significant event spend considerable time and energy on discussing and
retelling it, which leads to the formation of memories that are more vivid
and detailed than the memories of outsiders.
We will discuss other types of emotional effects on episodic memories in
Chapter 5. If there is a consistentfinding about the relationship between emotions
and episodic memories across the board,itisthecuriouseffectthatemotions
enhance the confidence in the accuracy of memory rather than the accuracy
of memory itself (Phelps, 2013). What this brief introduction to the subject
implies is that vivid, emotional memories of the members of the Jesus movement
could indeed lend increased confidence to the believers with regard to the accuracy
of their memories, whereas the accuracy of the respective memories varied due to
a variety of factors. Note that although studies of memory distortion should
certainly make us cautious about claims to the accuracy of eyewitness testimony
concerning the life of Jesus (Redman, 2010), or any other event in earliest Christian
history, they do not by themselves make it necessary to conclude that thefigure
of Jesus was an invention of his followers, similar to thefigure of Ned Ludd,
the assumed leader of the Luddites (Crook, 2013). Memory studies, in contrast,
should be used in combination with other models to evaluate the evidence.
Apart from their influence on episodic memories, emotional details play a
role in remembering texts, as well. In an experiment conducted by Cara Laney
and colleagues, students were listening to a story accompanied by a slide show
(Laney et al., 2004). The emotionally laden story included an attempt by a man
to rape a woman during a date, and introduced much information about the
man that made such a move credible, such as excessive alcohol consumption
and disrespecting women’s will. The two slide shows were identical except for
a single slide. Students who listened to the emotionally laden version of the
story remembered every aspect of the story better, including the gist, the
central details, and the peripheral details. In a second experiment, the story
presented a day of a college student, who was depressed and thought about
suicide in the emotionally laden version. Even though the slide shows accom-
panying the two versions were completely identical in this experiment, the
same differences in recall occurred as in thefirst experiment. Similar effects of
emotional details on the memory of narratives were found in other experi-
ments (Cahill & McGaugh, 1995).
Emotionally laden details in a story not only result in strong memories of
the emotionally charged details, but also enhance the memorability of various
other details that are not emotionally arousing. Many stories of the New
Testament include emotionally arousing details, similar to the ones examined
in the above-mentioned experiments. The psychological and physical suffer-
ing of Jesus in the passion narratives certainly elicited strong emotional
response in the ancient listener. It is well known that Greek audiences were
swept away by deep emotions in the theatre; strong emotional response to the
Memory and Transmission 79