Recall is active rebuilding, not replay
Reconstructive memory says remembering is an active process: we store only fragments and the gist, and at recall these are rebuilt using the schemas we hold, which fill gaps with what we expect. Recall is shaped by past experience, expectation and culture, so it can feel confident yet be inaccurate. Bartlett (Remembering, 1932) showed two honest witnesses recall one event differently, each rebuilding it through their own schemas.
Bullet a: how schemas are formed
A schema is a framework of prior knowledge, built from experience, used to make sense of new information. Bullet a asks how they form: through repeated experience abstracted into one framework; through other people, so a schema forms without first-hand experience; through the culture we grow up in; and through updating, as fitting experience strengthens it and odd experience modifies it.
Bullet b: schemas act at all three stages
Bullet b is a separate mark-earner: name the stage. At encoding, attention favours what the schema expects, so odd detail may be missed. In storage, the trace drifts towards the schema. At retrieval, fragments are rebuilt and the schema fills gaps with expected detail — giving omission, rationalisation, transformation and shortening. Material that fits a schema is easier to recall, so schemas also make memory efficient.
Drawn from real examiner reports.
Reconstructive memory is not the MSM
Both statements sit in the same block, so answers slide between them. Reconstructive memory (2.1.4) makes memory an active process rebuilt through schemas, so recall is distorted; the multi-store model (2.1.5) makes it a structure of stores moved by attention and rehearsal. An answer beginning "memory has three stores" has answered the wrong statement, however accurate.
Reconstructive memory itself is handled well (June 2023 P1 Q9a), so this trap costs marks through mis-reading the statement rather than through weak knowledge.
Theory (2.1.4) vs the study (2.2.1)
Bartlett appears twice: as the theory of reconstructive memory (2.1.4) and as the study, War of the Ghosts (2.2.1). For the theory, answer with schemas and their effect at encoding, storage and retrieval. For the study, give its aim, procedure and findings. "Use the study to justify" means a theory answer scores nothing, and vice versa.
Bartlett is applied without separate study knowledge at Nov 2021 P1 Q9, while the findings themselves were recalled reasonably at Nov 2020 P1 Q5 — both small COVID-era cohorts, so treat as indicative. The wider "use study X, answered with theory X" failure is at June 2022 P2 Q32.
Stating the theory is not applying it
Candidates often define reconstructive memory accurately but never touch the scenario — that is AO1 only, and since AO3 needs AO2 an unapplied answer can lose the evaluation marks too. Not application: the character''s name, repeating the stem, copying a line. Application reads a specific detail through the theory, e.g. a weapon the witness never actually saw.
Purely generic responses on application questions cannot be credited (June 2019 P1 Summary), and the character's name alone is not application (June 2022 P1 Q4b).
Saying the word back is not a definition
A tautology repeats the term instead of defining it — "reconstructive memory is reconstructing a memory". It earns nothing: no mechanism is shown. A definition needs the mechanism — only fragments are stored, then rebuilt using schemas at recall. Likewise a schema is a framework of prior knowledge for making sense of new information, not just "what you know".
Tautological definitions of a memory process are recorded at Nov 2020 P1 Q6, and defining the term when a feature was asked for at June 2023 P1 Q6.
Naming a point without justifying it
"A strength is that it is useful" names a point and stops. A creditworthy evaluation has three parts: the point, why it follows from the theory, and the consequence. E.g. the theory explains why honest eyewitnesses are inaccurate, because gaps are filled from a schema, so it accounts for real errors a store model cannot. Identifying is only the first part.
Identification without justification on strength and weakness items is recorded at June 2024 P1 Q11b and Q15b.
Two definitions are not a difference
"Describe the difference" and "compare" set the ideas against each other, not two definitions side by side, which leaves the contrast implicit — one mark at most. A connective (whereas) earns the second mark: reconstructive memory rebuilds fragments through schemas, whereas the multi-store model uses fixed stores linked by attention and rehearsal.
The describe-the-difference failure — two definitions with no connective, credited as one mark — is recorded at June 2019 P1 Q6 and June 2022 P1 Q7.
Not "always wrong"; a schema is not a store
Two distortions. Not "always wrong": recall is reconstructed, not worthless — the gist is often recalled well, unexpected detail is vulnerable, and distortion runs towards the schema. A schema is not a store but a framework of expectations; confusing them slides into the multi-store model (2.1.5).
Not lying; ecological validity is not proof
Reconstruction is not lying: the person believes it completely (filling-in is outside awareness), so calling a witness a liar misreads the theory and spoils the AO3, whose point is that honest witnesses err. Validity is not proof: realistic material fits everyday memory better than word lists, but means less control, so schemas cannot be proven the sole cause.
The digest records identification without justification on evaluation items at June 2024 P1 Q11b and Q15b, and the shortfall of AO3 and balance in extended answers at June 2023 P1 Q22 and June 2024 P1 Q26.
Reaching the 7-9 band on the 9-mark Assess
The 9-mark Assess splits AO1 3 / AO2 3 / AO3 3, and the yearly weakness is AO3 and balance. Define the theory and schema, apply the scenario''s own details, then give a supported strength and weakness, and a conclusion that follows.
Match the command word
Define: the mechanism, not the word repeated. Describe (2): two unique points. Explain (2): a point plus its scenario link. Explain a strength/weakness (4): justify and apply each point. Assess (9): knowledge, application, balanced evaluation, conclusion.
Write AO2 before AO3, in prose
Writing order is free, but starting with AO3 leaves the AO2 too thin to credit, and since AO3 needs AO2 that forfeits the marks. Apply the theory first, then evaluate. Write in continuous prose: bullet-pointed essays are not accepted.
Lead with the mechanism, then the study
A useful 2.1.4 habit: lead with the mechanism, then add Bartlett in one line — recall is distorted because storage gaps are filled from the reader''s schema, which he saw as unfamiliar detail became familiar across retellings. Keep it on the theory, not the study.
Reconstructive memory — the theory that remembering is an active process in which stored fragments of an event are rebuilt at recall, using existing schemas, so what is recalled is not an exact copy of the event.
Schema — a mental framework of prior knowledge, built from past experience, used to make sense of new information and to tell us what to expect.
Omission — leaving out detail that does not fit the schema.
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