Instructional Design Models and Theories: Schema Theory

Instructional Design Models and Theories: Schema Theory

Summary: 1932 - Psychologist Frederic Bartlett Proposes the Schema Theory. Check the Instructional Design Models and Theories: Schema Theory article and presentation to find more.

Frederic Bartlett 's Schema Theory

Who is Frederic Bartlett

Sir Frederic Charles Bartlett (1886–1969) was a British psychologist, the first professor of experimental psychology at the University of Cambridge and one of the precursors of cognitive psychology. The schema theory was one of the leading cognitivist learning theories and was introduced by Bartlett in 1932 and further developed in the ’70s by Richard Anderson. Bartlett advanced this concept to provide a basis for a temporal alternative to traditional spatial storage theories of memory, since schema theory describes the way knowledge is acquired, processed and cerebrally organized.

The Schema Theory Structure

While exploring the recall of Native American folktales, Bartlett noticed that many recalls were not accurate and involved the replacement of unfamiliar information with facts already known. In order to categorize this class of memory errors, Bartlett suggested that human beings apparently possess generic knowledge in the form of unconscious mental structures (schemata) and that these structures produce schematized errors in recall when they interact with incoming information. Thus, it is through schemata that old knowledge influences new information. So, basically, schemata (plural of schema) are psychological concepts that were proposed as a form of mental representation for selected chunks of complex knowledge, which are then stored in the long-term memory.

The 4 Key Elements of a Schema

The key elements of a Schema are:

  1. An individual can memorize and use a schema without even realizing of doing so.
  2. Once a schema is developed, it tends to be stable over a long period of time.
  3. Human mind uses schemata to organize, retrieve, and encode chunks of important information.
  4. Schemata are accumulated over time and through different experiences.

The practical aspect of Schema TheorySchema theory emphasizes on the importance of generic knowledge that will help the formation of mental representations. In the educational process, the task of teachers would be to help students develop new schemata and establish connections between them –something that will eventually improve their memory. Of course, background information and prior knowledge are vitally important, as well.Schema theory can been applied in various areas, such as: