1. Memory as Reconstruction
by Melisa and Veronika

2. Ｗｈａｔ ｉｓ ｉｔ？ Reconstruction – creating a whole from partial information
Ｗｈａｔ　ｉｓ　ｉｔ？
Reconstruction –
creating a whole from partial information
Perception closely linked to memory
Cues retrieval
Remember the outline = crucial elements and fill in the rest
Semantic memory stores meaning, not the original words
It is inevitable to use reconstruction

3. Fredrick Bartlett　(1932)
His idea was that all recall involves reconstruction as well as retrieval
Worked with the story “War of the Ghosts”

4. “War of the Ghosts” Story Read Aloud Recreate Gossip How it changed:
Reproduction 1
Story Read Aloud
Reproduction 4
Reproduction 3
Reproduction 2
How it changed:
Shorter (shrank from 330 to 180 words)
More Coherent (remained a story, no matter how distorted)
More Conventional
More Clichéd (peculiar interpretations were dropped)
Recreate Gossip

5. How it changed: Shorter ( shrank from 330 to 180 words)
More Coherent (remained a story, no matter how distorted)
More Conventional
More Clichéd (peculiar interpretations were dropped)

6. Schemas and Reconstruction
Provide ready made expectation
Help make the world predictable
Help fill in the gaps
Significant distortions in memory existing schemata conflicts with new information

7. Allport & Postman (1947)

8. Allport & Postman (1947)
Participants asked to describe the picture to someone who hadn’t seen it.
Details changed as description was passed
Mainly razor was held by a black, instead of white man

9. Brewer & Treyens (1981) 35 seconds in an office 30 subjects
Office schema affected their recollection
Expected items were recalled ( i.e., Desk)
Unexpected items where not (i.e., set of pliers)
Some falsely recalled expected objects (i.e., books)

10. Thank you for listening