Storage of Semantic Information
•Connectionist approach (Collins & Quillian, 1969)
-operational version of Bower’s (1967) Multiple Trace Theory
emphasising a network of associations
Storage of Episodic Information
•Schema Theory (Shank, 1975)
- embodies Bartlett’s (1932) notion of effort after meaning
and emphasises the role of past experience and
expectation.
examples
Schema Theory
What is a Schema?
“A mental model or representation built up through
experience about a person, an object, a situation, or
an event.” (Head, 1920)
“Organised structures that capture knowledge
and expectations of some aspect of the world.”
(Bartlett, 1932)
Excerpt from ‘War of the Ghosts’ (Bartlett, 1932)
• … and the young man went ashore to his house and made a fire.
• And he told everybody and said, “Behold, I accompanied the ghosts, and
we went to a fight.
• Many of our fellows were killed,
• And many of those who attacked us were killed.
• And they said I was hit
• And I did not feel sick.”
• He told it all,
• And they be became quiet.
• When the sun rose, he fell down.
• Something black came out of his mouth.
• His face became contorted.
• The people jumped up and cried.
• He was dead.
Excerpt from ‘War of the Ghosts’ (Bartlett, 1932)
• … and the young man went ashore to his house and made a fire.
• And he told everybody and said, “Behold, I accompanied the ghosts, and
we went to a fight.
• Many of our fellows were killed,
• And many of those who attacked us were killed.
• And they said I was hit
• And I did not feel sick.”
• He told it all,
• And they be became quiet.
• When the sun rose, he fell down.
• Something black came out of his mouth.
• His face became contorted.
• The people jumped up and cried.
• He was dead.
Excerpt from ‘War of the Ghosts’ (Bartlett, 1932)
• … and the young man went ashore to his house and made a fire.
• And he told everybody and said, “Behold, I accompanied the ghosts, and
we went to a fight.
• Many of our fellows were killed,
• And many of those who attacked us were killed.
• And they said I was hit
• And I did not feel sick.”
• He told it all,
• And they be became quiet.
• When the sun rose, he fell down.
• Something black came out of his mouth.
• His face became contorted.
• The people jumped up and cried.
• He was dead.
Excerpt from ‘War of the Ghosts’ (Bartlett, 1932)
• … and the young man went ashore to his house and made a fire.
• And he told everybody and said, “Behold, I accompanied the ghosts, and
we went to a fight.
• Many of our fellows were killed,
• And many of those who attacked us were killed.
• And they said I was hit
• And I did not feel sick.”
• He told it all,
• And they be became quiet.
• When the sun rose, he fell down.
• Something black came out of his mouth.
• His face became contorted.
• The people jumped up and cried.
• He was dead.
Excerpt from ‘War of the Ghosts’ (Bartlett, 1932)
• … and the young man went ashore to his house and made a fire.
• And he told everybody and said, “Behold, I accompanied the ghosts, and
we went to a fight.
• Many of our fellows were killed,
• And many of those who attacked us were killed.
• And they said I was hit
• And I did not feel sick.”
• He told it all,
• And they be became quiet.
• When the sun rose, he fell down.
• Something black came out of his mouth.
• His face became contorted.
• The people jumped up and cried.
• He was dead.
The Structure of Schemata
• Core Variables
- Things that define the event
• Other Variables
event
- Things that can vary from one experience of the
to another
• Sequence and Slots
• Default Variables
- Based on prior experience and expectations.
stories
The Importance of SchemaActivation
Topic
Topic After
No Topic
Before
Passage
Passage
Comp
(/ 7)
Recall
(/ 18)
2.29
2.12
4.50
2.82
2.65
5.83
Bransford & Johnson (1972) Expt 2: Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal
Behaviour, 11, 717-726.
stories
Advantages of the Schema
• Guides attention, selection, encoding and
retrieval of information
• Helps integrate current information with past
information
• Helps interpret and understand event through
insertion of default variables
• Helps retrieval by recall being schema-driven.
errors
Limitations of the Schema Model
• Definition of Schema
-How can a schema be defined without circularity of
argument?
• Schema Selection and Retrieval
-How is the most appropriate schema selected and retrieved?
Have we not merely re-stated the question of how LTM is
organised and recalled?
•Contrary Evidence
- How can we explain the instances of vivid recall of schemainconsistent details or events?