Reconstructive memory (Bartlett, 1932), including schema theory.
This theory was proposed by Sir Frederick Bartlett, one of the early figures in memory research. Bartlettâs central insight was that memory is not like a tape recorder: it doesnât faithfully play back our experiences. Instead, it changes or âreconstructsâ them imaginatively.
Bartlettâs ideas were neglected for decades but were brought back into the mainstream again when they were supported by experimental research byElizabeth Loftus. Loftus argued that Reconstructive Memory implies that eyewitnesses to crimes will often be unreliable.
This theory is significant for students in other ways:
It shows how scientific research proceeds, because Bartlettâs fairly unscientific research in the 1930s was improved upon by Loftus, who mounted much more rigorous lab experiments in the â70s and â80s.
It goes against the typical features of the Cognitive Approach, since it rejects the idea of memory being like the sort of information processing used by a computer - it's much more creative but less reliable than that!
This is a theory with important implications for policing and the courts as well as journalism and everyday life. If memory is Reconstructive, then can it be trusted to tell us the truth? Can we trust our own memories?
Bartlettâs main idea is that our memory is grouped into categories called âschemasâ. We have schemas for all sorts of things â for what a âcriminalâ is like, for what counts as âfoodâ and how to behave at the service counter in a fast food restaurant.
A schema is a mental structure that helps us interpret information which represents an individualâs knowledge and experiences about the world.
For example, in a Japanese sushi bar you might not know what behaviour is expected of you and it would be hard to make sense of what the other customers were doing and eating.
But if you paid attention, you would figure it out: you would start to develop a new schema.
Sometimes we assimilate new information, changing our schemas to fit what we have learned
Sometimes we accommodate new information, changing our memories to keep our schemas intact and unchanged. Bartlett explains how we do this by levelling and sharpening. Levelling involves removing or downplaying details from the memory and sharpening involves adding or exaggerating details.
Memory makes use of schemas to organise things. When we recall an event, our schemas tell us what is supposed to happen. The schemas might fill in the gaps in our memory (confabulation) and even put pressure on our mind to remember things in a way that fits in with the schema, removing or changing details. For example, you might remember the Japanese diners eating with chopsticks (because thatâs part of your schema for Japanese meals) whereas in reality the Japanese use their fingers to eat sushi.
Reconstructive memory suggests that when information is absent we fill in the gaps as supported by Bartlett in the War of the Ghosts study (1932) who found that participants filled in gaps in recall from their own schema for example, boats became a substitute for canoes when recalling War of the Ghosts story (see Key Study).
Bransford and Johnson (1972) showed how schemas help to encode and store difficult to understand or ambiguous information.
Reconstructive memory theory is not a complete explanation of memory as it suggests that memories are part traces part schemas that we encode at the time of the event which fails to explain how memory is reconstructed at the point of recall making it a partial explanation of memory processing.
Bartlettâs research had minimal standardised controls when recalling was taking place, therefore the evidence underpinning the reconstructive memory theory lacks scientific rigour.
Reconstructive memory simply describes memory traces that we encode at the time of event rather than explaining how it is reconstructed.
Describe what is meant by reconstructive memory (2) January 2017
Describe what is meant by the term âschemaâ. (2) January 2020
Explain one strength and one weakness of Bartlettâs (1932) theory of reconstructive memory. (4) January 2020
Discuss how reconstructive memory (Bartlett 1932) could explain the childrenâs answers (scenario). (8) October 2019
Discuss how reconstructive memory can explain recall. (8) June 2019
Evaluate Bartlettâs (1932) theory of reconstructive memory, including schema theory. (8) June 2018
Discuss how reconstructive memory could explain Zahra and Namra's recall of the incident. (8) June 2019
Evaluate whether reconstructive memory can account for the difference in Antonioâs and Enriqueâs recall. (12) October 2019