3.2 Evaluate Schema Theory

Ways in which schemas affect memory

-People tend to remember the gist not the wording -People use stored knowledge to make sense of incoming information. If info is incomplete the schemas fill in the blanks -People tend to ignore information that is not with in their schemas -People focus what is inline with their schemas

Evaluation of schema theory

-Useful for understanding how people categorize information, interpret stories and make inference among other things. -Also contributed to an understanding of memory distortions as well as social cognition. Social psychologists often refer to 'social schemas' when they are trying to explain stereotyping and prejudice. -Limitations are it is not entirely clear how schemas are acquired in the first place and how they actually influence cognitive processes. -Cohen (1993) criticized schema theory that concept of schemas are too vague to be useful. -However many researchers use schema theory to explain cognitive processing

Anderson and Pichert (1978)

Aim: Investigate if schema processing influences both encoding and retrieval Procedure: Participants were to hear a story about two boys who decided to stay away from school one day, instead they went to the home of one of them because the house was always empty on Thursdays. The house was described as being isolated and located in an attractive neighbourhood, but also having a leaky roof and a damp basement. The story also mentioned various objects in the house like 10-speed bike, color TV and a rare coin collection. Participants heard a story that was based on 72 points. These had previously been rated by a group of people for their importance to either a potential house-buyer (e.g. leaking roof, attractive grounds) or a burglar (e.g. coin collection, nobody home on Thursdays). Half of the participants were asked to read the story from the point of view of a house-buyer (the buyer schema) and half from point of view of burglar schema). Once participants had 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. Half of the participants were given a different schema, so that those who used burglar schema in first trial were switched to buyer schema vice versa. Other half of participants were asked to retain original schema and their recall was tested again. Results: Participants in changed schema group recalled 7% more points on second recall test compared to first trial. Recall of points that were directly linked to new schema increased by 10%, whereas recall of points that were important to previous schema declined. The group which continued with first schema actually remember fewer ideas at second trial. What this means: Schema processing must have some effect at retrieval as well as encoding, as new schema could only have influenced recall at retrieval stage. People also encoded information irrelevant to their prevailing schema since those who had buyer schema at encoding were able to recall burglar information when schema was changed and vice versa.

Bartlett: "War of the Ghosts" (1932)

Aim: Prove that memory is reconstructive and schemas influence recall. Demonstrate role of culture in schema processing. Procedure: Bartlett used a Native American legend called 'the War of the Ghosts' and asked participants to read through story twice. After 15 minutes, Bartlett asked participants to reproduce story from memory. He asked them to reproduce the story a couple times more and he noticed each participant's memory of an experience changed with each reproduction. Results: The participants remembered the gist of the story, but they described unfamiliar aspects in terms of their own cultural experiences. Memories are not copies of experience but rather "reconstructions".

Assimilation

Assimilation occurs when a someone perceives new objects or events in terms of existing schemas or operations.

Barlett Acronym: BAEPP -Bartlett Always Eats Pepperoni Pizza

B: Bartlett (1932) A: Actions (schemas guide the actions) E: Experience (knowledge is gained from) P: Predictions (schemas help us make them about the world) P: Process Information (schemas help you do this)

How do we form schemas?

Childhood experience Repetitive exposure/reinforcement Quick working memory

Accommodation

Existing schemas or operations must be modified or new schemas are created to account for a new experience

How schema theory relates to the principles

Humans are information processes and mental processes guide behavior: In schema theory, we acquire knowledge from the external environment and process this information in our minds. This allows us to decide how to behave when a similar situation arises. Cognitive processes are affected and influenced by social and cultural factors: We use the basis of schemas we have now to know how to behave but it is based from our own experiences and culture. If we were to be exposed to an entirely different culture, we can only add on to our schema.

Darley and Gross (1983)

Lab experience on schema processing. Participants saw two videos of a girl. One video was a girl in a poor environment, the other a girl in a rich environment. Participants said the "rich" girl would be more successful in life than the "poor" girl. Results: Participants uses pre-stored schemas of the poor and rich, and their ability for success.

Benefits of schema

Process information faster Understand new information without remembering precise details More predictable

Darley and Gross: RAP: Rich And Poor

R: Rich environment girls were thought to have a brighter future A: Assimilate this new information into their schemas P: Pre-stored schema's acted as judgements

DiMaggio's Schema Theory (1997)

Schemas : 1) are representations of knowledge 2) are mechanisms that simplify cognition in the form of "cognitive shortcuts" 3) can be shaped by culture 4) Gender schemas are examples of cognitive schemas shaped by ideas of what is appropriate for men and women

Bartlett's Schema Theory (1932)

Schemas are mental representations created over time from the knowledge gained from our experience. This helps us to organize information about the world, objects, people to predict and process information. They guide actions and makes predictions about the world around us.