Classic study: Bartlett (1932) War of the Ghosts

Aim and procedure

Aim: to investigate whether prior knowledge and cultural background affect memory for an unfamiliar story, and whether memory is reconstructive.

Participants: 20 British adults (7 men, 13 women), who believed they were being tested on recall accuracy.

Material: 'The War of the Ghosts', a Native American folk tale with unfamiliar names, ideas and an ending in which 'something black came out of his mouth'.

Procedure: repeated reproduction: each participant read the story twice to themselves and wrote it out about 15 minutes later, then again at later intervals ranging from hours to years. (Bartlett also used serial reproduction, where one person's version is passed to the next.)

Results

• Changes appeared from the first recall and continued with each reproduction, though the order of events and main theme were mostly kept.
• Omission: unfamiliar details were dropped; many left out or changed the title.
• Transformation / familiarisation: canoes became boats, paddles became oars, hunting seals became fishing.
• Rationalisation: confusing parts were explained away; in later recalls the ghosts were often left out and it became a fight between tribes.
• Shortening: the story shrank from about 330 words to about 180; the shortest versions came after the longest delays.

Conclusions and evaluation

Conclusions: accurate recall is the exception; memory is reconstructed using schemas from one's own culture, making the story more conventional and meaningful ('effort after meaning').

Strengths: the standard story makes it replicable; it led to an influential theory with real-world uses (eyewitness testimony).

Weaknesses: poorly controlled: recall was done when convenient (Bartlett once asked a participant to recall it on meeting her by chance two years later); no standard instructions, so some changes may be deliberate guessing; subjective judgement of changes; small British-only sample.

Worked example

Calculate the percentage reduction in length when the story went from about 330 words to about 180 words.

1. Reduction = 330 - 180 = 150 words.
2. 150 / 330 x 100 = 45.5%.

Answer: About a 45.5% reduction.

Check yourself

1. The story shrank from about 330 words to about 180 words. What fraction of the original length remained? Give your answer to 2 decimal places.
   Show answer

   0.55. 180 / 330 = 0.55.

2. Bartlett had 20 participants, of whom 13 were women. What percentage were men?
   Show answer

   35 %. 7 / 20 x 100 = 35%.

3. In repeated reproduction, participants
   • pass the story on to another person
   • recall the same story several times over increasing delays
   • hear a different story each time
   • recall the story only once
   Show answer

   recall the same story several times over increasing delays. The same person reproduces the story again and again.

4. Why did Bartlett choose a Native American folk tale?
   • It was very short and simple
   • It was well known to all participants
   • It was unfamiliar to British participants, so schema effects would show clearly
   • It contained no names
   Show answer

   It was unfamiliar to British participants, so schema effects would show clearly. Unfamiliar content clashes with participants' schemas.

5. Which finding is an example of rationalisation?
   • Leaving out the ghosts and describing an ordinary fight between tribes
   • Recalling the story word for word
   • Changing paddles into oars
   • Writing a longer version each time
   Show answer

   Leaving out the ghosts and describing an ordinary fight between tribes. Rationalisation makes the strange parts make sense.

6. Give one weakness of Bartlett's (1932) study.
   Show answer

   It lacked control: participants recalled the story at different, uncontrolled times and without standard instructions, so the results are less reliable.. Poor control, subjective scoring and a small sample are key criticisms.

Practise with instant feedback Print this lesson

Sources

• Pearson Edexcel International Advanced Subsidiary/Advanced Level in Psychology specification (issue January 2026)
• Pearson International A Level Psychology component guide: WPS01
• IAL Psychology revision site: Bartlett (1932)
• IAL Psychology revision site: Reconstructive memory

Last updated 8 November 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.