Bartlett (1932) war of the ghosts

Question 1

what are the aims

Answer 1

to see if recall from memory is reconstructive

Question 2

what was the procedure

Answer 2

• showed 20 British a native American folk tale “war of the ghosts”
• each person read the story twice and then 15 minutes repeated it to someone who didn’t read it
• this process was then repeated like Chinese whispers
• Bartlett then kept a record of what each person remembered

Question 3

what were the findings

Answer 3

the story had been transformed in several ways

• shortening as details had been left out
• rationalisation as the supernatural element of the story had vanished
• confabulation as phrases were changed to language and concepts from participants own culture

Question 4

what were the conclusions

Answer 4

transformations occurred because participants schemas influenced what they were able to remember