1. Reconstructive Memory
Concept checking
Reconstructive Memory 1

2. Can you…. on your white board
Describe a what is meant by a ‘schema’
Explain the role of schemas in reconstructive memory

3. Are the following statements
TRUE or
FALSE

4. FALSE Schemas distort our recall
Schemas are packets of information based on our knowledge and experience of the world, they help us to construct an accurate reproduction of the original material

5. TRUE
Reconstructive memory relies on the stereotypes we hold of people

6. FALSE he found that people’s schemas changed the content of what they remembered about the text
Bartlett asked participants to memorise a text that would produce a conflict between their own knowledge of the world and the stories content.
He found that peoples schemas changed with the introduction of new information.

7. FALSE accuracy of memory is low
Bartlett concluded that the accuracy of memory is fairly high due to its active processing of reconstruction.

8. TRUE
Bartlett’s instructions were vague and therefore it is probable that the distortions were simply guesses made by the participants trying to make their recall seem coherent and complete.

9. TRUE
Schemas are useful because they provide a way of organising information and thus enhancing LTM

10. FALSE
The theory of reconstructive memory proposes that the process of memory is like taking a photograph

11. FALSE they used ‘boats’ instead of ‘canoes’
Participant’s recall in the War of the Ghosts’ was transformed in a number of ways, it was shortened and language was changed to fit culture.
For example, they used the word ‘canoes’ instead of ‘boats’

13. Other
Studies

14. BARTLETT 1932
Participants' recall of the story got shorter and shorter after multiple presentations. After about 6 PRESENTATIONS it had been REDUCED FROM 330 WORDS TO 180.
Participants frequently added in their own interpretation. For example, the reference to the canoe was often changed to a boat, and the whole theme of ghosts was often forgotten.

15. ALLPORT & POSTMAN1947
This man (and a colleague named Postman) showed participants pictures of various scenes of crime.
He found that their recall was related to the prejudice and stereotypes we hold of people.
E.g. After several retellings of the story, the razor changed from the white man’s hand to the black man’s hand.

16. BRANSFORD & JOHNSON 1972 Aimed to demonstrate how schemas enhance
memory.
Group A were simply asked
to recall as much as possible
Group B were given a
clothes-washing schema before hand
Recall was twice as much for Group B

17. CARMICHEAL et al 1932
Participants were shown a series of drawings. They were then asked to recall the drawings using ‘cue labels’. Depending on which label they had been given affected the drawings that was subsequently produced.
A word had conjured up a set of expectations which in turn affected memory
‘Pickaxe’
‘Turf cutter’

18. BREWER & TREYENS 1981
Asked participants to wait in an office-like room. In the room were various objects, some consistent with an office and some that weren’t.
On recall they remembered the consistent items better than the inconsistent items.
Although many remembered the skull