The roles of schemata in memory for text

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Abstract
Based on studies of memory for prose, processing a story from a given perspective has been proposed to create two memory representations: an overall representation of the story as a whole and a more enduring schematic trace containing only perspective‐consistent information. Given this conceptualization, any recall asked for when only schematic representations are accessible should show some form of schematic dominance. To examine this, subjects were given two encoding perspectives while the overall representation was still in memory, and they were also given both immediate and delayed recall tests. The immediate recall test replicated previous experimental procedures and results assessing memory for the passages while both representations were accessible. The delayed recall test assessed memory for the passages when only schematic representations were accessible. Delayed recall test results did not show the proposed schematic dominance, suggesting a different interpretation of the immediate test findings.