Session 4: Schema Theory
There are three colour TV sets in the house. One is in the
large master bedroom (which has a three piece bathroom
en suite), one is in the main floor family room, and one is
in Tom's bedroom. The house contains four bedrooms in
all, plus an office, family room, and three washrooms. In
addition to the TV, the family room contains a new stereo
outfit, a microcomputer, a VCR, and a rare coin collection.
The boys enter the master bedroom. Beside the
jewelry case in the closet they find Tom's father's collection
of pornographic video tapes. They select their favourite (an
encounter between a guy and 12 women in a park in
downtown Kitchener) and go to the family room to watch it.

Evaluate schema theory with reference to
research studies.



An organised mental
representation of information
about the world, events or people,
stored in long term memory
“Organised structures of
knowledge and expectations of
some aspect of the world.”
(Bartlett, 1932)
Does not have a physical existence
(but may be related to the
organisation of neurons in the
brain)




Consists of concepts
that are related to each
other
Encodes general
knowledge that can be
applied to many
different situations
Can be hierarchical, i.e.
consist of subschemata/different
levels
Is unprincipled, i.e. can
be organised in infinite
ways




The term schema was first used by Jean Piaget in 1926. (but
there have been many with similar ideas before him)
We try to understand a new or different object or concept by
using one of our pre-existing schemas
During assimilation, we try to fit new objects into existing
schemas (a type of recognition, it provides us with comfort
and security)
During accommodation, we change our schemas to fit the
characteristics of a new object (learning)


Schema theory seeks to explain our interpretation of the world from a
psychological perspective, which stems from cognitive science.
Schemas are derived from prior experience and knowledge. They
simplify reality, setting up expectations about what is probable in
relation to particular social and textual contexts.

Theory can describe how specific knowledge is organised and stored in
memory so it can be accessed and used when needed

Theory suggests what we already know will influence the outcome of
information processing

Idea is based on the assumption that humans are active processors of
information

We don’t passively respond to information, we interpret and integrate it
to make sense of our experiences but we are not always aware of this

They guide our behaviour

They predict likely
happenings



They help us to make
sense of current
experiences
They allow us to form
expectations about
situations, the world and
people
They organise our
knowledge and assist
recall


If information is missing, the brain fills in the
blanks based on existing schemas, or it simply
invents something that seems to fit in
This can result in mistakes referred to as
distortions



Schema theory has been used to explain memory
processes
Cognitive psychologists divide memory into 3 processes
It is now believed schema processing can affect memory
at all three stages
Encoding
•Transforming
sensory
information into a
meaningful
memory
Storage
Retrieval
•Creating a
biological trace of
encoded
information in
memory, which is
either
consolidated or
lost
•Using the stored
information
1.
2.
3.
Create a mind map about a schema of your own
choice.
Procedure schemas are schemas for certain skills
or events. Create a schema for events that
happen when you are visiting a restaurant
A schema about a certain group of people is
called stereotype. What is your stereotype of an
English person?


Lab experiment on schema processing in social
world
Participants shown two videos of two different
girls.
◦ Video 1: a girl playing in a rich environment
◦ Video 2: A girl playing in a poor environment

Then shown a video of the girl in what could be an
intelligence test


When asked to judge the future of the girls all
participants said “rich” girl would be more
successful than “poor” girl
Demonstrates that participants probably used prestored schemas of what it means to be poor and
rich and interpreted the ambiguous information
accordingly to form an overall impression that may
not have been correct
The procedure is actually quite simple. First you arrange items into different
groups. Of course one pile might be sufficient depending on how much
there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities, that
is the next step; otherwise, you are pretty well set. It is important not to
overdo things. That is, it is better to do few things at once than too many. In
the short run this may not seem important but complications can easily
arise. A mistake can be expensive as well. At first the whole procedure will
seem complicated. Soon, however it will become just another facet of life. It
is difficult tot foresee any end to the necessity for this task in the immediate
future, but then, one never can tell. After the procedure is completed one
arranges the materials into different groups again. Then they can be put into
their appropriate places. Eventually they will be used once more and the
whole cycle will then have to be repeated. However, that is part of life.
Rate the comprehensibility of the passage
Recall as much of the passage as you can
Washing Clothes
The procedure is actually quite simple. First you arrange items into different
groups. Of course one pile might be sufficient depending on how much
there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities, that
is the next step; otherwise, you are pretty well set. It is important not to
overdo things. That is, it is better to do few things at once than too many. In
the short run this may not seem important but complications can easily
arise. A mistake can be expensive as well. At first the whole procedure will
seem complicated. Soon, however it will become just another facet of life. It
is difficult tot foresee any end to the necessity for this task in the immediate
future, but then, one never can tell. After the procedure is completed one
arranges the materials into different groups again. Then they can be put into
their appropriate places. Eventually they will be used once more and the
whole cycle will then have to be repeated. However, that is part of life.

Rate the comprehensibility of the passage

Recall as much of the passage as you can



Title
No title
Rated high comprehensibility
Rated lower comprehensibility
Remembered more details
Remembered fewer details
Result was explained through schema theory i.e. being
told the title activates our ‘laundry’ schema
Title helped with both encoding and retrieval stage of
information
Supports idea schemas play role in different processes of
memory
Encoding
•Transforming sensory
information into a
meaningful memory
Storage
Retrieval
•Creating a biological
trace of encoded
information in
memory, which is
either consolidated
or lost
•Using the stored
information




Then read a passage about two boys playing truant
from school...
Asked participants to read a story about two boys
playing truant from school in which a house was
described.
The participants were told to read the story from one of
two perspectives:
 potential home buyer
 burglar
After a delay, participants were asked to recall as much
as they could about the story.
[Coding: Burglar items ; Homebuyer items ]
There are three color TV sets in the house. One is in the large
master bedroom (which has a three piece bathroom en suite), one is
in the main floor family room, and one is in Tom's bedroom. The
house contains four bedrooms in all, plus an office, family room,
and three washrooms. In addition to the TV, the family room
contains a new stereo outfit , a microcomputer, a VCR, and a rare
coin collection.
The boys enter the master bedroom. Beside the jewelry
case in the closet they find Tom's father's collection of
pornographic video tapes. They select their favorite (an encounter
between a guy and 12 women in a park in downtown Kitchener) and
go to the family room to watch it.
•During the first recall session, participants recalled significantly
more information about the house that was relevant to their
perspective
•potential home buyer might remember details about
layout/defects in the house
Identity
Proportion Recalled
•burglars might remember information about the entrances and
exits) than information that was relevant to the other perspective
Items


After first recall session, participants were told to think about
the story again, but this time, from the other perspective
(potential home buyers were now told to be burglars, and vice
versa).
Then, without reading the story again, they were told to recall
as much as they could about the story again.
During this second recall, participants were able to recall
information about the house that was relevant to their new
perspective, but which they had not recalled before.
First identity/second identity
Change in
proportion
recalled

Items
This result shows two things:
1.) The information that was irrelevant to their original
perspective (schema) was actually learnt ( encoded ) and
2.) This information was not accessible unless a relevant
perspective (schema) was activated.
More evidence that schemas influence both encoding and
retrieval
Encoding
•Transforming sensory
information into a
meaningful memory
Storage
Retrieval
•Creating a biological
trace of encoded
information in
memory, which is
either consolidated
or lost
•Using the stored
information



This experiment was conducted in a lab, so ecological
validity may also be an issue here.
However a strength of the experiment was its variable
control. Laboratory experiment enables cause(schema)
effect (encoding/recall of memory) relationship
Mixed design counterbalanced all variables
◦ High degree of control and accounting for order
effects
One night two young men from Egulac went down to the river to hunt seals, and while they
were it became foggy and calm. Then they heard war cries and they thought; 'Maybe this
is a war-party.' They escaped to the shore, and hid behind a log.
Now canoes came up, and they heard the noise of paddles and saw one canoe coming up
to them. There were five men in the canoe and they said; 'What do you think? We wish to
take you along. We are going up the river to make war on the people.'
One of the young men said; 'I have no arrows.'
'Arrows are in the canoe,' they said.
'I will not go along. I might be killed. My relatives do not know where I have gone. But you,'
he said, turning to the other, 'May go with them.'
So one of the young men went, but the other returned home. And the warriors went on up
the river to a town on the other side of Kalama. The people came down to the water and
began to fight, and many were killed. But presently, one of the young men heard one of
the warriors say; 'Quick let us go home. That Indian has been hit.'
Now he thought; 'Oh, they are ghosts.' He did not feel sick, but he had been shot. So the
canoes went back to Egulac, and the young man went back to his house and made a
fire. And he told everybody and said; 'Behold, I accompanied the ghosts, and we went to
fight. Many of our fellows were killed and many of those that attacked us were killed.
They said I was hit, but I did not feel sick.‘
He told it all, and then he 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.
Aim:
To investigate whether people’s memory for a story is
affected by previous knowledge (schemas) and the
extent to which memory is reconstructive
Procedure
 Asked British participants to hear a story and reproduce
it after a short time and then repeatedly over a period of
months or years.
 Story was an unfamiliar Native American legend called
“The War of the Ghosts”




According to Bartlett (1932) your recall will show
a westernised interpretation of this American
Indian folk tale thus illustrating your subjective
memory construction rather than accurate
objective recall of events.
We fit information into our all ready existing
schema.
Our schema are affected by our culture.
How might this idea be applied to eyewitness
testimony of criminal occurrences?
Results





Participants remembered the gist of the story but they
changed unfamiliar elements to make sense of the story
by using terms more familiar to their own cultural
expectations (e.g. seal hunting changed to fishing).
The excuse for not fighting "I have run out of arrows" was
avoided and instead put down to "worried relatives",
because it was more familiar to the participant.
Story remained a coherent whole although it was changed
Story became noticeably shorter for each reconstruction
Indicates that participants were not reading back a copy of
the story but reconstructing it from the main details held
in their memory.


Bartlett concluded that remembering is an
active process. Memories are not copies of
experience but rather ‘reconstructions’ that
rely on schemas.
Our schemas can be affected by our culture
and the world that we live in



Study was performed in a laboratory and can be
criticised for having lack of ecological validity
Wynn & Logie (1998) did a similar study with students
using " real - life" events experienced during their first
week at university at various intervals of time ranging
from 2 weeks to six months.
They found that the initial accuracy of recall was
sustained throughout the time period, suggesting that
schema-induced memory distortions may be less
common in naturalistic conditions than in the
laboratory.


Furthermore Bartlett’s study wasn't a very well controlled study.
Participants did not receive standardised instructions and some of
the memory distortions may be due to the participants’ guessing
(demand characteristics)
Barlett, 1932 " I thought it best, for the purposes of these
experiments, to try to influence the subject's procedure as little as
possible.“



As a result, some distortions observed by Bartlett may have been
due to conscious guessing rather than schema-influenced memory
Gauld and Stephen ( 1967) found that the instructions stressing the
need for accurate recall eliminated almost half the errors usually
obtained.
In spite of its methodological limitations this study is one of the
most important in the study of memory. Study offers support for
schema theory and for reconstructive memory.



Lots of research has provided support for schema
theory
Schema theory has proven extremely useful in
explaining many cognitive processes like perception,
memory and reasoning
Theory can be used to explain the reconstructive nature
of memory, for example in ETW, stereotyping, gender
identity (gender schema) and cultural differences
(cultural schemas)



Cohen (1993) argued that the concept of schema is too
vague to be useful and it is not clear how schemas are
acquired in the first place or where they are stored etc.
Schemas are an internal construct and are therefore
untestable
Schema theory may focus too much on the inaccuracy of
memory but most of the time people remember
accurately
Nevertheless, there is enough research to suggest
schemas do affect memory processes knowledge, both
in a positive and negative sense.
They do simplify reality, and help us to make sense of
current experiences. Schemas are useful concepts in
helping us understand how we organize our knowledge.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Who first coined the term schema?
In your own words, define schema.
How do our schemas help us?
What is meant by the term ‘cognitive distortion’?
Briefly describe the three stages of memory.
How does Darley and Gross’ study demonstrate that schemas can
influence our expectations based on what we already know?
7. In the Bransford and Johnson study, what two differences occurred when
a title was added to the passage?
8. In the Anderson and Pichert study, when asked to change their
perspective, participants were able to recall additional items from the
house without reading the passage again. What does this suggest about
schemas?
9. What experimental design did Anderson and Pichert use? Why can this be
considered a strength?
10.How does Bartlett’s War of the Ghost’s study indicate that cultural
schemas influence our memory?
11.What did Wynn and Logie find? What does this suggest about Bartlett’s
study?
12.What was Cohen’s criticism of schema theory?