2.1.4 - Bartlett

Question 1

AO1 x 4

Answer 1

• Bartlett believed when we recall something it is not accurate, not like a tape recorder, instead memory is reconstructed
• our memory is based on schemas which are parcels of knowledge with fixed ideas about how people want to behave or what things are supposed to look like, they include stereotypes and prejudices
• when we recall, we rationalise which is when you make things up to make sense of something to fit their own schemas and this might mean altering or missing things out
• confabulation can also happen, which is when bits of information are added so that they make more sense, drawing on previous experiences and episodes so what is being reconstructed makes more sense

Question 2

AO3 x 2

strengths

Answer 2

• Loftus- The theory has application to society. Loftus‘s latest studies into the unreliability of eyewitness testimony showed eyewitnesses reconstructing the memories of an event so that it would make sense. Therefore as memory is not like a tape recorder and can be reconstructed, the judicial system no longer uses EWT on its own to convict.
• Bartlett - The theory is supported by his own study WOTG. Bartlett found that pp’s altered words e.g. canoe to boat and hunting seals to fishing, the story was shorted from 330 words to 180. Therefore this supports the reconstructing of memory through rationalisation and confabulation to make sense of pp’s own schema

Question 3

AO3 x 2

weaknesses

Answer 3

• TWOTG - The story was criticized as it had Little relevance to every day in memory and made little sense to participants. Therefore it’s argued as an a deliberate attempt to form evidence for schema theory as participants would alter the story so that it made sense when they were asked to recall, reducing the validity of conclusions about memory.
• The reliability of the study was questioned as there were no standardised instructions, recall was random and the methods were not well controlled. Therefore the evidence underlying reconstructive memory lacks reliability so it would be difficult to replicate the experiment to see how pp’s memory is altered to fit in with their schema