left out of a memory report, and errors of commission,
in which inaccurate information is added to a memory
report. Errors of commission are more typically
referred to as false memoriesor memory illusions.
Reconstructive theories of memory generally hold
that errors of omission and errors of commission are
related to one another. In fact, according to recon-
structive theories of memory, errors of commission
occur because reconstructive processes are used to fill
in gaps in our memory reports.History of the Concept of
Reconstructive Memory
Pioneering work on the development of reconstructive
theories of memory was conducted by Bartlett and
described in his classic volume entitled Remembering.
According to Bartlett, remembering involves an active
attempt to make sense out of the historical past—what
Bartlett referred to as an “effort after meaning.”
Bartlett studied the memories of English participants
by asking them to repeatedly attempt to recall an unfa-
miliar folktale called The War of the Ghosts.Bartlett
found that as participants attempted to recall the
event, their recall was systematically distorted by their
world knowledge. In particular, with repeated recall
attempts, the unfamiliar folktale was recalled in an
increasingly conventional manner. Details that were
difficult to integrate with the participants’ world
knowledge tended to drop out. Details consistent with
world knowledge tended to be added. Unfamiliar
words were replaced with more familiar words.
Bartlett concluded that memory does not simply pas-
sively record or retrieve facts. Instead, memory com-
bines fact and interpretation in a reconstructive way
such that the two become indistinguishable.
In his pioneering text Cognitive Psychology,
Neisser offered the analogy of a paleontologist recon-
structing what a dinosaur must have looked like.
According to Neisser’s analogy, paleontologists begin
their reconstruction based on fragments of bone found
in the fossil record. Based on this partial fragmentary
information, the paleontologist makes use of his or her
knowledge of finds at other sites, anatomy and physi-
ology of current animals, and so on, to make a best
guess of what the animal must have looked like, how
it must have lived, what it likely ate, and so on. This
best guess can be seen as a reconstruction of the past.
Similarly, reconstructive theories of memory argue that
people make use of partial fragmentary information,world knowledge, inferential processes, and so on, to
reconstruct a memory of the past event.The Process of Memory
Reconstruction
EEvveenntt DDeettaaiillss
According to most reconstructive theories of mem-
ory, the process of reconstructing a memory is based
on a variety of different types of information. First,
reconstruction relies on fragmentary pieces of infor-
mation from the event itself. If one were to witness a
bank robbery, details from that event would be stored
in episodic memory. Over time, these details would
become increasingly less accessible following the
exponential forgetting curve first described by
Hermann Ebbinghaus. Some time later, the witness
would be interviewed about the bank robbery.
Although many of the details would be inaccessible,
the witness would probably be able to retrieve some
key pieces of information that made a special impres-
sion on him or her.SScchheemmaass aanndd SSccrriippttss
The stored details of the event provide partial evi-
dence on which witnesses can base their memory
reconstruction. However, this record of details from
the event is likely to be incomplete. To help recon-
struct the memory, witnesses would also likely rely on
their prior knowledge about bank robberies in general.
Memory psychologists have proposed that this type of
prior knowledge is stored in long-term memory in the
form of schemasand scripts.A schema is a general
term we have for knowledge structures that represent
typical instances of categories. Scripts are knowledge
structures that represent the typical sequence in which
a stereotypical event unfolds. For instance, a witness
to a bank robbery likely has a schema representing the
layout of a typical bank. They know that banks usually
have offices or cubicles where loan officers, new
account managers, and the like work. They know that
banks typically have guards. They know that banks
typically have tellers who work behind a counter.
They know that banks typically have safes. This orga-
nized body of knowledge is thought to be stored in a
“bank schema” that resides in memory. A witness to a
bank robbery also likely has a bank robbery script,
which includes information about the typical676 ———Reconstructive MemoryR-Cutler (Encyc)-45463.qxd 11/18/2007 12:43 PM Page 676