When you think back on memories over and over again, the memories occasionally change. There may be extra or fewer details that we can recall. But what is it that causes this? Bartlett's War of the Ghosts study investigated how schemas and our existing knowledge influence reconstructive memories.
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Jetzt kostenlos anmeldenWhen you think back on memories over and over again, the memories occasionally change. There may be extra or fewer details that we can recall. But what is it that causes this? Bartlett's War of the Ghosts study investigated how schemas and our existing knowledge influence reconstructive memories.
A schema is a mental representation of memory/ information that we have learned. Schemas organise and are used to understand new information that we encounter.
Bartlett's War of the Ghost study (1932) aimed to measure the accuracy of reconstructive memory and identify how schemas may influence them.
Reconstructive memory is a memory recall theory that suggests that cognitive processes such as perception, schemas and beliefs influence how we remember information stored in the memory systems.
Bartlett's War of the Ghosts study's basis was that reconstructive memory and schemas are essential for comprehending, assimilating and remembering information.
Assimilation is the cognitive process of changing new, learned information to match our schemas.
The study recruited 20 English college students. The study asked participants to read a Native American folk tale called the 'War of the Ghosts' because it was unlikely that participants were familiar with or had existing knowledge of the story.
The study utilised many techniques to measure the reconstructive nature of memory. Examples of methods used include:
The concept of the serial reproduction design is to mimic the game Chinese Whispers.
Each condition tested the same participants, so the study used a repeated-measures design. For the analysis, Bartlett compared how the story recall changed after each testing occasion.
Bartlett's War of the Ghosts findings revealed that participants created new information more frequently when there was a longer duration between when the story was last heard, and the more times the story was told. Bartlett suggested that participants added new details to the story as a result of intrusions that occurred during recall.
Bartlett's War of the Ghosts study revealed that participants recalled distorted information regarding the folk-tale. The number of distortions increased in the repeated- and serial reproduction tests, although this was less evident in the repeated reproduction test.
In the serial reproduction test, the results revealed that the more the story was told, the recall of the folk-tale became shorter and more obscure details were missed or rationalised. From the study, Bartlett came up with the concept of rationalisation.
A rationalisation is when someone cannot comprehend something, they either do not bring it up or explain it with the addition of new materials.
Rationalisation was apparent in almost all of the repeated reproduction and serial reproduction tests.
Overall, three processes occurred in the study:
Participants assimilated stories into their own cultural contexts, rationalised areas that made less sense, and shortened it to remember better where necessary.
Overall the, Bartlett's War of the Ghosts findings revealed that:
The Bartlett War of the Ghost's conclusion denotes that people are prone to make errors during reconstructive memory processes. People can recall schemas that include information that gives you a gist or overview of the memory; however, these tend not to be detail-orientated.
Over time, remembered details are forgotten, and people often add new information using their existing knowledge to make sense of schemas that lack contextual details. Thus, according to Bartlett, memory is not what we learn but information that is learned that makes sense to us based on our existing knowledge of the world.
Let's summarise the War of the Ghosts study. Consider the following overview.
Let's now discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Bartlett's War of the Ghosts study!
Consider the following strengths of Bartlett's War of the Ghosts study.
If our schemas have a major influence on memory, this raises the question of whether eyewitness testimonies should be accepted in court.
This is an example of how the study controls for potential confounding variables.
Consider the following weaknesses of Bartlett's War of the Ghosts study.
Cognitive processes such as schemas influence the accuracy of memory recall.
The War of the Ghosts is a Native American folk-tale.
Bartlett's War of the Ghosts is a study that aimed to measure the accuracy of reconstructive memory and identify how schemas may influence them.
Bartlett's War of the Ghosts findings suggests that schemas that comprise our knowledge of the world are used during recall processes when we cannot make sense of new information.
Most participants could not recall the story accurately, they assimilated information, rationalised it, and shortened it where necessary.
What year was Bartlett’s War of the Ghosts study carried out?
1932
According to Bartlett, which cognitive process mediates memory recall?
Schemas
How many participants were recruited in Bartlett’s War of the Ghosts study?
20
What's the definition of reconstructive memory?
Reconstructive memory is a memory recall theory that suggests that cognitive processes such as perception, schemas and beliefs influence how we remember information stored in the memory systems.
According to Bartlett, what three factors are reconstructive memories and schemas essential for?
What is a repeated reproduction design?
A method to test memory involves participants repeatedly trying to recall the same memory over time.
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