Piaget’s Schema: Accommodation and Assimilation of New Information

Omission of Unfamiliar Details00:02:32

Students often omitted details like 'hunting seals' if they didn't have an existing schema for it within their cultural context, leading to forgetting these unfamiliar parts.

What is a Schema?00:00:01

A schema is a mental framework derived from past experiences, forming a scripted pattern of thought, such as our process for going to a restaurant.

Assimilation vs. Accommodation00:00:31

Assimilation is fitting new, similar information into existing schemas. Accommodation is required for entirely new information, demanding a change or remodeling of the schema itself.

Bartlett's 'War of the Ghosts' Experiment00:01:52

Frederick Bartlett demonstrated how schemas unconsciously alter perception and memory by having British students recall a Native American folk tale. The experiment revealed three key phenomena in how people remember stories.

Familiarization of Strange Things00:03:15

Unfamiliar elements were replaced with familiar ones from existing schemas; for example, 'hunting seals' became 'fishing,' and a 'canoe with weapons' became a 'rowboat.' Over time, recalled experiences become more familiar and less authentic due to this process.

Rationalization of the Illogical00:03:59

Students rationalized the illogical aspects of the story by adding causal terms, making it more coherent. This indicates that long-term memories are not fixed but constantly adjusted to fit a coherent self-narrative.

Piaget's Contribution to Schema Theory00:05:11

Jean Piaget, who coined the term 'schema,' argued that we construct experiences into schemas to make sense of the world, highlighting the dynamic nature of memory and understanding.