The Role of a Schema in Psychology

By Kendra Cherry
Updated September 23, 2019
Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD on July 14, 2019

A schema is a cognitive framework or concept that helps organize and interpret information. Schemas can
be useful because they allow us to take shortcuts in interpreting the vast amount of information that is
available in our environment.

However, these mental frameworks also cause us to exclude pertinent information to focus instead only on
things that confirm our pre-existing beliefs and ideas. Schemas can contribute to stereotypes and make it
difficult to retain new information that does not conform to our established ideas about the world.

types of schemas

Verywell / Emily Roberts

Historical Background of Schemas

/
The use of schemas as a basic concept was first used by a British psychologist named Frederic Bartlett as
part of his learning theory. Bartlett's theory suggested that our understanding of the world is formed by a
network of abstract mental structures.

Theorist Jean Piaget introduced the term schema, and its use was popularized through his work. According
to his theory of cognitive development, children go through a series of stages of intellectual growth.

In Piaget's theory, a schema is both the category of knowledge as well as the process of acquiring that
knowledge. He believed that people are constantly adapting to the environment as they take in new
information and learn new things. As experiences happen and new information is presented, new schemas
are developed and old schemas are changed or modified.

Schema Examples
For example, a young child may first develop a schema for a horse. She knows that a horse is large, has
hair, four legs, and a tail. When the little girl encounters a cow for the first time, she might initially call it a
horse.

After all, it fits in with her schema for the characteristics of a horse; it is a large animal that has hair, four
legs, and a tail. Once she is told that this is a different animal called a cow, she will modify her existing
schema for a horse and create a new schema for a cow.

Now, let's imagine that this girl encounters a miniature horse for the first time and mistakenly identifies it as
a dog.

Her parents explain to her that the animal is actually a very small type of horse, so the little girl must at this
time modify her existing schema for horses. She now realizes that while some horses are very large
animals, others can be very small. Through her new experiences, her existing schemas are modified and
new information is learned.

While Piaget focused on childhood development, schemas are something that all people possess and
continue to form and change throughout life. Object schemas are just one type of schema that focuses on
what an inanimate object is and how it works. For example, most people in industrialized nations have a
schema for what a car is. Your overall schema for a car might include subcategories for different types of
automobiles such as a compact car, sedan, or sports car.

Other types of schemas that people often possess include:

Person schemas are focused on specific individuals. For example, your schema for your friend might
include information about her appearance, her behaviors, her personality, and her preferences.
Social schemas include general knowledge about how people behave in certain social situations.

Self-schemas are focused on your knowledge about yourself. This can include both what you know
about your current self as well as ideas about your idealized or future self.
Event schemas are focused on patterns of behavior that should be followed for certain events. This
acts much like a script informing you of what you should do, how you should act, and what you should
say in a particular situation.
/
Can Schemas Be Changed?
The processes through which schemas are adjusted or changed are known as assimilation and
accommodation.

In assimilation, new information is incorporated into pre-existing schemas.

In accommodation, existing schemas might be altered or new schemas might be formed as a person learns
new information and has new experiences.

Schemas tend to be easier to change during childhood but can become increasingly rigid and difficult to
modify as people grow older. Schemas will often persist even when people are presented with evidence that
contradicts their beliefs. In many cases, people will only begin to slowly change their schemas when
inundated with a continual barrage of evidence pointing to the need to modify it.

How Do Schemas Affect the Learning Process?

Schemas also play a role in the learning process. For example:

Schemas influence what we pay attention to. People are more likely to pay attention to things that
fit in with their current schemas.
Schemas also impact how quickly people learn. People also learn information more readily when it
fits in with the existing schemas.
Schemas help simplify the world. Schemas can often make it easier for people to learn about the
world around them. New information could be classified and categorized by comparing new
experiences to existing schemas.

Schemas allow us to think quickly. Even under conditions when things are rapidly changing our
new information is coming in quickly, people do not usually have to spend a great deal of time
interpreting it. Because of the existing schemas, people are able to assimilate this new information
quickly and automatically.
Schemas can also change how we interpret incoming information. When learning new
information that does not fit with existing schemas, people sometimes distort or alter the new
information to make it fit with what they already know.
Schemas can also be remarkably difficult to change. People often cling to their existing schemas
even in the face of contradictory information.

Problems With Schemas

/
While the use of schemas to learn in most situations occurs automatically or with little effort, sometimes an
existing schema can hinder the learning of new information. Prejudice is one example of schema that
prevents people from seeing the world as it is and inhibits them from taking in new information.

By holding certain beliefs about a particular group of people, this existing schema may cause people to
interpret situations incorrectly. When an event happens that challenges these existing beliefs, people may
come up with alternative explanations that uphold and support their existing schema instead of adapting or
changing their beliefs.

Consider how this might work for gender expectations and stereotypes. Everyone has a schema for what is
considered masculine and feminine in their culture. Such schemas can also lead to stereotypes about how
we expect men and women to behave and the roles we expect them to fill.

In one interesting study, researchers showed children images that were either consistent with gender
expectations (such as a man working on a car and woman washing dishes) while others saw images that
were inconsistent with gender stereotypes (a man washing dishes and a woman fixing a car).

When later asked to remember what they had seen in the images, children who help very stereotypes views
of gender were more likely to change the gender of the people they saw in the gender-inconsistent images.
For example, if they saw an image of a man washing dishes, they were more likely to remember it as an
image of a woman washing dishes.

A Word From Verywell

Piaget's theory of cognitive development provided an important dimension to our understanding of how
children develop and learn. Though the processes of adaptation, accommodation, and equilibration, we
build, change, and grow our schemas which provide a framework for our understanding of the world around
us.

Article Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles.
Read our editorial policy to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

1. MW BALDWIN - Psychological bulletin, 1992 - American Psychological Association. doi:10.1037/0033-

2909.112.3.461

2. Padesky, C. A. (1994). Schema change processes in cognitive therapy. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 1,
267–278. doi:10.1002/cpp.5640010502

3. Aosved, A. C., Long, P. J., & Voller, E. K. (2009). Measuring sexism, racism, sexual prejudice, ageism, classism, and
religious intolerance: The Intolerant Schema Measure. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 39(10), 2321-2354.
doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2009.00528.x

Additional Reading
/