Transcript 3.2 Evaluate Schema Theory

3.2 Evaluate Schema Theory
A mental representation of
knowledge stored in the brain
Thursday, Oct 25
 War of the Ghosts
 Read the story.
Bartlett, 1932 “The War of the
Ghosts”
 He suggests that schemas are active recognition devices
representing an effort after meaning.
 They help people make sense of the world, make predictions
about it and what to expect and provide guidance on how to
behave
 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 subjects to hear a story and
reproduce it after a short time and then over months or
years. It was an unfamiliar Native American legend called
“The War of the Ghosts.”
 Results – Participants remembered the main idea of the story
but changed details that fit in with their cultural expectations
Story became shorter. Remembering is an active process.
Memories are not copies but reconstructions
Summarize the story with as much
detail as you can!
Compare yours with the original
 Evaluation
 Confirms schema theory and reconstructive memory
 Performed in a laboratory so questions about ecological validity
 Participants did not receive standardized instructions.
 Memory distortions may be due to participants guessing
(demand characteristics)
 One of the most important studies on memory
How does schema work?
 It influences how organize, store and retrieve information
 There are different types of schema
 Self schema – individual’s cognitive framework for knowledge about
him/herself
 Event schema –What is expected to happen in a given setting
 Role schema- organized sets of expectations about how people are supposed
to act in a given situation
 Motor schema – mental organization of information providing instructions
for acting
 An experiment on place schema
Brewer and Treyens (1981)
 Aim – to investigate whether people’s memory for objects in
a room is influenced by existing schemas about what to
expect in an office.
 Procedure – 30 university students “visit” a room that has
been preinventoried with items usual for that room and
others that are not. After waiting for some time, they were
asked to write down everything they could remember from
the room.
 Results – most reported schematic objects
 Some reported things that would be expected, but were not
present
 Many recalled unexpected objects, but very unusual objects
resulted in better recall
Evaluation:
 The study confirms schema theory (and reconstructive
memory), but controlled lab experiment so questions of
ecological validity
 Study used deception but they were debriefed afterwards and
not harmed.
 There is sample bias University students were used so it may
be difficult to generalize the results.
So How did our Schema Experiment
Standard
Mean
Valid N
Compare?
Deviation
*Stapler
+1.70
Scotch tape dispenser +2.70
1.30
0.61
5
25
television
Lcd projector
sink
*microwave
computer
*telephone
*Anti-bullying poster
+2.8
+3.1
-2.60
-2.50
+2.50
+1.75
+.60
1.25
3.0
0.61
2.00
0.50
2.10
2.75
24
23
24
23
24
24
23
Pencil mug
papercutter
scissors
*Dead cockroach
-2.20
0.5
24
ntory Schema results * = not present
 This table represents means, standard deviations, and valid N (some
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participants forms were incomplete) for a random sampling of 25 students.
Of the 18 items listed on the experimental sheet, 6 items were actually
present in the office and 8 of the items were not. The list included some
common items and not common work room items such as the wall clock
and the dead cockroach. The items ranged from a high positive confidence
rating of +2.71for the scotch tape dispenser (which wasn’t there!) and a
low of -2.21 for the dead cockroach which wasn’t there.
It is clear that participants expected to see certain items, such as a scotch
tape dispenser, a smart board, and a wall clock. Or maybe those items were
most obvious! This shows that our prior expectations can influence what
we think we see and experience.
Likewise, items that are not typically found in a classroom are not likely to
be identified were not listed (cockroach)
The standard deviation with the lowest numbers show the most confidence
the majority of the class had. The larger numbers show the greater
discrepancy
Write about a time in your life when expectations have influenced the way
you viewed some event.