War of the ghosts study - Bartlett (1932) Flashcards
What were the two types of reproduction that were used in the study?
Serial Reproduction
Repeated Reproduction
What is Serial Reproduction?
A technique where participants retell something to another participant to form a chain. Just like Chinese Whispers.
What is Repeated Reproduction?
A technique where participants are asked to recall something again and again.
What was the aim of the study?
To test the nature of reconstructive memory using an unfamiliar story, looking at whether or not schemas influence what is remembered.
How many times did the participants read ‘War of the Ghosts’?
Two
Were the participants told the aim of the study?
No, they were told they were being tested on the accuracy of recall.
How many participants were in the study?
20 in total - 7 women, 13 men.
What nationality were the participants?
British
In the repeated reproduction condition, how soon after reading the story were they first asked to recall it?
15 minutes
When did the other reproductions occur?
Between 20 hours and 10 years
What did Bartlett find?
The participants changed the story (even after 15 mintues).
What were the results of the study?
7 out of 20 of the participants omitted the title.
10 out of 20 transformed the title to War-Ghost Story.
What were other transformations of the story?
Canoes were changed to boats.
The names of the characters were changed.
What does the study conclude?
The details of the study are altered to fit the participants own interests.
Participants will transform the story to make it more familiar and fit in with their own schemas.
What is a strength of the study?
Bartlett replicated his procedure using various stories and pictures and found participants had the same tendency to omit and transform the story. This gives strength to the study because they same findings have been found which means the study is reliable.
What is a further strength of the study?
Bartlett gathered qualititve data which means that the real nature of reconstructive memory can be understood through its meaning. Qualitative data gives in-depth descriptive information about reconstructive memory.
What is a weakness of the study?
The study lacked good controls because Bartlett did not always get participants to recall the story at the same time intervals and he allowed them to read the story at their own pace. This means that the study is not scientific because it did not follow standardised procedures.
