Reconstructive memory, Bartlett and factors affecting accuracy

Overview

Bartlett's War of the Ghosts study, effort after meaning, schemas and rationalisation, proactive and retroactive interference, context-dependent recall and false memories.

What you need to know

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Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What does the theory of reconstructive memory claim?

   Model answer

   Bartlett's theory of reconstructive memory claims that memories are not exact copies of events. Each time something is recalled, it is rebuilt from stored fragments and existing knowledge.

2. 2

   What did Bartlett mean by 'effort after meaning'?

   Model answer

   Effort after meaning is the attempt to make sense of new information by fitting it to what we already know. Unfamiliar details are changed so they seem more sensible.

3. 3

   What is a schema, in the theory of reconstructive memory?

   Model answer

   A schema is a mental framework of knowledge and expectations built from past experience. Schemas shape how information is stored and then reconstructed at recall.

4. 4

   What was the aim of Bartlett's War of the Ghosts study?

   Model answer

   Bartlett aimed to investigate whether people change an unfamiliar story to fit their own cultural expectations when they recall it.

5. 5

   Outline the method of Bartlett's War of the Ghosts study.

   Model answer

   English participants read a Native American folk tale called the War of the Ghosts. Some recalled it several times over months, while others retold it along a chain of people.

6. 6

   What did Bartlett find when participants recalled the War of the Ghosts?

   Model answer

   The story became shorter with each retelling, and unfamiliar details were left out or changed. Participants altered it to fit English cultural expectations.

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