Schema Theory

Question 1

Schema

Answer 1

Mental framework that organizes knowledge and guides information processing

Question 2

Schema congruency

Answer 2

When new information fits well with existing schemas

Question 3

Schema incongruency

Answer 3

When new information contradicts or does not align with existing schemas.

Question 4

Schema assimilation + example

Answer 4

Integrating new information into existing schemas without changing them.

Example:
Kid integrates a new breed of dog into their schema of “four-legged animals that bark”

Question 5

Schema accommodation + example

Answer 5

Accommodation occurs when we try to integrate new information into existing schemas but it doesn’t work so we modify or create new schemas to “accommodate” that new information.

Example:
Kid sees cat and tries to firstly integrate into their dog schema (four legged animals with fur) but then realizes there is a distinction between cats and dogs (one barks one meows) so creates a new schema for just cats.

Question 6

Encoding, storage and retrieval

Answer 6

Encoding: The process of transforming external information into a memory trace

Storage: Maintaining encoded information over time

Retrieval: Accessing maintained encoded information when needed.

Question 7

Brewer & Treyens (1981)

Answer 7

Aim: Investigate the role of schema in the encoding and retrieval of episodic memory.

Sample: 86 university psychology students.

Procedure:
Participants were seated in a room that was made to look like an office - consisting of objects that were typical to offices. However, there was also some objects that were atypical of being in offices (e.g. skull, toy top, etc.). Also, there were some typical office objects that were omitted such as books.

Each participant was told to wait and be seated (same seat for all participants) in this room while the researcher “check to make sure that the previous participants had completed the experiment” but in reality, the experiment had already started. After 35 seconds, participants would be called into another room and asked what they remember from the office in 3 different ways:

• Written recall
• Drawing recall
• Verbal recognition

Findings:
When participants were asked to recall either by writing or drawing, they were more likely to remember items that were congruent with their schema of an office. Items that were incongruent to their office schema were often not recalled. Also, in the drawing and written recall they were likely to remember items inaccurately to fit their schemas better (e.g. trapezoidal desk –> square desk)

Essentially, this demonstrates that schema plays a role in both the encoding and recall of the office objects.