Storytellers often discover that certain aspects of their stories provoke more of a reaction from the audience.These aspects are emphasized and perhaps exaggerated for even greater effects,and the new,more exciting story replaces the original version in long-term memory. Fish become larger,vacations become more exciting,and heroes become more heroic. When participants in a study were asked to repeat a complicated story on several occasions,they tended to simplify the story,highlight some aspects more than others,and adjust the story to fit their worldviews . Such alterations probably form the basis of mythology. In the retelling of the adventures of Odysseus or King Arthur,accounts of the original true events are lost or hopelessly distorted.