Schema Theory

A schema describes an organized pattern of thought or behavior. Scripts are schemas which earmark information close a sequence of events. Self-schemas organize information we withdraw about ourselves, such as our strengths and weaknesses. The last is the social schema, which represents information about groups of people, and this is how stereotypes are also developed. Bartlett (1932) wanted to look at the launch that schemas have on retrospect. He had his participants read The War of the Ghosts. the 1st participant read the original fabrication, and then wrote it on paper.Then a 2nd participant, reads whats been written by the 1st participant. Then the 2nd reproduces it on paper for the tertiary participant and so on. In repeated reproduction, the same participant reproduces the story 6 or 7 times. Bartlett found that as the reproductions went on, the stories became shorter and that authentic details had been left out or changed. These changes were in an effort to garner t he story more comprehend-able from within the participants experiences and cultural backgrounds. For example the word canoes became boats, and chase seals became fishing. Your brain also fills in blanks based on ones existing schemas.Your memory is processed into three main stages which are encoding, storage, and retrieval. Encoding is when u puzzle the memory into your mind. Storage is maintaining it in your mind. Retrieval is using what you saved in your mind. Cohen (1993) criticized schema theory, saying that the concept of schemas is too vague to be useful. However, galore(postnominal) researchers use schema theory to explain cognitive processing. Anderson and Pichert did an experiment to go over if schema processing influences both encoding and retrieval. The results showed schema processing influenced both.