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Evaluate Schema theory with reference to research studies.
Schemas are cognitive structures, seen as mental representations that organize our knowledge into categories: knowledge, belief and expectations about particular aspects of the world such as people, objects, events and situations. Multiple studies have indicated that schemas influence memory processes in encoding, storage and retrieval. Schema processing is to a large extent automatic and non-conscious which saves cognitive energy but simulatenously could result in biases in thinking and memory processes. Furthermore, there are multiple types of schemas such as self-schemas, social schemas, scripts etc.
Moreover, schema theory is a cognitive theory of processing and organizing information. It states that all knowledge is organized into units. Within these units of knowledge (schemata) stored information. The main idea underlying this theory is that new encounters with the world are rarely, if ever, completely new. Existing knowledge stored in our memory that is organized in the form of schemas will affect information processing and behaviour in specific settings. It is not possible to see how knowledge is processed and stored in the brain, but the concept of schema theory helps psychologists understand and discuss what cannot be seen. Schema theory can describe how specific knowledge is organised and stored in memory so that it can be retrieved. Additionally, in this essay schema theory will be evaluated, making an appraisal by weighing up
strengths and limitations with reference to the studies on the effect of schema on memory such as Bartlett, Anderson and Pichert and Brewer and Treyens.
Firstly, a significant researcher into schemas, Bartlett (1932) introduced the idea of schemas in his study entitled “The war of ghost”. The aim of the study was to investigate whether people’s memory for a story is affected by previous knowledge (schema) and the extent to which the memory is reconstructive. Bartlett asked British participants to hear a story and reproduce it after a short time and then repeatedly over a period of months or years (serial reproduction). The story was an unfamiliar Native American legend called ‘The War of the Ghosts’. The results showed that the participants remembered the main idea of the story (the gist) but they changed unfamiliar elements to make sense of the story by using terms more familiar to their own cultural expectations.For example: words like ‘canoes’ became ‘boats’ It became noticeably shorter for each reproduction. Bartlett concluded that remembering is an active process. Memories are not copies of experience but rather ‘reconstructions.’ However, this study has been criticised because Bartlett did not specifically ask the participants to be as accurate as possible in their reproduction. Also, the experiment was performed in a laboratory this decreased the ecological validity of it. Nevertheless, Bartlett's study shows how schema theory is useful for understanding how people categorise information, interpret stories, and make inferences. It also contributes to understanding of cognitive distortions in memory.
and asked to write down everything they could remember from the room. The results showed that most participants recalled the schematic objects (eg desk, typewriter). Some participants reported things that would be expected in a typical office but were not present in this one (eg telephone, books). Many participants also recalled the skull (unexpected object). The very unusual object resulted in better recall than predicted by schema theory. Likewise, this experiment has a strict control of the variables, therefore the cause and effect relationship were easily determined. Although, the study confirms schema theory (and reconstructive memory), it was a controlled laboratory experiment so there are issues of artificiality. There is also sample bias, because only university students were used for the experiment, so it is difficult to generalize to the larger population. Nevertheless, this study provides evidence to support how our schemas can affect our cognitive processes, in particular memory. And our schemas influence what we recall in our memory.
To summarise, schema theory is supported by lots of research to suggest schemas affect memory processes knowledge, both in a positive and negative sense. Through supporting studies, schema theory was demonstrated in its usefulness for understanding how memory is categorized, how stories are interpreted, memory distortions and social cognition. On the other hand, there are not many researches that evaluate and find limitations of schema theory. And the theory itself lacks explanation and clarity on the basis of how schemas are initially acquired or how they influence cognitive processes. Moreover,
Cohen (1993) argues that the concept of schema is too vague to be useful, Schema theory does not show how schemas are acquired. It is not clear which develops first, the schema to interpret the experiences or vice versa. Schema theory explains how new information is categorised according to existing knowledge but it does not account for completely new information that cannot link with existing knowledge. Therefore, it does not explain how new information is organised in new life for example language acquisition.
In conclusion, schemas affect our cognitive processes and are used to organize our knowledge, assist recall, guide our behaviour, predict likely happenings and help make sense of current experiences helps us understand how we organize our knowledge. Schema’s strengths are that it provides an explanation for how knowledge is stored in the mind something that is unobservable and remains unknown in psychology and there are studies that support the theory. However, its limitations are that it is unclear exactly how schemas are acquired and how people choose between schemas and it does not account for new information without a link to existing schemas. Overall, with the amount of evidence, schema theory should be considered an important theory that provides insight into information processing and behaviour. It has contributed largely to our understanding of mental processes but the theory requires further research and refinements to overcome its limitations and uncover its unclear aspects
