Reconstructive memory is a theory of memory recall, which means the act of remembering is influenced by

cognitive processes including perception, imagination, semantic memory and beliefs, amongst others. People view
their memories as being a coherent and truthful account of episodic memory and believe that their perspective is
completely true during recall. However, According to reconstructive theories of memory, ordinary memory is prone
to some errors. Errors in remembering can be broken down into errors of omission, which means some information
is left out of a memory report, this also happens in errors of commission, in which inaccurate information is added to
one’s memory. Reconstructive theories of memory generally hold that errors of omission and commission are related
to one another. In fact, according to reconstructive theories of memory, errors of commission occur because
reconstructive processes are used to fill in gaps in our memory reports. We see the study of these fascinating
memories in Bartlett, which was conducted in 1932.

The aim of this study was to see how one’s memory of a story would be affected by previous knowledge. In this
case, Bartlett wanted to see if cultural background/unfamiliarity can cause distortion when recalling the story later
on. He believed that memory is reconstructive and that we store and retrieve information based on our cultural
schemas. Bartlett told British participants a Native American legend “The war of the ghosts” filled with unfamiliar
names and concepts, and the story was put in order differently. The participants were allocated into 2 groups: one
group heard the story and had to reproduce it after a short while and do so repeatedly over time. The other group had
to recall the story and repeat it to someone else.

The results showed that there weren't any big differences in how the story was recalled. However, both groups
distorted the story as they tried to recall it. 3 types of distortion happened: assimilation - where they unconsciously
changed details to fit the British culture, levelling - the story became shorter as participants cut off parts that weren’t
considered important and sharpening as well as they changed the order of the story for it to fit with the participant’s
culture and they added details and/or emotions. This shows us that reconstructive memory can be influenced by our
perception and beliefs, as well as our brains tend to leave out unimportant information, which proves that
reconstructive memory is relevant.