... given occasion (such as visiting a restaurant). ? Schemas, which include stereotypes, are important at the initial storage stage as well as at the retrieval stage of memory. e.g. Bransford and Johnson showed that context-schemas helped participants understand and recall prose passages that were difficult to comprehend without such a context. ? Schemas can affect memory in a number of different ways. - We tend to ignore information that is incompatible with our existing schemas. - We remember the gist of events but not necessarily the details. - We use schema-based knowledge to interpret current situations and fill in the gaps in our memory. - Memories may be distorted so that events map on to existing schemas, e.g. if we have a stereotype that robbers wear masks we may as witnesses report seeing a mask worn when in fact the robber wore dark glasses or goggles. - We use schemas to help us guess what probably happened ...

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