2.1.2 Schema Theory

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Key Definitions

Encoding: process of memory; transferring information from sensory organs to internal mental structures (like LTM)

Mental representation: reflection of an object or an event in the mind

Retrieval: process of memory; extracting information form the long-term store when it’s needed

Schema: a stable, deeply rooted mental representation that can influence our knowledge, beliefs, and expectations

Scripts: schemas about sequences of actions or events

Essential Understanding

→ What is a schema?

• Cognitive schemas (schemata): mental representations that organize our knowledge, beliefs, and expectations.

  →”mental representation: very broad concept that can be applied to practically everything in the mind

  → deeply rooted mental representations can influence our knowledge, beliefs, and expectations

→ How do schemas influence memory?

• Influence memory in all stages, both encoding and retrieval

  ↳shown in the Bransford and Johnson (1972) study

  ↳shown in the Anderson and Pichert (1978) study

→Types of Schemas

• Social schema: mental representations about people that creates the foundation of stereotypes

• Scripts: mental presentations about sequences of events; enable us to make sense of sequential data

• Self-schemas: mental representations about ourselves

Researches

• Bransford and Johnson (1972)→ schemas influence encoding

↳key: providing a full context prior to unfamiliar text passage leads to better recall of the idea units in the passage

↳ arguably occurs since a schema is made and the new ideas are linked to this schema (makes the encoding more effective)

Aim: investigate the effect of context on comprehension and memory of text passages

Method: experiment; independent measures design

Participants: 50 male and female high school students (volunteered to participate)

Procedure:

↳ participants heard a tape-recorded passage and had to remember as much as they could and write as many details

→ participants were divided into 5 groups:

i. No context: participants heard the passage once

ii. No context: participants heard the passage twice

iii. Context before: participants were given a context picture before hearing the passage

iv. Context after: participants were given a context picture after hearing the passage

v. Partial context: participants were given the context picture, but only contained the main elements mentioned in the passage

Results:

→ passage had 14 idea units in total

Conclusion:

↳ context before was the only one that clearly made a difference in terms of participant’s ability of comprehend the passage and recall it correctly→ can be explained by the schema theory

↳ the full context picture creates a mental representation that influences its way into memory encoding

→ so, idea units met in the passage were connected with the schema

• Anderson and Pichert (1978)→ schema influence retrieval

↳key: a change of perspective when recalling a text passage results in an additional 7.1% information being recalled, supporting the idea that schema influences retrieval of information from memory

Aim: investigate the influence of schema on the retrieval of information from long-term memory

Method: experiment; mixed design

Participants: introductory psychology students who needed to participant to fulfill course requirement

Procedure:

→ participants were assigned a burglar/ homebuyer perspective

→ were then asked to read a text passage about two boys skipping school→ passage has 73 ideas with some more leaning to burglar or the other way around

→ given a filler task and were then asked to write as much as possible

→ after, they were given another filler task and then some had to switch their perspective while some stayed with their perspective

→ Participants had to reproduce the story one more time without reading it

Results:

↳ for the first recall, participants who had burglar perspective recalled more burglar-relevant information (same for those who had the homebuyer perspective with homebuyer-related information)

↳ those who changed their perspective showed an additional 7.1% information when they had to recall important details for the second perspective (Note: they didn’t read the passage a second time, so the additional information was already encoded)

↳ change of perspective influenced retrieval, not encoding

Conclusion

→ Perspective in this situation is a type of schema

→ Supports the idea that schemas influence the process of retrieval of already stored information from memory

• Darley and Gross (1983)→ effect of social schemas

↳key: social schemas influence interpretation of ambiguous social information

Procedure:

→ Two groups of participants watched the same video of a child (girl) taking a test

↳ One group was led to believe that the girl came from a low SES background

↳ Other group believed that the girl had a high SES background (rich family)

→ Participants were then required to rate the academic performance of the girl in the video

Results:

→ showed that the ratings were significantly higher in the group of participants who believed that the child came from a high SES background

Conclusion:

→ concluded that SES-associated schemas influence the way participants perceived and interpreted an ambiguous social situation

• Bower, Black, and Turner (1979)→ Effects of scripts

↳key: generalized mental representations (scripts) underlie our interpretation and memory of sequential events

Procedure:

↳ researchers used short texts describing sequences of actions like visiting the dentist

↳ some steps were missing

Results:

↳ showed that when recalling the texts, participants would fill in the gaps and “remember” actions that were not actually in the text

Ex: they would recall checking in with the receptionist even if this was skipped in the text

Conclusion:

→ shows that participants encoded the text based on an underlying script

Extra PowerPoint Notes

→ There are two ways info is processed

i. Bottom-up: cognitive processes are driven by data

↳one’s perception is based on “pure” and new information

↳not biased by prior knowledge/experiences

ii. Top-down: knowledge or experiences act as filter/lens for how new information is received and processed

↳ These can be seen in the Rat Man of Bugelski and Alampay (1961)

↳ participants saw an ambiguous picture after being exposed to a a series of drawings of either animals (condition 1) or faces (condition 2)

Condition 1: participants were more likely to see a rat

Condition 2: participants were more likely to see a man with glasses

Key: example shows top-down processing as they had implicit expectations which influenced their perception of reality