Schema (Psychology)

In psychology and cognitive science, a schema describes a pattern of thought or behavior that organizes categories of information and the relationships among them, a mental structure of preconceived ideas or a framework for organizing and perceiving new information. Schemata influence attention and the absorption of new knowledge, since people are more likely to notice what fits their existing schema and tend to reinterpret or distort contradictions to fit it instead; they are shaped in early childhood and tend to remain unchanged even when contradicted, though they help people organize new perceptions quickly. Examples include mental models, social schemas, stereotypes, social roles, scripts and worldviews, and in Jean Piaget's theory of development children construct a series of schemata from their interactions to help them understand the world. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/