The Schema theory is a cognitive heuristic//mental script and outlines how one's pre-existing knowledge influences how they remember new information. There are different components to this process as well:-ASSMILIATION describes how someone interprets new ideas/experiences to fit into their existing schemas-ACCOMMODATION: when someone changes existing schemes to fit new ideas or experiences.-SHARPENING AND RATIONALIZING a story: add details/filling the gaps of a story that weren't there in the first place based on your schemaLEVELING: story gets shorterBartlett (1932):aim: to investigate how the memory of a story is affected by previous knowledgeSample: british participantsprocedure: Bartlett told British participants a Native American legend called The War of the Ghosts.two conditions: SERIAL PRODUCTION (participants heard the story and were told to reproduce it after a short time and then to do so again repeatedly over a period of days, weeks, months or years) REPEATED PRODUCTION (they had to recall the story and repeat it to another person)results: Bartlett found that there was no significant difference between the way that the groups recalled the story.STRENGTHS::in BARTLETT: addresses how schema can DISTORT THE ACCURACY OF MEMORY , which is shown throughLASSIMILATION, LEVELING, AND SHARPENING-ASSIMILATION: participants unconsciously changed details of the story in order to fit it to the expectations of their British culture, thus demonstrating schema in this memory process. --e.g. a canoe became a boat-LEVELING AND SHARPENING: participants SHORTENED THE STORY BY DISREGARDING details that they didn't render as important to the story, or changed the order of the story in order FOR IT TO MAKE SENSE TO THEM, using terms that were FAMILIAR TO THEM AND THEIR CULTURE-->memories ARE MORE OF A RECONSTRUCTION of experiences based on one's schema((Analysis))-Bartlett suggested that people reconstruct the past by fitting into their existing schemas; MEMORIES ARE NOT THE COPIES OF THE EXPERIENCES BUT RATHER RECONSTRUCTIONS OF EXPERIENCES -Helped explain (through the understanding of schemas) that when people remember stories, they usually OMIT DETAILS and INTRODUCE DISTORTIONS -Shows how schema theory is useful for understanding how people CATEGORIZE INFORMATION, INTERPRET STORIES, AND MAKE INFERENCES