Cognitive Script Theory

Scripts

A script is a form of schema. Schemas work to organize and structure inferred sociocultural knowledge acquired through experience, interaction, and observation into a general structure of sequences pertaining to a context, situation, or event that can be recalled in the future. Cognitive scripts and social scripts are often used interchangeably; however, cognitive scripts should not be confused with social scripts. Social script refers to an overarching social construct of which any given individual may or may not be aware, whereas cognitive script refers to an individual's processes that result from interaction with social scripts.

Cognitive script theory describes the way that people, on an individual level, write scripts for how they should attend to situations in the future. The scripts comprise actors, actions, and props, and they generally dictate who the individuals are, what they should be doing, and how actions are ordered in a situation. Scripts help people to understand situations by virtue of previous experience, using inferential knowledge to work toward a goal. Scripts are acquired through participation and observation over the course of life. Abelson was clear that acquiring scripts through observation could be vicarious and gave the example of reading.

Scripts are activated through recognizing similarities between a situation and previous experience. Once activated, scripts work to organize, make sense of, predict the outcome, or offer expectations for a specific context, situation, or event using the associated inferences. Enacting a script provides direction as to how a situation should be processed toward the end goal. Scripts rely on inferences made from norms of typical or standard situations, events, or contexts. Because enacted scripts are based on experiences outside the new situation, the script can be wrong and enacting it can lead to a violation of expectations. Beyond understanding the expectations, sequences, and roles of a situation, behaving or performing a script refers to taking on a role-specific situation.

Consider this variant of Schank and Abelson's restaurant script. When one goes to a restaurant, one knows several things: For instance, one goes to restaurants to eat, there will be some choice as to what we eat, and one will have to pay for the food and service. One also knows that not all restaurants are the same. When one goes to a new restaurant, one looks for clues as to how it works, whether one is expected to order at a counter, wait to be seated, or seat oneself, for example. The restaurant script allows one to make inferences about how the new restaurant will work in consideration of other experiences at restaurants similar to the new one.

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