Explain Schema Theory

Introduction

chema theory suggests that we hold cognitive schemas (mental representations of one’s beliefs, knowledge, and expectations) in our mind when recalling things from memory or making decisions. These schemas can influence our judgement or perception of a given situation, and are often formed from past experiences.

Introduction to subtopic

Cultural schemas, mental representations of cultural knowledge, can lead to memories being reconstructed, as unfamiliar information is reshaped in order to align with their cultural expectations and prior knowledge. For instance, a Western idea of a wedding involves a white dress and exchanging rings, this is an example of a cultural schema. Bartlett’s experiment demonstrates the impact of cultural schemas on unfamiliar information and how the information is reconstructed to fit their existing cultural schemas.

Bartlett (1932) - Aim

The aim of this study was to investigate whether schemas and previous knowledge would lead to distortion of memory and therefore affect the accuracy of memory recall.

Bartlett (1932) - Method

All participants had a Western socio-cultural background and were read a story based on a Native American legend “The War of the Ghosts”. The story included a range of unfamiliar names and concepts, and the manner in which the story developed was foreign to them.

Bartlett (1932) - Conditions

Bartlett allocated the participants to one of two conditions: one group was asked to use repeated reproduction, where participants heard the story and were told to reproduce it after a short time and then to do so again repeatedly over a period of days, weeks, months or years. The second group was told to use serial reproduction, in which they had to recall the story and repeat it to another person.

Bartlett (1932) - Results

Participants had changed the language to fit their western cultural schemas through assimilation, such as changing the word “canoes” to “boats”. The story was also made shorter when recalled since participants left out parts of the story that were less significant. The participants overall remembered the main themes in the story but changed the unfamiliar elements to match their own cultural expectations so that the story remained a coherent whole although changed.

Conclusion

Therefore, this study demonstrates how cultural schemas can affect unfamiliar information. It supports the schema theory’s idea that schemas can influence thinking and skew away from the actual truth.