Schema Theory (Bartlett 1932 Study)

Bartlett (1932) (Schema Theory) Hypothesis

Memory is reconstructive and people store and retrieve information according to expectations formed by cultural schemas

What did Bergman and Roedeger (1999) do with a replicated study?

- Independent variable = amount of delay before retelling the story - Found: 15 minute delay in first retelling of story = higher rate of distortion than if story was retold immediately. - Suggests: retelling immediately = highly accurate and less distortion over time.

Why was the Bartlett's study criticised?

- Research procedures not specific enough, making it difficult to replicate his findings - Not standardise intervals at which participants reproduced material they learned - No significant independent variable was manipulated with other constant factors to observe systematic effect on some dependent variable. - Not scientific enough in a modern sense

Bartlett (1932) Schema Theory - Experiment/method

- Told British participants a Native American legend "The War of the Ghosts". Story = unfamiliar concepts, names and style

Bartlett (1932) (Schema Theory) What happened to the retelling of the story?

. - Over time story became shorter; after 6 or 7 retellings, reduced to 180 words. - Story became more conventional- retained only the details that could be assimilated to social and cultural background of participants. ("hunting seals" becomes "fishing" and "canoe" became "boat")

Bartlett (1932) (Schema Theory) 3 patterns of distortion

1. Story became more consistent with participants' own cultural expectations (details were unconsciously changed to fit British culture norms) 2. The story became shorter with each retelling as participants omitted "unimportant" information 3. Tended to change order of story n order to make sense of it using terms more familiar to culture of participants + added emotions or detail. Overall: remembered main themes but changed unfamiliar elements to match own cultural expectations so story remained a coherent whole even though it was changed

Why is Bartlett still important?

His research was one of the first to investigate mental processes when psychological science insisted on only studying directly observable behaviours

Bartlett (1932) (Schema Theory) Aim

Investigate how memory of a story is affected by previous knowledge - Does cultural background and unfamiliarity with a text lead to distortion of memory when story is recalled?

Bartlett (1932) (Schema Theory) What was difference between recalling in groups?

No significant difference between the way groups recalled the story

Bartlett (1932) Schema Theory - conditions of experiment

group 1: repeated reproduction- participants heard story and were told to reproduce it after short time, repeatedly over period of days, weeks, months or years. group 2: use serial reproduction where they had to recall story and repeat it to another person