What Are Schemas in Psychology?

In psychology, “mental patterns,” “schemas,” or “mental frameworks” are patterns of thought created by the brain to organize and understand the information it receives.

How can new information find its place alongside what you already know? What, then, do you expect from an experience, a person, or a situation?

A schema may seem like a kind of neural shortcut.It is as though your brain creates templates with blanks waiting to be filled.

But although schemas are usefulin helping you navigate a complex world, they also have drawbacks.

Why do we need schemas?

During childhood, we needed to learn how to adapt to and manage our human nature, make sense of everything around us, and find our place in our environment.Schemas are therefore a form of mental adaptation.

A simple example of a schema could be a child learningthat a red, round fruit is an apple. A tomato then appears and fits the apple schema. The child tastes it and discovers that it does not taste like an apple. The child therefore concludes that it is a special kind of apple containing many seeds. It is then explained to the child that this is a tomato, and a new schema is formed.

Jean Piaget, the Swiss clinical psychologist who was the first to discuss schemas in psychology, called the process of a child labeling a tomato an apple “assimilation”—responding in ways that resemble existing schemas. Changing a schema—an apple with more seeds—is called “accommodation”; so is building a new schema—a tomato.

Other forms of schemas can be more complex. For example, a child may love their mother deeply. If the mother dies while the child is still young, the child may form the schema thatif you love someone, you will be abandoned, so loving someone is not a good idea.

When schemas “fail”...

The second example above may now give you an idea of how a schema can become limiting.

Schemas give us strong expectations.As adults, we may become inflexible about such expectations and put on blinders, shutting out anything that does not fit our collection of schemas.

When we run into a professor at a social event, for example, we may feel uncomfortable seeing him holding a beer and laughing loudly instead of displaying the seriousness and professionalism we know him for. We may judge him harshly by placing him in what is called a “social role,” rather than accepting that he has a full and complex life just like us.

Prejudices and stereotypes are forms of schemas that have become rigid.If we believe that foreigners are “dangerous,” we may go to great lengths to find simple reasons not to accept our kind neighbors who come from a different culture. Someone might say, for example, “Look! He did not put out the garbage bag properly!” He has suddenly become a threat to the safety of your neighborhood.

As this illustrates, schemas also determine where we direct our attention.

This creates what are known as“cognitive distortions”—patterns of thinking that are disconnected from reality.

The self-schema—what you think about yourself

We all have self-schemas—deeply rooted ways of thinking about ourselves.

Some people focus excessively on their positive qualities and may even forget their negative ones or alter the facts. They may say they did better at school than they actually did, had more attractive romantic partners than they really had, or were fitter than they truly were.

Of course, many of us have the opposite kind of self-schema. Our patterns of thought are often more self-critical and negative, and we may forget or conceal our achievements. Depression and low self-esteem may often be the result.

We can also use schemas to prevent ourselves from developing self-knowledge and growing as people. We may develop harsh rules to control ourselves.

Suppose you have a schema that you are shy, for example, but then begin a new job and find yourself opening up to others and feeling comfortable. This does not fit the “script” of the shy person you created for yourself. You may then adjust your behavior instead of revising your view of your personality. You may refuse every invitation to go out with your colleagues rather than take a chance and move beyond your shyness.

Psychologists have also found that we tend to remain with people who reinforce our self-schemas. If you have negative schemas, therefore, you may unconsciously choose to stay with people who see you negatively or criticize you. This naturally strengthens your schemas.

What is schema therapy? Therapy for mental schemas

Schema therapy is a relatively new therapeutic approach that combines elements of cognitive behavioral therapy, psychodynamic therapy, and various forms of therapy related toattachment theory..

These forms of therapy use the term “schema” to refer to patterns or “forms” of thinking that we develop as children and that make our ways of relating and behaving unhealthy as adults. These include things such as the “abandonment schema” and the “self-sacrifice schema.” Behind every schema is a need that was not met.The abandonment schema, for example, conceals an unmet need to feel safe and cared for..  

Schema therapy was originally designed for people with psychological disorders or those who found that other forms of therapy had not worked for them.

But schema therapy is now helping anyone who experiences depression or relationship difficulties and wants to increase their self-awareness.

Source:Harley Therapy

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