processing speeds or schemas (reconstructive memory)

• processing speed - the speed at which we can process info differs between individuals. this is dependent on their STM capacity. it is affected by age too. younger children have a shorter digit span that older children, suggesting memory capacity increases with age.
• schemas - bartlett suggests that we all have relatively similar schemas, but that they are influenced by our individual experiences. this means that where one person may perceive an object that looks like a pen to be a pen, a child before they learn to write may for example perceive it as an arrow to throw or a drumstick to hit things with. this will in turn affect how the object is remembered, therefore leading to differences in memory between people.
• Bartlett's war of the ghosts study showed that experiences and culture influence their schema, which then affect the way that memories are encoded and retrieved. e.g., British participants transformed the word "canoe" in the native American folk tale to "boat" and "seal hunting" to "fishing". demonstrating memory of the story was affected and changed by the British schema.