Evaluation

• The theory is reductionist


  it focuses on how we create schemas and reconstruct our memories but fails to explain how these processes actually happen in the brain.
• The theory doesn’t actually explain how memories are processed


  Bartlett describes memory as being an active process but doesn’t offer an explanation for how this actually happens.
• Critics have said that the concept of schema is too vague and hypothetical to be useful


  schema cannot be observed. Scans can only show brain activity, not exactly what an individual is processing.
• The research evidence Bartlett used to support his theory was not conducted in a systematic way, so many extraneous variables could have affected the results


  Bartlett used his war of the Ghosts research as evidence to support his theory. He did not use standardised instructions and his research was not tightly controlled which could have affected how the participants responded. It might be that the errors and omissions they made were due to demand characteristics and therefore the research does not offer valid support for theory.
• The Reconstructive model of memory is very complicated


  it makes it very hard to determine which aspects of memory will be recalled and which won’t. This makes it very hard to test and therefore it is difficult to predict how people will recall information.