Emotions & Learning

Key Contributors: AD Gladu, Amanda Yates, April Neal, Diane Porthouse Lochner, Tom Owen, Josh Rodriguez, Tiffany Rawson

Beyond the Mood

Emotion is the foundation of learning.¹ Research suggests it influences human perception, memory, reasoning, and problem solving while strongly affecting attention.² Prove this theory to yourself by checking your Twitter feed. The most retweeted messages evoke a strong emotional response.

Memorable destinations have been evoking emotions throughout history—surely the Hanging Gardens of Babylon lavished Queen Amytis with serenity—but modern destinations consciously push beyond the mood and employ emotion to capture attention, deepen learning, and provoke civic-minded action. And if you know PGAV, then you know that we believe the most effective way to push beyond the mood is to tell a compelling story.

Viva La Difference!

The best stories are measured in contrast. Think of the most soul-crushingly sad movie you ever saw that you didn’t like. Did the story feel like this?

 
 
SADNESS_FLAT.jpg
 
 

Or, even worse, this?

SADNESS_INCREASE.jpg

In examples like these, the storytellers were “playing the mood.”

Now think of the most soul-crushingly sad movie that you loved.

It probably went something like this:

EMOTIONAL_ARC.jpg

(For a comedy, just flip this chart upside-down and swap the emotions.)

By carefully sculpting a series of contrasts, the storytellers engaged your emotions. Once engaged, your attention stayed on-topic, and your reasoning and memory were affected, possibly even strengthened.

Destinations designed using this theory of learning are the places that make you say, “I learn something new every time I go!” This is because humans are not stagnant. Things that are funny to us one day make us feel quizzical on another. As we engage differently, different parts of our brain are stimulated. But as long as the destination has the right mix of contrasting emotions, we will continue to engage even as we absorb new details.

Timing Is Everything

Placing the details at moments where they can be successfully absorbed is another storytelling art.

  • At Titanic Museum Attraction, guests are given a boarding pass that represents an actual passenger. This happens at the start of the experience, when guests are typically full of energy and open to emotional engagement. As they journey through the exhibit, guests can use the information on the pass to imagine what it was like for their passenger during significant moments. At the conclusion of the exhibit, when guests feel tightly connected to their passenger, they discover their passenger’s fate on the memorial wall.

  • At SeaWorld San Antonio’s Turtle Reef, visitors first engage with heartwarming views of rescued sea turtles and hear compelling rescue stories. Then they may choose to go on high-energy rescue-themed rides that further heighten their emotional engagement. Finally, when their emotional high is peaking, they learn about the importance of the wetlands and how SeaWorld is pioneering an Animal Life Support System that integrates this natural biome to create more comfortable habitats.

Emotion-Centric Learning vs. Emotional Manipulation

There is a fine line between using emotions to connect and using emotions to manipulate. Social media is rife with provocative stories and imagery that seek to emotionally manipulate. As skilled storytellers, we must consider the level of learning that can effectively happen when we are riled, and be conscious of using emotions to engage and inform, more so than manipulate.

If we are seeking to teach, we want departing visitors to be able to articulate what they learned and to engage others with their newfound knowledge. For this to happen, it may be argued that people need a level of logical and thought-based connection. To achieve this, they may need to connect with a knowledgeable staff member and ask questions. They may need some space to absorb or reflect before they leave.

As thoughtful destination designers, we can contour our guests’ emotional journey.

We can cleverly

  • entice

  • excite

  • challenge

  • & reveal the amazing in a responsible way.

 This is our goal and our charge. 

Citations

 1 Key Aspects of How the Brain Learns

James E. Zull

2 The Influences of Emotion on Learning and Memory

By Chai M. Tyng, Hafeez U. Amin, Mohamad N. M. Saad, Aamir S. Malik

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