Schema theory holds that human memory and comprehension are organized around schemas, mental structures that represent categories of objects, events or situations and that guide how new information is interpreted, stored and recalled. The concept traces to psychologist Frederic Bartlett's 1932 book Remembering, which showed that people reconstruct, rather than simply retrieve, memories by fitting them into existing structures shaped by prior experience and culture. In education, schema theory became especially influential in reading research from the 1970s onward, where researchers such as Richard C. Anderson argued that a reader's comprehension of a text depends heavily on the background schemas they already possess, so that building or activating relevant prior knowledge before instruction improves understanding of new material.
Facts
Core ClaimTraces to Frederic Bartlett (Remembering, 1932): memory and comprehension are organized around schemas that guide interpretation, storage and recall of new information. 1 Learning Type FAQs
What happens when new information does not fit an existing schema?
Schemas change by assimilation or by accommodation.
A schema can change in two ways. In assimilation, the learner fits new information into a schema they already hold. In accommodation, the schema itself is changed because the new information does not fit.
Connections
Developed By
Source Schema Theory (Wikipedia)
In Approach
Source Schema (psychology) (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Wikipedia
Wikimedia Foundation- Core Claim: Traces to Frederic Bartlett (Remembering, 1932): memory and comprehension are organized around schemas that guide interpretation, storage and recall of new information.
- Origin Year: 1932
2. Schema (psychology) (Wikipedia)
Introduction
organizes categories of information and the relationships among them
Schema (psychology), Background research, Frederic Bartlett subsection
The original concept of schemata is linked with that of reconstructive memory as proposed and demonstrated in a series of experiments by Frederic Bartlett.
In Approach: Constructivism, Lead paragraph
In Piaget's theory of development, children construct a series of schemata, based on the interactions they experience, to help them understand the world.
In Group: Information Processing and Cognitive Architecture Theories, Lead
In psychology and cognitive science, a schema (pl.: schemata or schemas) describes a pattern of thought or behavior that organizes categories of information and the relationships among them.
View the SourceSchema Theory (Wikipedia)
Developed By: Jean Piaget, BodyQuote, Developed By: Jean Piaget, Body
The term schéma was introduced by Piaget in 1923.
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