema Theory by Jean Mandler. To get an idea about this book, click the amazon link below and select look inside.
This is Wikipedia’s take on Schema Theory:
Schema theory describes an organized pattern of thought or behavior that organizes categories of information and the relationships among them. It can also be described as a mental structure of preconceived ideas, a framework representing some aspect of the world, or a system of organizing and perceiving new information. Schemata influence attention and the absorption of new knowledge: people are more likely to notice things that fit into their schema, while re-interpreting contradictions to the schema as exceptions or distorting them to fit. Schemata have a tendency to remain unchanged, even in the face of contradictory information. Schemata can help in understanding the world and the rapidly changing environment. People can organize new perceptions into schemata quickly as most situations do not require complex thought when using schema, since automatic thought is all that is required.
People use schemata to organize current knowledge and provide a framework for future understanding. Examples of schemata include academic rubrics, social schemas, stereotypes, social roles, scripts, worldviews, and archetypes. In Piaget’s theory of development, children adopt a series of schemata to understand the world.
How appropriate! In other words, your definition of story should have evolved considerably over the past five weeks! Go back to your first definition, then look at your second. Now add the concept of schema into the mix and you should begin to understand that a story is not a ‘thing’ but a process of organizing thoughts, emotions, ideas. Makes sense no? That is why story has become so ingrained in our psyche over the ions that humans have been on this earth. This is what differentiates humans form animals and is what, to some, will make it impossible for computers to evolve into full artificial intelligence (in spite of the article you may have or are about to read in the readings on creativity regarding computational intelligence).
Take this anecdote as an example: In the 1950s, Gregory Bateson was asked if he thought artificial intelligence in computers was possible. He responded:
I don’t know for sure, but if you ask a computer a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question and its response is ‘that reminds me of a story’, then it would be close.”
An interesting concept… this is not all that we cover in this program about AI but it hints at one of the key issues that knocks down at least Google’s concept of artificial intelligence… more on that in our Media Ecology course
Getting back to Mandler…. If you can get a hold of the book (Amazon is best) and are interested in analyzing the schema behind story and the scientific proof of its powers, you can find it on Amazon.. Alternatively there is a “Look Inside” option to look over various pages:
Link to PDF: https://emeclasses.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/14640748608401600a.pdf
Click here to Read a Book Review of Mandler’s BookThis book completed a personal journey of my own in my exploration of story and its predictive powers. Here is a short paragraph from that book that became that ‘silver bullet’ I was looking for:
“In my opinion what is needed to clarify the notion of a ‘levels effect’ in story processing (schema theory is actually a hierarchy of thoughts and ideas) is to coordinate the various analyses that have been discussed. Walter Kintsch’s propositional analyses provide some predictability in terms of argument overlap and other aspects of linguistical connectivity of statements at the micro-level of analysis (Kintsch, a linguist, was particularly concerned with memory and reading and writing). Kintch’s premise is that based on how a sentence is set up what happens to a subject can be predicted. This predictability causes us to make judgments when interruptions occur (see the tie back to Branigan’s four points??). So, at the suggestion of Mandler, we borrow from Kintsch to add a fifth element to our definition of story constructs (Branigan’s 4 plus Kintsch makes five).
Causal Chain Analysis
To repeat, A causal chain analysis ties right back to Branigan and provides a significant source of predictability at an intermediate level of analysis, especially insofar as it maps out within-constituent structure. It is this element that is the tie breaker and provides the construct that makes story a learning engine…. after years of research I think we have finally found the ‘smoking gun’ that we need to create our construct and build a complete definition for story… the fact that we have invented the concept of ‘surprise ending’ provides negative proof of this concept… we are surprised when the story foes not end as we predict!
it is a means of communicating that includes at least the five elements we have reviewed so far (Branigan’s 4 plus Kintsch in some form. In the next cycles we will visit a few more supplements to help round out our definition plus we will also discuss the delivery mechanism (analog vs digital and all the latter’s various media types) to determine its affect on interpretation.
Constituent Analysis
A story constituent analysis provides still another source of information, at the macro-structural level. If these three type of analysis could be amalgamated into a comprehensive system, it should provide a theory of great predictive power.”
In other words, for our final definition, look at propositional analysis, causal chain, and individual story constituents (i.e. Branigan) (if you need to know more about each of the three check out the links I have provided) to compare/identify how they actually work together to form the basis form memory/recall and knowledge acquisition even with the passage of time (long term memory).
Just know that our penchant for pattern/meaning making leads us to be very selective about which memories have meaning. This is a two-edged sword… because it also can lead to misconceptions and incorrect assumptions. That is also what lends power to our story creation definition.. when judgments are made by the main character one can see the results in very clear, personal terms.
The following is one part of a Paper I presented on Digital Narrative at an international conference some time ago. This particular portion of the talk focuses on story memory.
Digging Deeper - Some Important ExamplesEnough of the science of story. If you are still not convinced, here are some additional readings to stimulate your thinking on this issue.
Link to pdf: https://emeclasses.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/HokansonFraherNarrativeStructureEdTec48-1.pdf
Link to pdf: https://emeclasses.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Narrative_as_change_agent.pdf
Link to pdf: https://emeclasses.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/dig-narrativeNarrative-cognition-and-modeling.pdf
Post a short reflection on schema theory and how it adds context to the definition of story that we are creating. This will also play heavily in our S.T.O.R.Y. rubric that we will be developing next cycle and your last definition of story.