Schema Theory: SAQ_Bartlett

3.4. Bartlett (1932): Participants

20 British students

Evaluation: Strengths

Confirms the schema theory Shows how schemas can lead to distorted or false memories Supports the reconstructive explanations of memory that say memory is altered to fit in with individuals rather than a recording of events Laboratory Experiment: Has high ecological validity

2. Study that will support the theory:

Bartlett 1932 Breyer & Trens 1981 Bransford & Johnson 1972

3. 8. Results

Bartlett found that there was no significant difference between the way that the groups recalled the story. Bartlett found that participants in both conditions changed the story as they tried to remember it - a process called distortion. Bartlett found that there were three patterns of distortion that took place. 1. Assimilation: The story became more consistent with the participants' own cultural expectations - that is, details were unconsciously changed to fit the norms of British culture (canoes = boats, hunting seals = fishing). 2. Leveling: The story also became shorter (330 words to 180) with each retelling as participants omitted information which was seen as not important. 3. Sharpening: Participants also tended to change the order of the story in order to make sense of it using terms more familiar to the culture of the participants (ghosts = fight between tribes). They also added detail and/or emotions. The participants overall remembered the main themes in the story but changed the unfamiliar elements to match their own cultural expectations so that the story remained a coherent whole although changed.

4. Conclusion

Bartlett's study indicates that remembering is not a passive but rather an active process, where information is retrieved and changed to fit into existing schemas. This is done in order to create meaning in the incoming information. According to Bartlett, humans constantly search for meaning.

Study Evaluations

Bartlett's theory of reconstructive memory has several applications and explains many real-life situations. Thus, in spite of the fact it was carried out in a laboratory, it has high ecological validity. The methodology was not rigorously controlled. Participants did not receive standardized instructions. There was no standardized time after which participants had to recall the story. He also did not tell his participants to be as accurate as possible. Although there were two conditions, there was no difference in the performance of the two groups - in other words, the IV did not affect the DV. However, it appears that culture did affect how they recalled the story. But if we focus on how cultural schema affect the participants' memories, there are several limitations. When we consider culture the IV, then the study is quasi-experimental - that is, no independent variable was manipulated. Therefore, a cause and effect relationship cannot be established. Secondly, there was no control group. There was no group of Native Americans recalling the story to verify that, in fact, this distortion doesn't happen to people in that cultural group.

1. Introduction

Define schema: A mental representation based on prior experience that helps us to understand, communicate about, and predict the world around us. Purpose: Schema theory is based on the idea that we are active processors of information and that our behaviour and cognitive processes can be influenced by our schema. Schema theory predicts that what we already know will influence the outcome of information processing. How are schemas formed: According to Piaget, schema play a role in learning by either accommodating information - in which old information is replaced with new information - or by assimilation, in which schema are made richer by adding more information to an existing schema. Schemas can affect behaviour in a variety of ways - one of which is the distortion of memories.

Types of ERQ questions on schema theory:

Evaluate schema theory with reference to research studies.

Types of SAQ questions on schema theory:

Explain schema theory with reference to one research study.​ Describe one research study related to cognitive schemas.​

What is the SAQ on schema theory asking you to do?

Explain what is meant by schema theory. Describe the aim, procedure and findings of one study related to schema theory. Link the study back to schema theory.

3.7. Bartlett (1932): DV

How accurate and detailed the participants were able to recall the story.

3.2. Bartlett (1932): Hypothesis

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

3. 9. Conclusion

Participants found it difficult to remember the "War of the Ghosts" because the story does not fit any of our cultural schemas. It is neither a typical horror story or war story, and hence it is difficult to relate to our existing knowledge of the world​ Cultural schemas can lead to memory distortions, as we try to "fit" the new information to our existing schemas​.

3.3. Bartlett (1932): Method

Quasi experiment in lab - cultural background (pre-existing)​ Participants are randomly chosen​ Independent sample procedure with no control group

Evaluation: Limitations

Quasi-experiment: No IV was manipulated → no difference in performance ≠ causation Lack of a Control Group: There were no Native Americans to compare their groups with Demand Characteristics: Some memory distortions may be due to participants' guessing No Rigorous Control: Psychological research was not developed at this time → no specific & standardised instructions & did not emphasise the need of accuracy Distortions observed may have been due to conscious guessing rather than schema-influenced memory

3. 1. Bartlett (1932): Aim

The aim of the study was to investigate how the memory of a story is affected by previous knowledge. He wanted to see if cultural background and unfamiliarity with a text would lead to distortion of memory when the story was recalled.

3.6. Bartlett (1932): IV

The amount of time the participants were given to recall the story. This could vary from days, weeks, months and years. ​

3.5. Bartlett (1932): Procedure

They were asked to read an unfamiliar Native American folktale called "The War of The Ghosts" twice. They were split into two groups: 1. Repeated Reproduction: They were asked to reproduce it from memory after some time, as we'll as after a few hours, days, weeks or even years 2. Serial Reproduction: They were asked to recall the story and repeat it to another person