Cognitive Analysis: Schemas Ms. Carmelitano Cognitive Analysis: Schemas

Bell Ringer Read the Story

Cognitive Process: Perception The way in which we interpret and organize information from our sense to produce meaning Bottom-Up Processing When we take information into our senses, and then make sense of it by “building up” the different features Top-Down Processing When we process new information by filling in the “gaps” with past information

Cognitive Schemas We have expectations as to what will happen when we plan something because of our pre-stored mental representations Schemas are the way we encode, process, and recall information They decrease cognitive effort in the encoding/processing phase These are called cognitive schemas Schemas are mental representations of the world

Schema Theory Class Activity What is this?

Three types of Schemas Role Schemas: Describe the appropriate norms and behaviors for certain groups (IE: age, race, sex, occupation) Self Schemas: Beliefs about ourselves, understanding of our own behaviors Scripts: Beliefs/understanding about events – what should happen/ what should be present in certain situations

Story Write down as many details as you can remember from the story

The Schema Theory Postulated by: Fredrick Bartlett A cognitive theory about information processing Schemas are networks of knowledge, beliefs, and expectations about aspects of the world They are the way in which we organize information so that it can be accessed and used as we need it We create schemas for everything – they are categories in which we fit our experiences to make sense of them

Schemas and Perception The Schema Theory suggests that what we already know will influence the outcome of information processing (Scripts) This may cause distortions in perception

Schemas Our schemas effect how we remember information, and what we remember Jean Piaget theorized that when we experience something new, we use of schemas to understand it through accommodation and assimilation Assimilation: The process of taking new information to our previously existing schemas – we modify our experiences to fir into our pre-existing beliefs Accommodation: The process of changing or altering our existing schemas in light of new information – altering existing schemas or ideas as a result o new experiences

Example of the Schema Theory Furry Pet CAT Tail Four Legs

ONE HALF OF THE ROOM CLOSE YOUR EYES

Bransford and Johnson (1972) Split participants into three groups Group one: heard a paragraph about folding laundry – but were given no information about what they were hearing Group two: Told they were about to hear a paragraph about folding laundry, and heard the paragraph Group three: were told the topic of the paragraph after they heard it Groups were then asked to recall the information from the paragraph

Results Group 1 recalled the least amount from the paragraph (Recalled 2.8/ 18 “essential ideas”) Group 2 recalled most of the paragraph (recalled 5.8/ 18 “essential ideas”) Group 3 could not remember much from the paragraph (recalled 2.6/ 18 “essential ideas”) Why? Telling the group the topic first activated schemas for laundry, and allowed them to encode the information as they were hearing it. The group who were given the title later were told too late This shows that in order to encode we need to recall our schemas before the information is given

The Paragraph The procedure is actually quite simple. First you arrange things into different groups. Of course, one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities that is the next step, otherwise you are pretty well set. It is important not to overdo things. That is, it is better to do too few things at once than too many. In the short run this may not seem important but complications can easily arise. A mistake can be expensive as well. At first the whole procedure will seem complicated. Soon, however, it will become just another facet of life. It is difficult to foresee any end to the necessity for this task in the immediate future, but then one never can tell, After the procedure is completed one arranges the materials into different groups again. Then they can be put into their appropriate places. Eventually they will be used once more and the whole cycle will then have to be repeated. However, that is part of life. (p. 722)

Distortions If information is missing, the brain will fill in the blanks based on existing schemas This is why we have never seen a unicorn, but we can takes pieces of other schemas, mix them together, and get a picture Activity: Create a creature with features that do not exist in the real world IT IS IMPOSSIBLE

Schema Theory and Memory The schema theory is used to explain our memory process The process of forming memories has been divided into three categories Encoding: transforming sensory information into a meaningful memory Storage: creating a biological trace of the encoded information in memory – it is consolidated or lost Retrieval: using the stored information

SCHEMAS Model of Memory ENCODING STORAGE RETRIEVAL Put into memory Maintain in memory Recover from memory SCHEMAS

Anderson and Pichert (Scripts) Participants were told a story about two boys who decided to play hookie They went to one of their empty houses to hang out House was described as being isolated and in a good neighborhood The house had a leaky roof and a damp basement, mentioned expensive objects in the house

Anderson and Pichert Aim: To understand how schemas may DISTORT memory Procedure: Half the participants were asked to read the story from the point of view of a home-buyer The other half was asked to read the story from the point of view of a burglar Participants then preformed a distracting task for 12 Researchers asked participants to re-write the story Then after a 5 minute break, participants re-read the story, half being told to switch perspectives

Findings On the first trial participants who read from the perspective of the home-buyer remembered more of the details that a home-buyer would be interested in Those who read it from the perspective of the burglar remembered information that a thief would be interested in Those who switched perspectives remembered more facts than those who did not on the second reading

Brewer and Trayens (1981) Method Results 30 participants were taken to a university student office and left alone for 35 seconds The office contained different objects that did and did not conform to typical office material IE: typewriter, desk, coffee pot, skull, piece of bark, pair of pliers Students were then taken into another room They were asked to write down everything they remembered Results Most participants recalled the typical office items (typewriter, desk, coffee pot) Some participants reported things that were not there, but they thought should be there (books, phone) Many ALSO recalled the skill (not predicted by the schema theory)

Conclusion This study supports the schema theory Students remembered things that should have been in the office and incorrectly recalled items that were not there, but fit their schema of an office They also recalled the items that SHOULD NOT be in the office, because they were so completely against their schemas that they stood out

Evaluation of Schema Theory Schema theory has contributed to the understanding of memory distortions and social cognition Stereotyping and prejudice Limitations of the Theory Not clear HOW schemas are acquired in the first place and HOW they actually influence cognitive processing

Cohen (1993) He has criticized schema theory The concept of schemas is too vague to be useful  Schemas cannot be observed Even the use of fMRI simply show brain activity, they do not clarify what exactly the individual is processing at the time. fMRI - A Functional MRI is a brain imaging technique that detects magnetic changes in the brain’s blood flow patterns. This technique is useful for detecting changes in activation of different centers of the brain. This technique can be used to identify behavioral abnormalities that exist because of unusual activation of area of the brain. Measures blood flow in the brain