What was Bartlett’s aim
To investigate how schemas influence memory reconstruction
Who were the participants in Bartlett’s study
20 British participants
7 men, 13 women
What was the procedure of Bartlett’s study
Participants read a Native American story called ‘War of the Ghosts’
They read it to themselves twice and were then asked to recall the story after an interval of 15 minutes
What were the results of Bartlett’s study
Participants changed parts of the story as they tried to recall it
7 out of 20 participants couldn’t remember the title
10 of the participants transformed the title, for example ‘War Ghost story’
Some also changed ‘canoes’ to ‘boats’ and changed the names of characters
What was Bartlett’s conclusion
There is a significant amount of interference with the story from reconstructing it. The detailed are altered to fit the participant’s own tendencies and interests.
Memory is reconstructed and influenced by cultural schemas.
Credibility of Bartlett’s study {positive}
Loftus conducted a series of laboratory experiments on reconstructive memory and had strict experimental controls, collected quantitative data, and standardized procedures which made them quite objective and reliable
Application of Bartlett’s study {positive}
In a 2005 terrorist attack, witnesses saw a man named Charles De Menezes shot by police when they mistook him for a terrorist after the 7/7 bombing in London. The witnesses’ accounts varied widely and were often exaggerated. Their schemas about terrorists may have influenced their memories through sharpening and leveling
Reliability of Bartlett’s study {positive}
Both the repeated and serial reproduction tasks were done many times to show that the changes to the story followed the same patterns. Other stories were also used and showed similar results
Reductionism of Bartlett’s study {negative}
One criticism of reconstructive memory theory is that it doesn’t explain how we reconstruct memories unlike other cognitive theories that explain processes involved
Objections of Bartlett’s study {negative}
Alternative explanations such as biological approaches explain how specific parts of the brain are related to specific cognitive functions which can be a better explanation of memory
Low validity of Bartlett’s study {negative}
Bartlett’s study didn’t include many experimental controls. He asked participants to retell the story whenever it was convenient for them and didn’t set the same time frame for all participants
