Memories of the experience of visitors to the Museu da Natureza (Piauí, Brazil): a study two years after the visit

ABSTRACT Science museums are dynamic spaces in which scientific culture is associated with the culture of the visiting subjects and which have the potential to evoke memories in their visitors in the form of memories and affective recollections. In this study, we investigated the memories of the experience of eight adult visitors two years after their visit to the Museu da Natureza, in the Serra da Capivara National Park Piauí. The methodology involved semi-structured interviews, including the verbalization of spontaneous memories and the use of the stimulated recall method. The results showed several memory events of episodic (chronological recall of events) and semantic nature (associated with facts, concepts, words and their meanings), emotional involvement and reinterpretations of the experience previously lived in a science museum.