Spreading Rumors example essay topic

Rumor Rumors can be passed easily and are spread on an everyday basis. A rumor is like gossip; some of it true or untrue, and it is passed around by word of mouth. Most rumors start off being true, then when it is being passed from one person to the other, it starts becoming untrue because some people forget details, add new information in, or just change the whole story around. In the rumor experiment conducted in class, a story was told to one person out of four. The first person had to repeat the same story to the next person who of course was waiting outside of the classroom, until it got to the fourth person. The story that the fourth person ended up with was extremely dissimilar from what was initially told to the first person.

This is a prime example of how rumors change while they are being said from one person to the other. There were two rumors in the experiment conducted for the rumor assignment. Both rumors were very different in context but both proved the same thing in the end. Rumor number one was first told to the first individual who was standing outside of the classroom with three other students. Person one listened as the professor said the rumor, and then they had to remember it, and tell the next person (person two) outside the classroom this rumor.

The central theme of rumor one was there were two men on the subway who started arguing while many people watched near by. Rumor one had many details and was extremely long. It was rather difficult to remember all of the details for subject #1 because not only of its length, but because you were not allowed to ask questions due to how structured it was. Subject #1 remembered about 12 details; subject #2 remembered only about four details, subject #3, 2 details, and subject #4, 2 details as well. It was easier for the last two subjects to remember the information because the rumor diminished in size, meaning there was not that many details or information needed to be told. The largest number of details was lost when subject #1 told subject #2 the rumor.

They confused details, forgot some, and even added new ones. Sharpening took place in rumor one. The numerical, movement, relative size, dramatic detail, familiar symbol and primacy-recency effects all took place in rumor one. This rumor had for example relative size, which was the baby, a dramatic detail, which was the razor during the argument, and movement, which was the train. The assimilation of rumor one was the two men arguing on the train while the other passengers watched. Rumor two was selected by the professor, and it was written by a person in the classroom who wrote it for a classroom assignment.

The professor read it aloud in class, while four students that were recruited by the professor stayed outside the classroom and did not listen to the story. The first subject was then called into the classroom to listen to the rumor while the professor read it and taped recorded the whole situation. Subject #1 then had to repeat the story to subject #2, and so forth. The central theme of this rumor is the people arguing by Dickinson Hall are watching these people argue, and then all of a sudden this girl slaps the boy. Subject #1 remembers about eight details, and she changes around 3 details. Subject #2 then tells subject #3 the story and she only says six details, while changing two details.

Subject #3 then tells subject #4 the story and only remembers about two details, and changes around 4 details into something that did not even happen initially in the rumor. Subject #4 repeated exactly what subject #3 said because there were not a lot of things to remember. Sharpening occurs in rumor two in many different ways. For example, the dramatic detail was when the girl slapped the guy. Movement as well takes place in the sense that the girl in the beginning of the rumor is walking across the bridge, and in the end they walk away. The central theme of this story was recalled and was when the girl slapped the guy; subject #3 changed the story around and said that the guy slapped the girl instead.

Most of the details were lost in subject #1 retold the story to subject #2 because she missed many points and information and gave wrong information as well. This experiment was done to test how rumors work. Rumors start off as one thing, and end up as something totally the opposite. In rumor number one, and rumor two, there were four subjects (all girls), who were assigned by the professor to tell the story to the next subject. Out of rumor one and two, rumor one was recalled the information worse because the story was too long and many of the information and details were missed out and forgotten and changed.

Rumor number two was recalled better because it was shorter, and because it was more dramatic and easier to remember than rumor number one. There are difficulties with rumor simulation research because in real life, one can ask questions, or repeat the information, the rumors are probably shorter, and they would have more time to tell the rumor. With this research one is not allowed to ask questions, they have to do repeat the rumor in a short period of time, which makes information distorted. This was a very good experiment because this happens in everyday life no matter how old one is.