BARTLETT’S RECONSTRUCTIVE MEMORY AND SCHEMA THEORY

Question 1

Why is Bartlett’s theory significant?

Answer 1

It goes against the typical features of the cognitive approach since it rejects the idea of memory being like a sort of information processing used by a computer
He suggests it’s much more creative but less reliable

Question 2

What does reconstructive memory mean?

Answer 2

• Bartletts suggest that instead of recalling memories exactly how they were, we ‘reconstruct’ them imaginatively based on our own past knowledge, experiences and expectations
• This creates reconstructive errors

Question 3

What is a schema?

Answer 3

• A category of memories
• stored knowledge and mental representations of the world
• Each category has links to past memories and knowledge (think of it like a mind map)
• Files of all the different concepts we have about the world.

Question 4

What does a schema do?

Answer 4

• Schemas influence the way in which we recall information
• They are constantly changing as we encounter new information and experiences
• Schemas become more complex as we get older as we get a deeper understanding and more knowledge of the things around us
• We adjust our schemas to accommodate new information

Question 5

Why does everybody interpret things differently?

Answer 5

• Everybody has different schemas based upon prior knowledge
• We perceive information based upon prior knowledge/ our schemas to make judgements
• When information is ambiguous, we interpret based upon what we know already and what makes sense to us

Question 6

What are the three main strategies used to reconstruct memories?

Answer 6

• Confabulation
• Rationalisation
• Shortening

Question 7

What is confabulation?

Answer 7

When recalling information we will “fill it in the gaps” with information that is consistent with our schema

Question 8

What is rationalisation?

Answer 8

When recalling information we may “change the details” so that it makes sense to fit in with our existing schema

Question 9

What is shortening?

Answer 9

When recalling information we may “leave out details” that don’t make sense with our current schema so that it is easier to process

Question 10

How does Bartlett’s theory relate to eyewitness testimony?

Answer 10

• If we witnessed a crime, we may not have a strong memory of the suspect
• Our memory brings together lots of different details so that we can reconstruct the memory of what this suspect looks like based upon our prior knowledge, stereotypes and expectations of what a criminal looks like
• This poses an issue for the reliability of eyewitness testimony as witness’s memory of the crime may be reconstructed and therefore unreliable evidence

Question 11

What is the war of the ghosts story?

Answer 11

• A native American folk tale that Bartlett read to British participants to test his theory
• The story contains unusual details that would not be normal in typical British stories and therefore not in our schemas
• Pps were read the story and asked to reproduce it various times (minutes, hours, months or years later)
• Overtime recall of the story got shorter and more coherent - unfamiliar concepts were transformed into more familiar concepts and modern language
• Bartlett concluded that memories are not exact copies of experience but “reconstructions” with errors of distortion and simplification based on prior knowledge and what makes sense to our schemas

Question 12

Three strengths of Bartlett’s theory

Answer 12

• Barlett’s results
• Loftus and Palmer
• Allport & Postman
• Holistic approach (more of a conclusion)

Question 13

What do the results of Bartlett’s study suggest?

Answer 13

Demonstrates how memory recall is not an exact replica, but instead is replicated based upon the individuals knowledge, experiences and expectations

Question 14

How does Allport and Postman support Bartlett’s theory?

Answer 14

• Showed pps a drawing of an argument on the train. They were asked to describe it to another participant through serial reproduction (like Chinese whispers). The black character was better dressed and more respectable than the white character, but after serial reproduction, white pps tended to reverse their appearances.
  Some even describe the black character is holding a knife
• As racism was very common in the US at the time, it is likely pps were using the schema (of black people being aggressive and criminal) to reconstruct the story when recalling

Question 15

How do Loftus and Palmer support Bartlett’s theory?

Answer 15

• They found that changing the verb in a critical question about car speed (how fast was the car travelling when it hit/smashed into another car?) affected the answer that participants gave.
• They were also more likely to accurately remember broken glass at the scene when the verb was more intense
• These were standardised laboratory experiments that gave more robust reliable evidence to support Barlett theory

Question 16

Three weaknesses of Bartlett’s theory

Answer 16

• Bartlett research being unreliable
• Steyvers and Hemmer
• Wynn and Logie

Question 17

How does Bartlett’s research serve as a weakness for his theory?

Answer 17

• Bartlett supports his own theory with unreliable evidence from his ‘war of the ghosts’ study as it had very few controls (pps were not given standardised instructions and time between recall varied for each pps)
• Suggesting that his theory is unreliable and his study is not valid

Question 18

How are Steyvers and Hemmer a weakness for Bartlett’s theory?

Answer 18

• They argue that the experimental conditions of reconstructive memory research deliberately causes errors in recall leading to the view that memory is unreliable
• The research demonstrates that in a real context, without manipulated material, schematic recall can be very accurate. Therefore, we should be cautious when assuming eyewitness testimony lacks reliability.

Question 19

How do Wynn and Logie create a weakness for Bartlett’s theory?

Answer 19

They found that in natural situations memories are not added to overtime so rationalisation may only occur in artificial situations.
Bartlett and Loftus and Palmer‘s research is all laboratory based and lacks ecological validity. In the real world, It appears memory may work differently.

Question 20

What are the three strength and weakness comparison pairs of Bartlett’s theory?

Answer 20

• Bartlett’s results vs his unreliable study
• Allport and Postman vs Steyvers and Hemmer
• Loftus and Palmer vs Wynn and Logie

Question 21

How did Bartlett test his theory?

Answer 21

He conducted a study
- He gave 20 students the ‘war of the ghosts’ which is a native American ghost story that has unusual features. He told them to read it and then recall it on several occasions - after a few hours, a few days, weeks or even years (serial reproduction). Bartlett compared how the recalled versions differed from the original.

Question 22

What did Bartlett conclude through his study?

Answer 22

• Pps shortened the story (from 330 words to 180)
• Pps confabulated details changing unusual parts and making them more ‘normal’ familiar ideas from their schemas
  (Canoes-> boats, seals-> fish)
• Pps rationalisted the story, coming up with explanations for unusual parts

Question 23

How can Bartlett reconstructive theory be applied to the real world?

Answer 23

It explains why eyewitness testimony is so unreliable as having to reproduce their testimony so many times (to journalists, police or the court (serial reproduction)) the wrong information and mistakes can recalled and confabulated

Question 24

How does Elizabeth Loftus support Bartletts theory?

Answer 24

She examined the Steve Titus case and questioned why the rape victim went from “he looks the closest” to “he 100% is the rapist”. Loftus studied false memories

She asked people - How fast do you think the cars were going/ describe the scene where the cars (smashed/hit/bumped) into each other?
People answered significantly varied depending on the adjective used in the question. People who were asked ‘smashed’ falsely remembered seeing broken glass or blood at the scene when there wasn’t any.

When you feed people misinformation about a situation or topic, you can change/influence those people’s memories

She also found that psychotherapy has a huge impact on planting bizarre false memories. False memories can have extreme repercussions that can affect behaviour.

Question 25

What is Bartletts reconstructive theory?

Answer 25

He argued that memories are grouped into categories called ‘schemas’ which are stored knowledge and mental representations of the world.
●Memory does not function like a tape recorder or photo, we do not recall events in a clinical, objective way that would happen if we recorded or photographed an event.
●Instead of storing an exact replica of the initial stimulus, we integrate it with elements of our existing knowledge and experience (our schemas) to form a reconstructed memory representation.
●Reconstructive memory, memory is not a passive or true record instead an active construction based on previous knowledge, interpretations, expectations and motivations.
●Features of reconstructive memory are confabulation where people ‘fill in the gaps’ in recall with information that is consistent with their schema and rationalisation when people change details in their recall so that it makes sense to them.