A
schema (pl.
schemata), in psychology and cognitive science, is a mental structure that represents some aspect of the world. Schemata were initially introduced into psychology and education through the work of the British psychologist Sir Frederic Bartlett (1886–1969)
[1]. This learning theory views organized knowledge as an elaborate network of abstract mental structures which represent one's understanding of the world. Schema theory was developed by the educational psychologist R. C. Anderson. The term
schema was used by
Jean Piaget in 1926, so it was not an entirely new concept. Anderson, however, expanded the meaning
[1].
People use schemata to organize current knowledge and provide a framework for future understanding. Examples of schemata include Rubric (academic), social schemas, stereotypes, social roles, scripts, worldviews, and archetypes. In Piaget's theory of development, children adopt a series of schemata to understand the world.
The heyday of schema theory was probably in the 1970s; but it is far from outmoded and remains a basic concept in cognitive psychology, developmental psychology and social psychology - besides being of importance in many disciplines that border psychology.
Schemata are an effective tool for understanding the world. Through the use of schemata, most everyday situations do not require effortful processing— automatic processing is all that is required. People can quickly organize new perceptions into schemata and act effectively without effort. For example, most people have a stairway schema and can apply it to climb staircases they've never seen before.
