-1 - Ritual, Memory, and Emotion: Comparing Two Cognitive Hypotheses*

I. Introduction Without systems of public, external symbols for recording information, nonliterate communities have to rely on human memory for the retention and transmission of cultural knowledge. Religious expressions either evolved in directions that rendered them memorable or they were-quite literally-forgotten. Most religious systems, including all of the great world religions, emerged among populations that were mostly illiterate (even if there was a literate elite). Thus, it should come as no surprise that religious systems and ritual systems, in particular, have evolved so as to exploit variables that facilitate memory. No doubt, the invention of literacy ameliorates these variables' influence, however, the availability of such cultural tools neither eliminates that influence nor even surmounts it. Experimental psychologists have clarified variables that contribute to extraordinary recall for events that arise in the normal course of life. Probably, the most obvious is frequency. Experiencing events of the same type frequently aids memory for that type of event, though not necessarily for the details of any of the particular instances of that type. When Jains carry out the Puja ritual day after day, they become adept at its performance. Although they are fluent with the ritual's details, it is possible that they do not remember even one of their previous performances distinctively. With some religious rituals some or all of the participants may change from one performance to the next, and some rituals occur quite infrequently. (Investitures of particularly long-lived religious leaders who serve for life come to mind.) So, considerations of frequency cannot explain memory for and, hence, transmission of all religious rituals. Elsewhere I have examined (McCauley, 1999) some of the salient variables that have emerged in the study of extraordinary recall for specific episodes and the relevance of so-called flashbulb memories to rituals that are performed quite infrequently. Flashbulb memories are memories for particular episodes that seem startlingly vivid and accurate, such as most older Americans' recollections about how they heard about President Kennedy's assassination. (See Winograd and Neisser, 1992.) Some religious rituals capitalize on many of the prominent variables that contribute to extraordinary episodic memory that the psychological science has uncovered. However, the crucial point for my purposes here is that they do so differentially. Consider, for example, emotional stimulation, which seems particularly relevant in light of the flashbulb phenomena. Although many religious rituals are profoundly emotional experiences, not all rituals stimulate participants' emotions. In fact, some rituals are …