Schema

A Schema (or Cognitive Schema) is a cognitive system which helps us organize and make sense of information. For example, you may have a conceptual framework or developed a schema that all homeless people are rude. Because of this schema, you organize your actions around it and more readily look for information that supports this view while discarding information that disagrees with this perspective. Schemas exert a great deal of influence over us and sometimes hinder us from remembering new information because it does not fit into our cognitive framework.