Schemas and Reconstructive Memory

• What is a schema?

  A schema is a cognitive framework or mental structure that helps organize and interpret information.
• Babies are born with simple motor schemas (grasping/sucking)
• What are schemas based on?

  Past experiences and also on shared cultural experiences
• Why are schemas useful?

  Helps us to take shortucts in thinking
• Why are shortcuts important in thinking?

  Helps us process things more quickly and avoid being overwhelmed by environmental stimuli
• Why can schemas be bad?

  Can distort our interpretations of stimuli and lead to faulty conculsions
• What is one way psychologists test memory and recall of information?

  Serial reproduction
• What is serial reproduction?

  A task where a piece of information is passed from one participant to the next in a chain or series
• How can serial reproduction be useful to psychologists?

  Differences between each version can be measured
• What method did Bartlett use?

  Serial reproduction
• What did Bartlett believe about memory?

  We change our memories to fit in with what we already know, even though we think we are remembering exactly what happended
• We store fragments of information. When we recall something, we reconstruct these fragments into a meaningful whole.
• What are the three ways schemas can reconstruct memories?

  • Shortening
  • Rationalisation
  • Confabulation
• What is shortening?

  Parts of a memory that don't fit with your schema are left out so what you remember is shorter
• What is rationalisation?

  Parts of a memory are recalled but in a distorted way thats fits your schema. So your memory of an event changed because it didn't match relevant schema
• What is confabulation?

  Parts of a memory are invented to fill in gaps. It is guided by your schema to make better sense of the memory
• What is one strength of reconstructive memory?

  One strength is that there is evidence for reconstrucive memory from Bartlett's research
• What is one weakness of reconstructive memory?

  One weakness of reconstructive memory is that not all memories are affected by schema
• Why might not all memories be affected by schemas?

  Situations that are personally important or unique. In Bartlett's study, participants often recalled the phrase "Something black came out of his mouth", because it was quite unusual.
• Other stories were also used and showed similar results.​
• What are the strengths of the Bartlett study on reconstructive memory?

  • The serial reproduction tasks were done many times to show that the changes to the story followed the same patterns
  • Other stories were also used and showed similar results
• What are the weaknesses of Bartlett's study on reconstructive memory?

  • The story was unusual so the study doesn't tell us about natural memory
  • Bartlett's study lacked control. There was a lack of standardised instructions
• What is one strength of reconstructive memory?

  Is that reconstructive memory can help explain problems with eyewitness testimony