Schemas

Schemas

A schema is "a mental structure in which we store all the information we know about people, places, objects, or activities," note McGee and Richgels (1996, p. 5). Schemas are highly organized and are used to associate all the related information about a particular topic in an interrelated way. Personal experiences and knowledge about features and related concepts are integrated into schemas.

Both thinking and learning depend on schemas. McGee and Richgels (1996, p. 6) state, "Thinking involves calling to mind information from schemas and using that information to make inferences, predict, draw conclusions, or generalize. ... Similarly, learning involves adding to or changing schemas."

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