Schemas are theory-based: Because schemas are based on our prior expectations and social knowledge, they have been described as “theory-based” structures that organize experience social. We use these background theories to make sense of new situations and encounters, suggesting that schematic processing is driven by background theories and hypotheses rather than actual environmental data (Fiske & Taylor, 1991). Impact of schemas on memory: Human memory is largely reconstructive. We usually don't remember all the precise details of events in a given situation. Instead, we usually remember part of what happened, which is enough to identify the appropriate schema, and then we rely on that schema to fill in other details. Schemas organize information in memory and therefore affect what we remember and what we forget. When we try to remember something, we are more likely to remember details that are consistent with our schemas than those that are inconsistent (Cohen, 1981). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Impact of Schemas on Inferences in Social Interactions: Schemas affect the inferences we make about people and other social entities (Fiske & Taylor, 1991). They provide missing facts when gaps exist in our knowledge. If we know some facts about a person but ignore others, we fill in the gaps by inserting assumptions consistent with our schema for that person. For example, if you know your roommate is a non-smoker, you can assume that he or she won't spend time with your new friend who smokes. However, in some cases the use of schemas can lead to erroneous inferences. If the diagram is incomplete or does not reflect reality, errors in our deductions are likely. Impact of Schemas on Social Judgments: Schemas can influence our judgments or feelings about people and other entities. On the one hand, the schemas themselves can be organized in terms of evaluative dimensions; this is especially true for person schemas. Schemas serve to evaluate social stimuli as good or bad, normal or abnormal, positive or negative, and some contain a strong affective component; so that when they are activated, the associated emotion is signaled. Schemas are integrated and stable in nature: once developed and reinforced through use, schemas become integrated structures. Even when only one of its components is accessed in a given situation, strong associative links between the components activate the schema as a unitary whole (Fiske & Dyer, 1985). Well-developed schemas that are activated frequently resist change and persist, even in the face of disconfirming evidence. Works Cited Cohen, R.L. (1981). On the generality of some laws of memory. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 22(4), 267-281. Fiske, S.T. and Taylor, S.E. (1991). Social Cognition (2nd ed.). McGraw-Hill. Fiske, S.T. and Dyer, L.M. (1985). Structures of social life: The four elementary forms of human relationships. The Free Press. Hinkle, SE and Brown, CM (1990). Schema activation and information processing in the expression of social stereotypes. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 16(1), 33-47. Markus, H. and Zajonc, R.B. (1985). The cognitive perspective in social psychology. In G. Lindzey & E. Aronson (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology (3rd ed., Vol. 1, pp. 137-230). Random, &.