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Updated: Aug 27, 2025
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The HoneyComb Paradigm for Research on Collective Human Behavior
Published on: January 19, 2019
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Habits of collective memory.
James V Wertsch1, Olivia L Jäggi1
1Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, United States; Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, United States.
Progress in Brain Research
|September 27, 2022
Summary
Collective memory, built on narrative, schema, and habit, explains how groups share past accounts efficiently. These cognitive building blocks make collective memory resistant to change.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Sociology
Background:
- Collective memory is a shared group account of the past, integral to identity.
- Humans often act as "cognitive misers," seeking efficient information processing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore collective memory through the constructs of narrative, schema, and habit.
- To understand the cognitive underpinnings of shared historical accounts.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual analysis of narrative, schema, and habit as components of collective memory.
- Examination of how these constructs facilitate efficient information handling.
Main Results:
- Narratives provide cohesive structures for past events.
- Schemata, or "narrative templates," reveal underlying patterns in collective memory.
- Habitual behaviors, driven by context cues, enhance efficiency in recalling shared pasts.
Conclusions:
- Narrative, schema, and habit are fundamental to collective memory formation.
- These elements contribute to the resilience and stability of shared historical understanding.
- This framework offers a novel approach to studying collective memory's complexities.
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