Brewer and Treyens 1981 aimed to investigate whether peoples memory for objects in an office is influenced by existing schemas about what is expected in an office 30 college students were brought individually into a laboratory and were asked to wait in an office containing dozens of obje ID: 640158
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Slide1
Schema and memory
IB Learning Outcome: Evaluate schema theory.
Brewer and
Treyens
(1981) aimed to investigate whether people’s memory for objects in an office is influenced by existing schemas about what is expected in an office.
30 college students were brought individually into a laboratory and were asked to wait in an office containing dozens of objects, including typical office objects (a typewriter, desk, coffeepot and calendar) and atypical objects (a skull, piece of bark, pair of pliers).
Participants remained in the office for 35 seconds.
When taken out of the office they were asked to write down as many items from the office as they could remember. Participants recalled an average of 88 items. Of those, 19 (22 percent) on average were items not located in the room. Books and a telephone, for instance, were often recalled, but both had deliberately been removed from the office.
Actual office from brewer and treyens (1981)
Brewer and
treyens
(1981)Slide2
Schema theory
IB Learning Outcome: Evaluate schema theory.
Participants read this passage:
If the balloons popped, the sound wouldn’t be able to carry since everything would be too far away from the correct floor. A closed window would also prevent the sound from carrying, since most buildings tend to be well insulated. Since the whole operation depends on a steady flow of electricity, a break in the middle of the wire would also cause problems. Of course, the fellow could shout, but the human voice is not loud enough to carry that far. An additional problem is that a string could break on the instrument. Then there could be no accompaniment to the message. It is clear that the best situation would involve less distance. Then there would be fewer potential problems. With face to face contact, the least number of things could go wrong.
After reading, participants were asked questions of their comprehension and recall.
Bransford
and
johnson
(1972)Slide3
Schema theory
IB Learning Outcome: Evaluate schema theory.
Some participant were shown the whole picture on the left, some partially before, some after reading the paragraph.
They, too, were asked questions of their comprehension and recall.
Bransford
and
johnson
(1972)Slide4
Schema theory
IB Learning Outcome: Evaluate schema theory.
Bransford
and
johnson
(1972) experiment II
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.
Some participant were shown given the topic before reading the passage below. Others were given the topic after reading.
Both groups answered questions related to comprehension and recall.Slide5
Schema theory
IB Learning Outcome: Evaluate schema theory.
Roediger
and
mcdermott
(1995)
Read six lists of 12 words to a group of students, and after each list asked them to recall as many words as possible from that list.
Following the recall of the sixth list the students were given a pen-and-paper recognition memory test: a list of words comprising 12 studied and 30 nonstudied items (including the critical lures) on which the students rated how confident they were that each word had appeared on one of the previous lists.
The results showed that students recalled the critical lure 40 percent of the time, and that most were confident that the critical lures had actually appeared on the lists.Slide6
Schema theory
IB Learning Outcome: Evaluate schema theory.
Cohen (1993)
argued that schema theory is too hypothetical and vague to be useful. Schema, he argued, cannot be observed. Slide7
Your assignment:
Read Pages 69-72 (Begin with Cognitive Processes) in the textbook and further outline Schema Theory.Make sure you include definitions of:
Cognitive processes (like schemas and memory)Cognitive SchemasA summary of schema’s and memory processes
An evaluation of schema theoryPlease then read and TADRCE Brewer and Treyens (1981)
Write a rough draft addressing the prompt “Describe one study that investigated schema theory”.