Salience significantly influences memory retention, where unrelated features, such as an unusual appearance, can enhance recall of the information presented. This emphasizes that the context and manner in which information is conveyed often hold more weight than the information itself, leading to lasting impressions. Even seemingly trivial details can transform a mundane fact into a memorable experience, illustrating the profound effect of cognitive biases on perception.
Revisiting Steve’s 2021 conversation with the economist and MacArthur “genius” about how to make memories stickier, why change is undervalued, and how to find something new to say on the subject of scarcity.
- SOURCE:
- Sendhil Mullainathan, university professor of computation and behavioral science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
- RESOURCES:
- "Fictional Money, Real Costs: Impacts of Financial Salience on Disadvantaged Students," by Claire Duquennois (American Economic Review, 2022).
- "Do Financial Concerns Make Workers Less Productive?" by Supreet Kaur, Sendhil Mullainathan, Suanna Oh, and Frank Schilbach (NBER Working Paper, 2022).
- Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less, by Leidy Klotz (2021).
- "Heads or Tails: The Impact of a Coin Toss on Major Life Decisions and Subsequent Happiness," by Steve Levitt (NBER Working Paper, 2016).
- Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much, by Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir (2013).
- "The End of History Illusion," by Jordi Quoidbach, Daniel T. Gilbert, and Timothy D. Wilson (Science, 2013).