Bartlett

Bartlett

1. The war of the ghosts

2. He demonstrated the role of culture in schema processing.

3. Method:

   • Serial reproduction
     • Used to duplicate the process by which rumors and gossip are spread, or legends are passed from generation to generation.
   • The story in Bartlett's study is based on a Native American legend.
   • The participants were asked to read through the story twice.
     • None of the participants knew the purpose or aim of the experiment.
   • After 15 mins, the participants were asked to reproduce the story from memory.
   • He asked the pps to come back to his laboratory to reproduce the study a few more times on different days.

4. Findings:

   • Bartlett noticed how each participants memory of the story changed with each later reproduction.
   • It appeared that 'The war of the ghosts' was difficult for people from western cultures to reproduce because of it's unfamiliar style and content.
     • For example: words in the story like 'canoe' changed to 'boat' because people from western culture relate to objects and things they are more familiar with more easily.
       • Therefore, the word 'canoe' changed to 'boat' because people in western cultures are more familiar with it, and therefore will adapt their interpretation of the story to become more "western" so they understand it better.