schema theory

Schema are mental representations that are derived from previous experience or knowledge, schemas help us predict what to expect based on what has happened before

They are used to organise our knowledge, assist recall, guide our behaviour and help us make sense of current experiences.

British psychologist Frederick Bartlett was a pioneer in developing schemas theory, Bartlett was one of the first to suggest cognitive schemas can be seen as specific knowledge organised and stored in memory that can be assessed and used when needed.

Evaluation of schema theory:

Testable: it’s seen in studies by Bartlett and by brewer and treyens.

Empirical evidence: there is also biological research to support the way in which the brain categorises input.

Applications: schema theory has been applied to help us understand how memory works, it also helps us understand memory distortion. Schema theory has been also applied to abnormal psychology relationships and health psychology. It is a robust theory that has many applications across many fields of psychology.

Unbiased : the theory is applied across cultures, there is no apparent bias in the research , although most research was done in the west.

Predictive validity: helps predict behaviour, for example what types of info will be recalled in a list of words.