Brewer & Treyens (1981)

Question 1

Aim

Answer 1

To investigate whether people’s schema’s influence what they remember in a familiar setting like an office.

Question 2

Procedure

Answer 2

86 participants waited in a room designed to look like an office for 35 seconds. The room had schema-consistent (e.g., desk, paper) and schema-inconsistent items (e.g., skull), and some missing expected items (e.g., books).
Participants were unaware they were being studied. Afterward, they were asked to recall the room’s contents using:

Written recall + verbal recognition (30)

Drawing recall (29)

Verbal recognition only (27)

Question 3

Findings

Answer 3

Participants better recalled schema-consistent items (e.g., desk) in free recall.

Schema-inconsistent items (e.g., skull) were often not recalled freely but were recognized in the list.

Participants incorrectly recalled schema-consistent items that weren’t in the room (false memories).

Some objects were misremembered to fit schema (e.g., paper on chair recalled on desk).
Conclusion: Schema influenced both what was remembered and how it was recalled.

Question 4

Schema

Answer 4

A mental structure of preconcieved ideas.