tulvings LTM theory - cognitive

• who suggested the reconstructive memory theory

  Bartlett
• what did Bartlett suggest memory was not

  a complete accurate recording of what happens in life
• how did Bartlett suggest memory was formed instead

  through past experiences
• what did Bartlett say we have already

  schemata - information we have already learned
• what did Bartlett say remembering is using

  using what was seen and heard and filtering it through past experiences - reconstructing it
• what is a schema

  . a mental structure in memory

  . a 'package' containing all our stored knowledge of aspects of the world, built up through past experiences
• what do schemas allow us to do

  process information about a situation or event more efficiently by making guesses based on our previous knowledge and experiences on what the situation might be like
• what else are schemas used in

  recognition and interpretation of unfamiliar objects and events
• how can schemas be changed

  by new knowledge and experiences
• what three parts of reconstructive memory are there

  1 - perception

  2 - imaging

  3 - remembering
• what is perception


  how we see/perceive something

  . it is a precursor to what is remembered
• what does perception do

  influences our image of things
• why is our perception of things different in each person

  how we perceive things is based on individual differences
• what three things is our perception often changed by or made from

  1 - our past experiences

  2 - the knowledge we have learned

  3 - the attitudes and beliefs we posses
• what test did Bartlett do to show perception


  the line drawing test
• what happened in the line drawing test

  . participants shown line drawings

  . found they gave each one a name of an object/ labelled them

  . when asked to draw them later the drawings looked more like the labels the participants gave them than what the drawings originally were supposed to be
• what did this show

  the participants perception of what they saw in the image influenced what they recalled - reconstruction
• what did Bartlett use tests on imaging for


  to understand what is remembered
• what experiment did Bartlett do for imaging

  ink blot test
• what is the ink blot test

  . participants given an ink blot image

  . had to describe what they saw in the pattern

  . participants used their stored images to find one that best fit the ink blot pattern
• what did the ink blot test show

  our response of images depend heavily on our own experiences and interests as well as mood
• what effort after meaning

  time and effort spent trying to connect stimulus given with knowledge or experience possessed
• what did the inkblot test show about memory

  it is actively constructed based on prior knowledge
• what is the remembering part of reconstruction

  how memory is prone to distortion, rationalisation, transformation, and simplification
• what test did Bartlett do to show remembering

  the war of the ghosts study
• war of the ghosts test procedure

  . each participant read the story twice

  . repeated reproduction was used to test effect of time laps on recall

  . participants then asked to recall it after several minutes, weeks, months, and even years
• what were the findings of the war of the ghosts test

  . participants shortened it

  . phrases used reflected more modern concepts

  . became more coherent in form than originally written

  parts of story was changed to fit the story better eg canoe changed to boat, hunting seals became fishing
• conclusion of Bartletts study (3)

  . memory is reconstructed each time it is recalled

  . it is rarely accurate

  . prone to distortion, rationalisation, transformation, and simplification