Bartlett’s Reconstructive Memory

Question 1

Overview of the study

Answer 1

Bartlett observed that people often recall events differently over time and that their recall may be influenced by their own personal biases, emotions, and expectations. He argued that recall is an active process, where the brain selectively retrieves information and then recombines it in a way that is meaningful to the individual.
Bartlett also introduced the concept of schema, which is a mental framework or a set of beliefs and expectations that individuals use to interpret and organize new information. He argued that schemas influence how information is stored and retrieved from memory, and that they shape the way that memories are reconstructed.

Question 2

AO1 for the study

Answer 2

sometimes we assimilate new information: changing your schemas to fit into what you’ve learned.

sometimes we distort information: Changing our memories to keep the schemas intact and unchanged. We do this by levelling and sharpening: levelling: involves removing or downplaying details from our memories. Sharpening: adding or exaggerating details.

Confabulation: schemas filling the gaps in our memories, or applying to pressure to remember details in a way to fits out schemas.

rationalisation: reasoning with what happened.

AO1 Study: (+) Allport and Postman 1947 showed participants a drawing of an argument on the subway train. They were asked to describe what happened through serial reproduction. The black character was better dressed, and more respectable than the white character. After serial production white pps swapped the appearances. Some even described the Black character having a knife. This is an example of distortion (changing details to fit into our schemas)

Question 3

Evaluate Bartletts theory on terms of application

Answer 3

(+) Another strength is the successful application of the theory to real world behaviours. For example, the police now employ the cognitive interview when speaking to witnesses of a crime, this allows for the witness to state what they saw without interruption limiting the chances of leading questions, this in turn preserves the memory rather than changing it

Question 4

Evaluate Bartletts theory in terms of supportive research

Answer 4

(+) There is strong evidence supporting this theory.One key example is Bartlett’s War of the Ghosts study. In this study, participants were asked to recall a Native American story over time. Bartlett found that their recollections became distorted, with details being changed to fit their own cultural expectations. They changed “canoe” to “boat” and “hunting seals” to “fishing” (confabulation) removing the supernatural element by not mentioning “ghosts” (levelling- removing details) This supports the idea that memory is reconstructive, as it suggests people unconsciously alter information to make it more familiar and meaningful to them.

(CA) War if the Ghost was conducted in the 1920s, there was little control over variable and no standardised procedure was used. This intern reduces the reliabilty and credibility of the study, as you cannot infer cause and effect neither replicate the study.

(-) Real life evidence goes against the idea that our memories are contaminated in stressful situations. For example: Yuille and Crutshall showed that witnesses of a real life incident had accurate memories of stressful events. The police interviewed months later and recall was still found accurate, even when involving leading questions. Disputing claims that memories can be infiltrated.