Summary Investigating the role that schema theory plays in the encoding and retrieval of memories
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Course
Psychology
Institution
Sixth Year / 12th Grade
This is an experiment conducted by my teammates and I, testing the effect of schema theory on ones memory. It was then written as a research paper (the document) showing the results and conclusion. It scored a 6 out of 7 (ib scale).
Investigating the role that schema theory plays in the encoding and retrieval of memories
Subject: Psychology HL
Candidate Code: jnz204
Group members’ codes: jpq871 and jnz150
Submission Date: January 2022.
Examination Session: May 2022.
Word Count: 2,131
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, Table of Contents
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………...3
Exploration………………………………………………………………………………….4
Design…………….…………...………………………………………………………….4
Sampling and Participants……………..………………...………………………………..4
Materials…………………………………………………………………………………..5
Methodology………………………………………………………………………..…......5
Evaluation…………………………………………………………………………………….7
Strengths…………………………………………………………………………………..7
Weaknesses and Modifications………………………………………………………...….8
References……………………………………………………………………………………...10
Appendices……………………………………………………………………………………..11
Appendix i - Consent Form……………………………………………………………....12
Appendix ii - Debriefing Notes…………………….…….……………………………….11
Appendix iii- Raw Data…………………………………………………………………..13
Appendix iv - Descriptive Statistics…………...…………………………...………....….13
Appendix v - Inferential Statistics.....…………………………………………………….14
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, Introduction
In psychology, schema theory plays a significant role in the cognitive approach as schema theory is
what puts all of these internal processes to work at the appropriate times. Schema theory is defined as
the cognitive framework that allows the brain to structure and organize knowledge and concepts,
which in turn influence our behavior. Schema theory is structured according to our past experiences,
and consistently alters based on the new information that we learn and memorize on a daily basis. The
concept of schema theory enables individuals to grasp an idea of how a certain place might be or how
an upcoming test may look based on past experiences with that subject’s exams, this enables feelings
of familiarity and promotes predictions over how a certain experience may turn out due to expectancy.
This expectancy affects the way one may remember or interpret situations.
An experiment that puts the schema theory to test is Brewer and Treyens (1981), which investigates
whether people’s memory for objects in a specific setting is altered based on one’s pre-existing
schema of the room. The aim being to investigate the role of schema in encoding and retrieval of
memory. The experiment was divided into three different categories: recall condition, drawing
condition and verbal recognition condition. The participants were placed into a room that appeared to
be an office,with objects surrounding them. Objects that both fit and don’t fit one’s perception of an
office setting existed in the room. Some objects that are usually perceived as office-schema fitting
were omitted from the room. Items that are not considered to be associative with the schema of an
office often were not recalled, whereas objects that fit the office schema were remembered. This
experiment supported the concept that an individual’s schema of a specific setting influences their
encoding and retrieval of memory, as most participants had a high recall rate of the objects that fit the
schema of an office yet not as many recalled the objects that are incongruent with the participant's
idea of an office.
The Brewer and Treyens’s (1981) study has been replicated for the purpose of this internal
assessment, with alterations to simplify the complexity of the experiment. The aim for this experiment
is to investigate how schema of familiar settings influences the encoding and retrieval memory. This
aim is furthermore applied in everyday context to show that an individual’s perception and memory of
a certain identity trait or place can affect their experience and interaction with that certain trait or
place.
Null Hypothesis (H0) : states that participants will not have a higher rate of encoding and retrieving
memory of objects that are in harmony with the schema of a classroom.
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