cog approach: schema theory & reconstructive memory

Question 1

schema definition

Answer 1

schemas are a framework we use to interpret the world and in turn use to understand new information

Question 2

schema theory is the theory of?

Answer 2

how we process information, relate it to our pre-existing knowledge and use it. it is used to describe how our cultural and personal contexts affect our processing of information - namely in memory acquisition.

Question 3

S.T explains cognitive processing by?

Answer 3

-> playing a role in affecting judgment (eg. activation of certain schemas which lead to error-prone judgments)

-> affecting perception, memory and recall. (eg. more likely to remember info aligning w pre-existing schemas and may overlook or forget info that does not fit)

Question 4

studies investigating how schemas explain cognitive processing?

Answer 4

Brewer and Treyens (1981)
Loftus and Palmer (1974)

Question 5

B&T (1981) aim -

Answer 5

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

Question 6

B&T (1981) sample -

Answer 6

86 uni psych students

Question 7

B&T (1981) participant set up -

Answer 7

each P asked to wait outside the professors office while the researcher “checked if the previous P had completed the experiment”, asked to take a seat (every chair except one had objects on them - this ensured uniform vantage point)

Question 8

B&T (1981) room set up -

Answer 8

room was made to look like an office;
-> with typical office items like typewriter, paper, table w tools and electronics, coffeepot. shelves along one wall & other walls w posters & calendar

-> not typical office items like skull and toytop

-> ommited items like books

Question 9

B&T conditions -

Answer 9

aft 35 secs, P were called into another room & asked what they remembered.

-> 30 P did free recall (write desc of what they remembered & state location, size, colour, shape. also do verbal recognition test)

-> 27 P did verbal recognition ONLY - booklet of 131 objects & had to rate from 1-6 based on how sure they were that the object was in the room (out of which only 61 were in the room and 70 werent)

-> 29 P did drawing recall ONLY - given an outline of the room
& asked to draw the objects they remember

Question 10

B&T (1981) questionnaire

Answer 10

asked them whether they expected to recall objects in the room. 93% replied no.

Question 11

B&T (2981) results -

Answer 11

P who wrote a para/drew were more likely to remember schema congruent items while schema incongruent items were not often recalled. also tended to change nature of objects to fit their schemas (eg. pad of yellow paper was remembered as being on the desk instead of on the chair)

P in verbal recognition were more likely to identify incongruent items (eg. did not recall skull in free recall but rated it a 6 on the verbal recognition test.) however, they also had a high chance of identifying schema congruent objects which were not in the room.

Question 12

link to L&P

Answer 12

schemas can also lead to false/distorted memories. schema consistent information will be remembered well, while schema inconsistent information may be forgotten or distorted to fit a schema (based on past expectations or beliefs)

Question 13

L&P (1974) aim -

Answer 13

investigate whether the use of leading questions would affect estimation of speed

Question 14

L&P (1974) sample -

Answer 14

45 undergraduate students from the Uni of Washington, USA

were divided into 5 grps of 9 to watch 7 short (5-30 sec) videos involving an accident between a blue and red car

Question 15

L&P (1974) questionnaire -

Answer 15

filled in a questionnaire based on the videos; including several filler q’s and one critical q.

filler q’s - one open ended q ‘give an account of the accident you just saw’ & several specific q’s

critical question - “how far were the cars going when they _ each other?” (diff verb filled the blank depending on the grp -smashed/collided/bumped/hit/contacted)

next, they were asked to estimate the speed the cars were going

Question 16

L&P (1974) results -

Answer 16

P in ‘smashed’ condition est the highest speed @ 40.8 mph

P in ‘contacted’ condition est the lowest speed @ 31.8 mph

critical verb affected P answers and thus did affect judgment of the accident. for eg. ‘smashed’ activated the schema of a severe accident.

Question 17

evaluate schema theory (strengths) -

Answer 17

-> provides a framework for understanding how individuals organize and interpret information.

-> explains how prior knowledge and experiences create mental frameworks (schemas) that guide perception, comprehension, and memory processes.

-> also explains how schemas influence memory and recall by guiding what individuals notice, remember, or reconstruct. it sheds light on how memory isn’t a perfect recording but is influenced by existing mental frameworks.

^ B&T study supports schema theory by demonstrating how pre-existing schemas influence memory recall. Participants remembered typical office items even when absent, validating the theory’s premise that schemas guide.

Question 18

evaluate schema theory (limitations) -

Answer 18

-> might oversimplify the complexity of cognitive processes and human behaviour. it tends to emphasize the role of schemas while potentially neglecting individual differences, context variations, and cognitive complexities.

^ L&P study serves as a demonstration of the potential limitations of schema theory’s oversimplification by illustrating the intricate influence of external cues on memory recall, which might not be fully encompassed within the theory’s emphasis on pre-existing mental frameworks.

-> theory does not clearly explain how schemas are acquired in the first place or the exact way they influence cognitive processes.

Question 19

reliability of memory influenced by?

Answer 19

the reliability of memory is influenced by consistency over time and the use of schemas. retrieval from LTM can vary based on schema application, impacting recall. memories may elude us until triggered by a relevant context change. however, memory’s unreliability extends beyond schema dependence to include distortion. recollections may be inaccurate, leading to false memories or alterations of actual events.

Question 20

theory of reconstructive memory:

Answer 20

proposes that memory, rather than being the passive retrieval of information from the long-term storage, is an active process that involves the reconstruction of information, thus affecting the reliability of cognitive processes.

Question 21

reconstructive memory definition:

Answer 21

reconstructive memory refers to the process of assembling information from stored knowledge when there is no clear memory of an event.

memories are shaped not just by encoding and storage but also by schemas, prior knowledge that molds recollections to fit expectations. as we reconstruct memories, they conform to our schemas, potentially leading to omissions and distortions. the process is susceptible to misinformation, where incorrect details presented later become confidently recalled, leading to confabulation. leading questions and post-event information can further bias recall by activating schemas, contributing to the misinformation effect.

Question 22

reconstructive memory is studied by?

Answer 22

Loftus and Palmer (1974)
Brewer and Treyens (1981)

Yuille and Cutshall (1986)

Question 23

to what extent - R.M

Answer 23

the theory of reconstructive memory proposes that memory, rather than being the passive retrieval of information from the long-term storage, is an active process that involves the reconstruction of information based on stored knowledge and is affected by external cues. Loftus
& Palmer and Brewer & Treyens research studies support this theory but an experiment conducted by Yuille and Cutshall (1986) contradict the above.

Question 24

Y&C (1986) aim -

Answer 24

to determine whether leading questions would affect memory of eyewitnesses at a real crime scene that took place in a gun shop in Vancouver.

Question 25

Y&C (1986) procedure -

Answer 25

eyewitnesses were contacted 4 months after the incident and were asked to:
-> describe the event

-> were asked leadings question - about a broken headlight when in reality there was no broken headlight & about a yellow panel on the car when in reality the panel was actually blue.

-> were asked to rate their stress of the day of the event.

Question 26

Y&C (1986) results -

Answer 26

results suggested that the eyewitnesses were very reliable and they recalled a large amount of accurate detail which was confirmed by the original police reports. they also didn’t make errors as a result of the leading questions. the researchers found that the accuracy of the witnesses compared to the original police reports was between 79% and 84%.

Question 27

how Y&C contradicts L&P?

Answer 27

It could be that the lack of emotional response to the video that was shown in the study L&P played a key role in the influence of the leading questions. The witnesses reported that they didn’t remember feeling afraid during the incident, but they did report having an “adrenaline rush. In conclusion, memories are not always reliable. It appears that if there is an emotional response and there is a personal relevance for the event, people are more likely to have a reliable memory.

Question 28

evaluate theory of reconstructive memory (strengths)

Answer 28

-> provides a framework for understanding how individuals have distorted memories and they are reconstructed based on stored knowledge and gaps in memories are filled based on preexisting beliefs/ expectations.

^ proved by B&T which shows that all the participants were more likely to remember things that matched their schemas and tended to forget things or alter them if they didn’t fit with their schema. thus being reconstructed.

-> explains how schemas influence memory and recall by guiding what individuals notice, remember, or reconstruct. it sheds light on how memory isn’t a perfect recording but is influenced by existing mental frameworks.

^ reconstructive memory’s application in the justice system has proved to be beneficial and because of it, eye witness testimonials are no longer reliable especially after seeing that the research conducted by L&P showed how leading questions and language influence memory - suggests that external information/cues affect memory recall and lead to confabulation.

Question 29

evaluate theory of reconstructive memory (limitations)

Answer 29

-> however, the reconstructive process of memory recall is subject to distortion by other intervening cognitive functions such as individual perceptions, social influences, and world knowledge, all of which can lead to errors during reconstruction.

-> a criticism of reconstructive Memory compared to the other theories is that it doesn’t explain how memory is reconstructed. the other cognitive theories of memory describe the processes at work in rehearsing, retrieving and recalling, and have been linked to specific parts of the brain. reconstructive memory is vague about how schemas work and where they are located.