Schema Theory

Purpose of a Schema

Organizes our knowledge Assists in recalling information Simplify our reality Allows predictions to be made Create expectations for what is probable or could happen in a chosen context/situation

Limitations of Schema Theory

1) Cohen argues that the theory is underdeveloped and that how schemas are first developed is not sufficiently explained 2) Cohen argues that the concept of schemas is too vague to be useful in understanding how knowledge is organized 3) The theory overemphasizes fallibility of memory

Strengths of Schema Theory

1) Useful for explaining a range of cognitive processes such as perception and memory 2) Schema theory supports the belief that memory is reconstructive in nature and provides an explanation for why our memories are subjective (social schemas & stereotyping)

Schemas Definition

A cognitive structure that is a collection of basic knowledge about a concept or entity and serves as a guide to perception, interpretation, imagination or problem solving. Schemas are created from past experience or knowledge

Bartlett (1932): Method

Bartlett asked the participants, who were British, to listen to a story and produce it after a short time, and then repeatedly over a period of months or years (serial reproduction). The story given was an unfamiliar Native American legend called "The War of the Ghosts"

Bartlett (1932): Conclusion

Bartlett concludes that remembering is an active process and that memories are not copies of experience but are "reconstructions"

Bartlett (1932): Evaluation

Methodological - Results of the study confirm schema theory (and reconstructive memory). However, the study was performed in a lab and is subject to criticism for lack of ecological validity. Furthermore, participants didn't receive standardized instructions. Some of the memory distortions may be due to participant's guesses, showing demand characteristics.

Anderson & Pichert (1978): Evaluation

Methodological:The experiment was highly controlled and conducted in a laboratory environment therefore ecological validity may be low. However, the strength of this experiment is the variable control, which enabled the researchers to establish a cause-and-effect relationship on how schemas affect different memory processes.

Accommodation

Modification of existing mental patterns to fit new demands or collected information. The mental schemes changes to accommodate new information or experiences o E.g. the child's mum tells that dolphins are different from fish being that they have warm blood and don't have scales etc. The child makes changes to current ideas to allow for new information.

Anderson & Pichert (1978): Results

Participants in the changed schema group recalled 7% more points on the second recall test compared to the first trial. Recall of points that were directly linked to the new schema increased by 10%, whereas recall of points that were important to the previous schema declined. The group which continued with the first schema actually remembered fewer ideas at the second trial.

Bartlett (1932): Results

Participants remembered the main idea of the story (the gist) but they changed unfamiliar elements to make sense of the story by using terms more familiar to their own cultural expectations. The story remained a coherent whole even thought it was changed. After each reproduction, the story became noticeably shorter.

Amending Schemas

Piaget (a developmental psychologist, focusing on cognition) explained that our intellect develop through amending schemas in one of the following ways; assimilation and accommodation.

Anderson & Pichert (1978): Method

Participants were given one schema at the encoding stage and another at the retrieval stage to see if they were influenced by the last schema (most recent) when they had to recall information. Content of the story: 2 boys decided to stay away from school one day and instead went to the home of one of them because the house was always empty on Thursdays. The story included various objects in the house such as 10-speed bike, a color TV and a rare coin collection. The house was described as: - Isolated and located in an attractive neighborhood - The house also has a leaky roof and a damp basement Participants heard a story that was based on 72 key information points that had previously been rated by a group of people with different importance, who is either: - A potential house-buyer (e.g. leaking roof, attractive grounds) - A burglar (e.g. coin collection, nobody homes on Thursdays) 1/2 participants asked to read story from a house buyer's perspective (buyer schema) 1/2 participants read story from a burglar's point-of-view (burglar schema) After participants read the story, they performed a distracting task for 12 minutes before their recall was tested. Then there was another 5-minute delay in the experiment. 1/2 of the participants were given a different schema so that those who used burglar schema in trial 1 switched to buyer schema and vice versa. Other half o the participants asked to retain their original schema and recall was tested again.

Schema Theory (Rumbelhart & Norman, 1983)

Represents both and all types of simple and complex knowledge; such as semantic and procedural (steps to do something). Schemas can be linked together to form larger systems of related schemas or smaller systems of sub-schemas. A schema can be seen as a type of framework with 'slots' for 'variables'; which some are filled and some are empty. The slots are: o Either filled in already with fixed/compulsory values that don't change For example, a dog is an animal o 'Default values' which are probable or typical in nature For example, dogs are an animal o Optional/empty variables until received with values from the current situation For example, the dog's color is white Content is acquired through generalized personal experience(s) or taught belief(s) and stereotype(s) of a group or society All schemas constantly try to make sense of new information by making the best fit with it; operating as active recognition devices.

Anderson & Pichert (1978): Conclusion

Results indicate that schema processing must have some effect at encoding and retrieval stages because the new schema could only have influenced recall at the retrieval stage. The researched also showed that people encoded information which was irrelevant to their prevailing schema, since those who had the buyer schema at encoding were able to recall burglar information when the schema was changed and vice versa.

Study #1: Anderson & Pichert (1978): Aim

To investigate if schema processing influences encoding and retrieval

Study #2: Bartlett (1932): Aim

To investigate whether people's memory for a story is affected by previous knowledge (schemas) and the extent in which memory is reconstructive

Assimilation

Use of existing mental patterns in new situations o E.g. a child sees a dolphin and calls it a fish