Schema Theory

As discussed earlier, schema represents a generic concept and is the make-up of how our knowledge is organized within memory.    These schemas are then used to make sense of new information.  Schema is constantly changing and evolving as new information is processed.  Three methods have been identified by Rumelhard and Norman (1978) to modify or create schema:

Accretion:  an abstract concept is added to an existing schema connecting to that schema without altering its essence.

Tuning:  an existing schema is modified slightly to better conform to existing experience.

Resturcturing:  the creation of a new schema which substitutes or incorporates old schema.

Additional Information/Resources:

• http://www.etsu.edu/fsi/learning/schematheory.aspx

• http://carbon.ucdenver.edu/~bwilson/training.html