Schema and Memory

1. Schema and Memory Reconstructing of the past.

2. Recall versus Reconstruction • Rashomon. Akira Kurosawa • Takehiro: a samurai has been murdered • Masako : his wife has been raped • Tajomaru : suspect • Woodcutter : the witness Lie or memory bias?

3. Schema memory theories • Bartlett (1932). Schemas are knowledge structures. • All kinds of knowledge can be represented by schemas. • New information is stored in relation to previous knowledge (TOP DOWN PROCESSING OF NEW INFORMATION). • Schema theory can help to explain errors and distortions common in memory because we tend to want to ‘normalise’ things in terms of existing knowledge.

4. Experimental supportBower,Black & Turner (1979) • Students were asked to generate a script about visiting a health professional. • Later they read texts of, for example, what happened during a visit to a doctor or a dentist. • 26% of actions recalled were in the original script but not the later text. The students also tended to change the order consistent with the original script (canonical order).

5. Encoding • Special attention – easy recall. • Ambiguous stimuli…

6. Expectation Laura is warm Stimulus Smile Interpretation Warmth Expectation Laura is cold Stimulus Smile Interpretation Self-satisfaction Expectancies and Interpretation

7. Interpretations and memory • Recall the impression, not the behaviors. • Forget the source of behavior

8. Unambiguous stimuli. Attention • Schema-Congruent Information Beliefs Attention Memory Availability heuristic

9. Unambiguous stimuli. • Schema-Congruent Information Meaningful structure Beliefs Memory Remember: unconventional, creative, sensitive, individualistic, temperamental…

10. Schema memory theories • Original theory (Bartlett, 1932) • Information that is consistent with pre-existent knowledge will be remembered better than what is unexpected.

11. Schema-plus-tag model Graesser and Nakamura (1982) • New knowledge is stored with the prior knowledge and a set of tags which indicate atypical and irrelevant pieces of information contained in it.  • Atypical events that are specifically tagged are therefore easier to recognise. 

12. Unambiguous stimuli. Attention • Schema-Incongruent Information Beliefs Attention to unexpected Memory

13. Unambiguous stimuli. • Schema-Incongruent Information Meaningful structure (Working hard to reconcile) Beliefs Memory When no time to elaborate the information – recall advantage disappears.

14. Congruent or Incongruent? • Stangor and McMillan (1992) • High motivation, elaboration – Incongruent • Low elaboration – Congruent • Both congruent and incongruent > not relevant

15. Memory accuracy • Goal to be accurate – more attention to the information.

16. Flashbulb memories • Vivid recollections of the circumstances surrounding highly emotional events. Why?

17. Flashbulb memories • Emotional significance • stress hormones contribute to memorability. • Working harder to make sense of the event. • Public and private rehearsals

18. Expectancies during the retrieval • Cohen, 1981: Forming expectations before or after the event (librarian vs. waitress). Selection bias Expectancies

19. Current knowledge • Hindsight bias • Once we know that something has happened, we believe that we knew so all along. • Why? Reinterpretation of past ambiguous events according to the current knowledge.

20. Self-serving bias in memory • We selectively retrieve those memories that match the desired self-view. • Sanitioso, Kunda & Fong, 1990 IV: Motivation to be introvert or extrovert Results: More memories that support having the desired trait.

21. Theories about stability or change • We tend to believe that we are stable in some domains and different on other domains.

22. Exaggerating the Consistency between past and present • Ross et al, 1981. • Procedure • Message about dental hygiene: toothbrushing vs. floss. • Results • Reported more or less toothbrushing in the past.

23. Exaggerating the Difference between the Past and the Present • E.g. Satisfaction with a useless self-improvement program.

24. Mood • Mood-congruency effect • When we are happy, we are likely to recall happy events • Depressed people – more negative memories. • Mood dependancy effect • We are likely to recall events experienced in a similar mood.

25. Sleeper-effect • Forgetting the source of information. • Circumstances: • Persuasive communication • Persuasive discrediting information • Optimal time delay (source is forgotten, but not the message)

26. Conclusion: Schema and Memory • Memories are reconstructions of the past. • Our state of mind and external circumstances during the encoding and retrieval of the information affect the way we recall our past.