Abstract
This study used a phenomenological analysis to investigate the recollections of participants (N=36) of an interpretive program at Lowell National Historic Park. These individuals were interviewed six months following the experience. Four topic areas relating to the participants’ long-term memory of the interpretive program were identified: (a) personal connections with the tour, (b) program information retention, (c) positive visitor responses, and (d) ranger attributes. Results indicated that the personal connections made during the program were influential in creating vivid episodic memories. Some of the responses from the participants went beyond episodic information and could be associated with conceptual thinking associated with semantic memory or knowledge. The findings of this study, along with literature associated with long-term memory research, offer a potential model of learning for interpretation related to episodic/semantic memory systems.
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