Brewer & Treyens (1981)

Question 1

Aim

Answer 1

To investigate the role of schema in the encoding and retrieval of episodic memory.

Question 2

Basic assumption of schema theory

Answer 2

Individuals’ prior experiences will influence how they remember new information

Question 3

Sample, procedure

Answer 3

The sample was made up of 86 university psychology students. Participants were seated in a room that was made to look like an office. The room consisted of objects that would normally be found in an office: a typewriter, paper, and a coffee pot. Additionally, there were also items in the room that would not be normally found in an office - for example, a skull or a toy.

Each participants was asked to wait in the professor’s office while the researcher “checked to make sure the previous participant had completed the experiment.” The participants did not realize that the study had already begun. They were asked to have a seat. All the seats had objects on them except one, guaranteeing that all the participants would have the same vantage point in the office.

After 35 seconds, the participants were called into another room and then asked what they remembered about the office. The participants were split up into different methods of recall. Written recall, verbal recognition, and drawing recall.

Question 4

Different types of recall they did

Answer 4

• Written recall and then verbal recognition
• Drawing recall
• Verbal recognition only

(verbal recognition was selecting from objects on the booklet of objects that were in the room and also not in the room)

Question 5

Results

Answer 5

They found that when the participants were asked to recall either by writing a paragraph or by drawing, they were more likely to remember items in the office that were congruent with their schema of an office.

When asked to select from objects on the list, they were more likely to identify the incongruent items. However, they also had a higher rate of identifying objects where were schema congruent but not in the room.

In both the drawing and the written recall, participants tended to change the description of the objects to match their schema.

Question 6

Conclusion

Answer 6

Schema played a role in both the encoding (storing of memory) and the recall (retrieving stored memory) of the objects in the office.