Cognition, 8e by Margaret W. MatlinChapter 8 Cognition, 8e Chapter 8 General Knowledge.

Cognition, 8e by Margaret W. Matlin Chapter 8

Cognition, 8e

Chapter 8

General Knowledge


Schemas and Scripts

schema—generalized knowledge about a situation, an event, or a person

Schema theories are especially helpful when psychologists try to explain how people process complex situations and events.


Schemas and Scripts

Background on Schemas and ScriptsSchema theories propose that people encode "generic" information about a situation, then use this information to understand and remember new examples of the schema.

"This is just like what happened when . . ."


Schemas and Scripts

Background on Schemas and ScriptsSchemas and Scripts

• script—simple, well-structured sequence of events

• restaurant script• life scripts


Schemas and Scripts

Background on Schemas and ScriptsIdentifying the Script in Advance

Scripts are recalled more accurately if identified in advance.Demonstration 8.4: Trafimow & Wyer (1993)

• scripts with irrelevant details• script-identifying event either first or last• recall events


Schemas and Scripts

Background on Schemas and ScriptsIdentifying the Script in Advance

Demonstration 8.4—Trafimow & Wyer (1993) (continued)

• Event recall was higher when the script-identifying event was presented first, rather than last.

Events in a sequence are much more memorable if you understand—from the very beginning—that these events are all part of a standard script.


Schemas and Scripts

Schemas and Memory SelectionDemonstration 8.5: Brewer and Treyens (1981)• recall objects from an office waiting room• highly likely to recall objects consistent

with "office schema"• "remembered" items that were not in the

room, but were consistent with "office schema"


Schemas and Scripts

Schemas and Memory SelectionNeuschatz and coauthors (2002)• "lecture schema"People are more likely to recall schema-inconsistent material when that material is vivid or surprising.


Schemas and Scripts

Schemas and Memory SelectionDavidson (1994)• read stories describing well-known

schemas• especially likely to recall schema-

inconsistent events that interrupted the normal, expected story


Schemas and Scripts

Schemas and Memory SelectionGeneral Conclusions about Schemas and Memory Selection

1. If the information describes a minor event—and time is limited—people tend to remember information accurately when it is consistent with a schema (e.g., the desk and the chair in the ‘‘office’’).


Schemas and Scripts


2. If the information describes a minor event—and time is limited—people do not remember information that is inconsistent with the schema (e.g., the wine bottle and the picnic basket).


Schemas and Scripts


3. People seldom create a completely false memory for a lengthy event that did not occur (e.g., the lecturer did not dance across the room).


Schemas and Scripts


4. When the information describes a major event that is inconsistent with the standard schema, people are likely to remember that event (e.g., the child who crashes into Sarah).


Schemas and Scripts

Schemas and Boundary ExtensionDemonstration 8.6

boundary extension—our tendency to remember having viewed a greater portion of a scene than was actually shown


Schemas and Scripts

Schemas and Boundary ExtensionIntraub and colleagues• see photo then draw replica of photo• Participants consistently produced a

sketch that extended the boundaries beyond the view presented in the original photo.

• activate a perceptual schema


Schemas and Scripts

Schemas and Boundary Extensionrelevance in eyewitness testimony situations


Schemas and Scripts

Schemas and Memory Abstractionabstraction—a memory process that stores the meaning of a message but not the exact words

verbatim memory—word-for-word recall


Schemas and Scripts

Schemas and Memory AbstractionThe Constructive Approach

Bransford and Franks (1971)• listen to sentences from several different

stories• recognition test including new items• People were convinced that they had seen

these new items before (false alarm).


Schemas and Scripts


Bransford and Franks (1971) (continued)

• False alarms were particularly likely for complex sentences consistent with the original schema.

• False alarms were unlikely for sentences violating the meaning of the earlier sentences.


Schemas and Scripts


constructive model of memory—People integrate information from individual sentences in order to construct larger ideas; later, they cannot untangle the constructed information from the verbatim sentences.


Schemas and Scripts

Schemas and Memory AbstractionThe Pragmatic Approach

pragmatic view of memory—people pay attention to the aspect of a message that is most relevant to their current goals1. People know that they usually need to

accurately recall the gist of a sentence.2. They also know that they usually do not

need to remember the specific wording of the sentences.


Schemas and Scripts


3. However, in those cases where they do need to pay attention to the specific wording, then they know that their verbatim memory needs to be highly accurate.


Schemas and Scripts


Murphy and Shapiro (1994)—Insult Study• read letters from "Samantha" to cousin or

boyfriend• bland vs. sarcastic comments• recognition test on original, paraphrased, or

irrelevant sentences


Schemas and Scripts


Murphy and Shapiro (1994)—Insult Study• Correct recognition was higher for

sentences from the sarcastic condition than for sentences in the bland condition.

• more false alarms for paraphrases of bland sentences than sarcastic sentences

• more accurate verbatim memory for the sarcastic version than for the bland version


Schemas and Scripts

Schemas and Memory AbstractionThe Current Status of Schemas and Memory Abstraction

• two compatible approaches• In many cases we integrate information into

large schemas.• In some cases we know that specific words

matter and pay close attention to precise wording.


Schemas and Scripts

Schemas and Memory Integrationmemory integration—background knowledge encourages people to take in new information in a schema-consistent fashion

People may remember schema-consistent information, even though it was not part of the original stimulus material.

Schemas do not always operate. Factors such as delay before testing and task complexity influence the use of schemas.


Schemas and Scripts

Schemas and Memory IntegrationThe Classic Research on Memory Integration

Bartlett (1932)• memory as the complex interaction

between the participants' prior knowledge and the material presented

• individual's unique interests and personal background often shape the contents of memory


Schemas and Scripts


"The War of the Ghosts" studyNative American story read and recalled by British studentsParticipants tended to

• omit material that didn't make sense from their own viewpoint


Schemas and Scripts


"The War of the Ghosts" studyParticipants tended to: (continued)

• shape the story into a more familiar framework

• borrow more heavily from their previous knowledge as time passed before additional recall


Schemas and Scripts


Schemas can influence our inferences when we are reading ambiguous or unclear material.

When we have the correct background knowledge, it is generally useful.


Schemas and Scripts

Schemas and Memory IntegrationResearch on Memory Integration Based on Gender Stereotypes

gender stereotypes—widely shared sets of beliefs about the characteristics of females and males

When people know someone's gender, they often draw conclusions about that individual's personal characteristics.


Schemas and Scripts


Explicit Memory TaskDunning and Sherman (1997)• read sentences followed by recognition-

memory test• "new" sentences consistent or

inconsistent with gender stereotypes


Schemas and Scripts


Explicit Memory TaskDunning and Sherman (1997) (continued)

• more likely to mistakenly "remember" a new sentence as "old" when it was consistent with a gender stereotype


Schemas and Scripts


Implicit Memory Tasks1. Using neuroscience techniques to assess

gender stereotypesOsterhout, Bersick and McLaughlin (1997)• ERP technique• stereotype-consistent sentences vs.

stereotype-inconsistent sentences


Schemas and Scripts


Implicit Memory Tasks1. Using neuroscience techniques to assess

gender stereotypesOsterhout, Bersick and McLaughlin (1997) (continued)

• change in ERPs for stereotype-inconsistent words, but not for stereotype-consistent words


Schemas and Scripts


Implicit Memory Tasks2. Using the Implicit Association Test to

assess gender stereotypesNosek, Banaji, and Greenwald (2002)• Implicit Association Test (IAT)—based on the

principle that people can mentally pair two related words together much more easily than they can pair two unrelated words


Schemas and Scripts


Implicit Memory Tasks2. Using the Implicit Association Test to assess

gender stereotypesNosek, Banaji, and Greenwald (2002) (continued)

• stereotype-consistent pairings (male/math vs. female/arts)

• stereotype-inconsistent pairings (female/math vs. male/arts)


Schemas and Scripts


Implicit Memory Tasks2. Using the Implicit Association Test to

assess gender stereotypesNosek, Banaji, and Greenwald (2002) (continued)

• Participants responded significantly faster to the stereotype-consistent parings than to the stereotype-inconsistent pairings.


Schemas and Scripts

Individual Differences: Country of Residence and Gender Stereotypes

Nosek and coauthors (2009)• Trends in International Mathematics and

Science (TIMS)

• 8th grade females and males in 34 different countries

• compare "male advantage" scores on TIMS test with IAT measure of gender stereotyping


Schemas and Scripts

Individual Differences: Country of Residence and Gender Stereotypes

Nosek and coauthors (2009)• Countries with the highest measures of

gender stereotyping were also more likely to be the countries were males performed better than females in both math and science.


Schemas and Scripts

Conclusions About SchemasSchemas often influence our cognitive processes:• in the initial selection of material• in remembering visual scenes• in abstraction• in the final process of integration


Schemas and Scripts

Conclusions About SchemasHowever:1. We often select material for memory that

is not consistent with our schemas.

2. We may sometimes remember that we saw only a portion of an object, rather than the complete object.


Schemas and Scripts

Conclusions About SchemasHowever:3. We frequently recall the exact words of

a passage as it was originally, rather than storing an abstract memory.

4. We may keep the elements in memory isolated from each other, rather than integrating these elements together.


Schemas and Scripts

Conclusions About SchemasIn summary, both schemas (top-down processing) and unique features of each stimulus (bottom-up information) influence memory.

Cognition, 8e by Margaret W. MatlinChapter 8 Cognition, 8e Chapter 8 General Knowledge.

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