Do Readers Remember What Story Characters Remember?

The current study examined whether readers encode the thoughts of story characters. Participants read narratives in which characters were described as either needing or not needing to remember a list of words. Across several experiments readers recalled more words in a free recall task when the story character was described as making an effort to remember the same words. This occurred during both self-paced reading and when reading time was fixed. Much like readers encode, and perhaps simulate, other aspects of a story character’s experience, such as their physical movements, speaking and reading speed, and tactile experiences, we demonstrate that the readers’ mental representation is influenced by a story character’s cognitive processes. Readers remember what story characters remember.