Telephone game

High school (ages 12+)
Thinking & Learning

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/telephone-game

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the game classification?A sequential information relay game
2. What is the academic term?Transmission chaining in cultural evolution research
3. Why does the message change when we play the game?When people whisper, they can mishear, forget, or add their own ideas. These small mistakes build up so the final message can be very different from the start.
4. How can the Telephone game help scientists learn about talking?Scientists use the game to study how information gets mixed up when it is told many times. It shows which parts of a story stay the same and which parts change.

Information Degradation: The process where information loses accuracy or detail over successive transmissions.
Schema Theory: A psychological concept where existing mental frameworks influence how new information is processed and understood.
Algorithmic Bias: Systematic and repeatable errors in a computer system that create unfair outcomes, such as favoring one arbitrary group of users over others.