Reconstructive Memory: The Effect of Schema on Memory (SL IB Psychology)

What is reconstructive memory?

• Memory is not like a camera, it does not record an event faithfully or with 100% accuracy, rather it is retrieved as fragments of the event, sometimes omitting key pieces of information or inserting information which was not present at the time of the event; sometimes recalling the sequences of the event in a different order to the original; sometimes being influenced by other people’s recall of the event or by media reports of the event
• Information after the event is one way in which reconstructive memory (RM) may be manifest i.e. you are present at a birthday party but your recall of the party will be influenced by discussing it with others afterwards, by viewing photos of the party on social media, by your memories of other birthday parties you have attended in the past
• Confabulation is another way in which RM occurs in which recall of the event is impacted by distortion of the information, fabrication of details (e.g. inserting details not present at the time of the event), misinterpretation of the information

What is the relevance of schema and reconstructive memory?

• A schema is a set of pre-existing ideas, beliefs and concepts an individual has about people, places, events, ideas etc. which means that schemas may give rise to distorted memory
• When you experience an event either directly or indirectly it is usual for schematic activation to guide your understanding/expectation of that event e.g. you plan a holiday to Italy where you expect to see a lot of people waving their arms around in an excitable way and eating pasta (not at the same time of course!) hence schemas also contribute to stereotypes
• The problem with having set and pre-determined schemas is that they can interfere with accurate recall– this happens when someone recalls an event not as it truly happened but as a result of schematic interference i.e. their schemas ‘got in the way’ of 100% accurate recall of the event (generally people are unaware of this happening)
• Schemas are relevant to RM as they produce biased recall e.g. you are in a pub and there is a fight, the police ask you what you witnessed and you say that one man was bleeding but in fact this is not true – your schema for ‘fight’ added blood at the scene because it fits your schema for ‘fight’
• Cultural schemas may lead to incorrect and faulty recall of material which does not align with or fit into a person’s schema based on their own culture

Your memory of a childhood birthday party may be very different to someone else’s – even though you were both present at the same time.

Which research studies investigate reconstructive memory and schema?

• Bartlett (1932) – cultural schemas produce distorted recall of a culturally unfamiliar story

Bartlett (1932) is available as a separate Key Study – just navigate the Reliability of Cognitive Processes section of this topic to find it (Two Key Studies of Reconstructive Memory). Bartlett’s study is also included in Two Key Studies of Cognitive Processing which can be found in the Cognitive Processing section of this site