cognitive approach

Question 1

schema

Answer 1

a “mental model” or “mental framework”, containing everything you know about a particular object, person, situation or event

Question 2

schemas are derived from

Answer 2

our prior experience and knowledge - for instance, you know what a cat typically looks and behaves like because of all your past experiences with cats

Question 3

how do schemas work

Answer 3

• we are constantly processing new information and then integrating it with existing stored information
• we do this to make sense of our experiences, but we are not always aware of it
  **if information is missing, the brain fills in the blanks based on existing schemas. **