IB Psychology: Essay on MemoryUsing at least 3 studies as evidence, which memory theory is more reliable: Schema Theory or Flash Theory flash memory? Although both theories of memory; Schema theory and flash memory theory are both useful and reliable when assessing cognition, there are both advantages and disadvantages of both. It is these advantages and disadvantages, along with supporting studies, that will be used to determine which memory theory is the most reliable. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay A schema is a cognitive framework that allows us to organize the knowledge we have stored in our memories. Schemas are mental representations of how we categorize different aspects of the world such as people, objects, and events. Schema theory simply states that all knowledge is organized into various schemas. The knowledge stored in our memory is organized into various patterns, which ultimately represent our general knowledge of the world, people, situations, etc. Frederic Bartlett (1932) shows that schemas not only influence a person's ability to remember information, but also that culture plays a role in schema processing. The purpose of the study was to determine the ways in which cultural and social factors influence schema and how they can lead to memory distortions. The participants used in the experiment were British students. Participants were unaware of the purpose or purpose of the study. They were asked to read a Native American folktale called “The War of the Ghosts.” Participants' memory of the story was tested when they were asked to recite it several times after a set period of time. The results of the experiment showed that as the number of plays increased, the length of the story became shorter and more changes were made. An example of this change is what was initially "seal hunting" and "canoes" transformed into "fishing" and "boats". The aspects of the story that changed were things that were “culturally unknown to the English participants”. Bartlett found that these alterations made the story more “normal” and understandable to participants because they were more familiar with their schemas (their experiences and cultural background). This study demonstrates that memory is imprecise because it can always be altered to fit pre-existing patterns. It also shows that schema theory is useful when trying to understand “how people classify information, interpret stories, and make inferences.” Another study demonstrating schema theory is by French and Richards (1933). The purpose of this study is to determine the influence schema has on memory retrieval. There were three different conditions in the experiment. In the first condition, participants were shown a clock with Roman numerals (on this clock the number four was represented as “IIII” instead of the standard “IV”). They were then asked to draw the clock from memory. In the second condition, participants were shown the same clock and had to draw it from memory. The only difference was that before seeing the clock they were told that they would have to draw it from memory. In the third condition, the clock remained visible to the participants while they drew it, it was not removed. The results of the study showed that in the first two conditions, participants used the conventional representation of the number four, “IV.” In the third condition, participants have.