Schema Theory

This framework is known as a ‘schema’." This means that our previous memories or experiences shape the ones we have in the future. In example, we may remember eating Oscar Meyer (Oscar Mayer) hot dogs as a child, and from that point on remember it wrong.

Memory is divided into three categories. These categories consist of: sensory memory, short term memory and long term memory, out of these short term memory is the main focus in this essay. It has been widely researched due to interest of how much memory can be stored, how long this memory can be stored for and what information is memorised.

A schema is a concept that organizes information. Piaget calls his cognitive development concepts schemas (Myers, 2014).

Piaget and Binet conducted research into the role of cognitive schema and it’s involvement in the process of learning. They carried out an experiment where they conducted a series of intelligence tests on both children and adults. From this research, Piaget found that children and adults look at the world differently, which as a result causes children to build upon their own schemata on their own term. This is because their reasoning differs from that of adults, so they need to make sense of the world using their own rational.

In Piagets view, a schema includes both a category of knowledge and the process of obtaining the knowledge. As experiences happen, this new information is used to modify, add to or change previously existing schemas.

schemas. At the retrieval stage, recall was influenced by the schemas participants had of what

The first cognitive psychologist to study this important concept is Bartlett who concluded that these expectancies are called schemas. These schemas are usually formed by the culture in which one lives in. (Bartlett, 1932).

An example would be a student who believes all teachers are intimidating and bossy from past experiences, but after having a shy and timid teacher, their view may change their internal schema and stereotype of all teachers being individual. Scientists may want to study the reactions of the student and how he or she will integrate the new schema. Social cognition researchers are also interested to study the regulation of activated schemas. It is widely perceived that the situational activation of schemata is automatic, outside of conscious control. However, the regulation and activation of social schemas is self-regulatory and independently motivated.

A schema is a cognitive pattern or structure comprised of beliefs and perceptions. Worldview is a type of schema, which can be formed by cultural cues, family socialization, and identity. Schemas can change over time, and they can be helpful for organizing the complex world. Some schemas are helpful in that they anchor the mind and emotions in the midst of an overwhelming amount of information and stimuli in the environment. However, schemas can easily become maladaptive. Examples of how schemas become maladaptive are most noticeable with regards to stereotyping, biases, and paranoia. Abuse and trauma can significantly and adversely impact an individual's schemata. Conflicting schemata can also lead to experiences of cognitive dissonance or confused identity.

The Reliability of Eyewitness Testimony Part 1 - How reliable is Eyewitness testimony? The Reconstructive nature of memory - Schemas and Stereotypes The reconstructive nature of memory is related to the schema theory. A schema is a package of memory that is organized and developed throughout our lives.

A schema according to Henry Gleitman (2007) is a mental representation that summarises what we know about a certain event or situation. Schemas reflect the fact that many aspects of our experience are redundant and schemas seek to provide a summary of this redundancy.

Memory is a property of the human mind. It describes the ability to retain information. There are different types of classifications for memory based on duration, nature and retrieval of items.

According to changingminds schema is “A schema is a mental structure we use to organize and simplify our knowledge of the world around us. We have schemas about ourselves, other people, mechanical devices, food, and in fact almost everything.” In other words, how we think/feel and ultimately label something in our minds. To me, this is that early opinion you have formed when you first meet someone new based on their looks and actions when you are first establishing that initial impression of them.There are 4 different parts of schemata: prototypes, personal constructs, stereotypes, and scripts all can be seen on The Bachelor.

Concept has been defined as “symbolic statement describing a phenomena or class of phenomena (Kim, 2000,p.15). It can be theoretical or non theoretical like hope, love and desire or body temperature, pain (McEwen& Willis, 2011) the words like grief, empathy, power, job satisfaction or a phrase like health promoting behaviors or maternal attachment. Concept analysis refers to the rigorous process of bringing clarity to the definition of the concept used in science (McEwen & Willis, p, 51). According to McEwen (2011), the purpose of concept analysis is to clarify, recognize, and define concepts that describe phenomena.

Memory makes us. It is, to an extent, a collection of unique and personal experiences that we, as individuals, have amassed over our lifetime. It is what connects us to our past and what shapes our present and the future. If we are unable remember the what, when, where, and who of our everyday lives, our level of functioning would be greatly impacted. Memory is defined as or recognized as the “sum or total of what we remember.” Memory provides us the ability to learn and adjust to or from prior experiences. In addition, memory or our ability to remember plays an integral role in the building and sustaining of relationships. Additionally, memory is also a process; it is how we internalize and store our external environment and experiences. It entails the capacity to remember past experiences, and the process of recalling previous experiences, information, impressions, habits and skills to awareness. It is the storage of materials learned and/or retained from our experiences. This fact is demonstrated by the modification, adjustment and/or adaptation of structure or behavior. Furthermore, we as individuals, envision thoughts and ideas of the present through short-term memory, or in our working memory, we warehouse past experiences and learned values in long-term memory, also referred to as episodic or semantic memory. Most importantly, memory is malleable and it is intimately linked to our sense of identity and where we believe we belong in the world.