Bartlett’s War of the Ghosts study

• What was the aim of this study?

  To see how memory is reconstructed when recalling an unfamiliar story.
• What is the method of this study?

  The War of the Ghosts story was read by one participant and recalled after 15 minutes, then read by another participant and recalled and so on.
• What were the results of this study?

  Paricipants changed the story to fit cultural expectations, leaving out unfamiliar info.
• What are conclusions of this study?

  We use our knowledge of social situations to reconstruct memory.
• What was a negative evaluation of this study?

  Lacks control, participants were not told accurate recall was important, which could’ve affected results.
• What was another negative evaluation of this study?

  Results were biased, Bartlett analysed the recollections himself so we cannot funny trust the conclusions.