Evaluate schema theory with reference to research studies

Evaluate schema theory with reference to research studies

- What is schema theory - What are schemas - how they develop - Bartlett (Wynn and Logie) - Carmichael et al - Brewer and Treyens - Evaluation

Example - stereotype schema

A stereotype is a schema about a group of people - can lead us to have existing expectations on how someone is likely to behave based on the schema we have for that group

Bartlett

Bartlett was interested in how accurately participants would be able to accurately recall unfamiliar concepts in the Native American folk tale - 'The War of the Ghosts.' Bartlett asked English participants to read 'The War of the Ghosts.' When they were asked to recall the story, it was found that they had transformed certain aspects of the story so that it fitted better with their cultural norms and expectations.

Brewer and Treyens

Individual participants asked to wait in an office. After 35 seconds the experimenter returned and took the participant into another room where, were asked to recall everything in the room they had been waiting in.

Schemas

Networks of knowledge, beliefs and expectations about particular aspects of the world. Used to organise and store memories so we can access them when needed - also so that the world around us makes sense.

Brewer and Treyens - evaluation

Participants recalled items that fitted with an office-like schema accurately (desk and chair) yet it was less common for them to remember the skill or wine bottle because they wouldn't normally fit into your schema of an office. High in ecological validity - task people often come across in everyday life. Low chance of demand characteristics as participants didn't know they were already part of the study and what the study involved - so they weren't acting out of the ordinary

Brewer and Treyens - findings

People had a strong tendency to recall objects consistent with 'office schema.' Nearly everyone remembered the desk and chair. However 8/30 remembered the skull - few remembered wine bottle or coffee pot, 1/30 remembered picnic basket. Some recalled items that had not been there at all - 9 remembered books. People introduce new items consistent with the schema

Carmichael et al evaluation

Provides evidence to support schema theory because the participants drew according to their schemas connected to the descriptions instead of the drawings Lacks ecological validity - artificial test (wouldn't normally do this), in different cultures people may not recognise certain descriptions with their schemas - as they hold different schemas

Bartlett evaluation

Re-told story tended to be around half the story's original length. Information about the ghosts tended to be omitted as it was difficult to explain. Reflected participants' attempts to make the story from their own culture - "not going because he hadn't told his parents where he was going." The more times participants tried to tell the story, the more distorted it became. Shows how a cognitive process, like schemas, are influenced by social and cultural factors as the participants were trying to make the story fit with their past experiences and expectations - to "fill in the gaps". Lack of ecological validity - artificial environment, story has no meaning/participants cannot relate to it

Schema theory evaluation

Reductionist - questionable validity of explaining something so complex as knowledge acquisition storage and recall into such a simple categorical system Brain scanning research - schemas cannot be seen in the brain (suggested that the hippocampus is involved in schematic processing) Schema acquisition - unclear where they are acquired - how does brain know when to start categorising information? Do schemas need to be in place to interpret a situation? Do we develop new schemas as a result of new experience?

Wynn and Logie

Repeated Bartlett study with students' real life event (memories of first week at university) - found that the descriptions were accurate - when asked to recall the information at a later date, it was still accurate

Schema theory

Theory about information processing and memory. It says our memory is reconstructive (we don't store an exact copy of events in our memory) - we retain fragments of memory and use our schemas to 'fill in the gaps' with things that make sense based on expectations and past experiences. Leads us to distort events and remember things that never happened

Carmichael et al

Two different groups of participants were shown the same set of drawings. But the two groups were given a different set of descriptions at the side of each drawing. When participants were asked to recall the drawings at a later time, it was found that the descriptions they had been given had affected their drawings (drawings matched the description rather than the original drawing)

How schemas develop

We are born with few very basic schemas and build on them as soon as we start to experience things. By adulthood, schemas tend to remain unchanged (even when faced with contradictory information). We interpret/distort events so our pre-existing schemas are supported