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Lecture Notes

In addition to schemas, we also utilize scripts a lot in daily life. A script is really a schema with a time line. So if I was to ask you, "Talk me through going to a movie theatre; what would that be like?" you might talk about going in the front door, you pay for the ticket, then you go to the concession stand and make your purchases of popcorn and soda. You go to the ticket agent; they're going to tear the ticket in half and point you to the theatre. Once you get into the theatre, you're going to walk, find your seat. Hopefully at this point, you, at least for the people around you, you silence your phone. Maybe you say it's okay to talk during previews, but it's generally you don't talk when the movie starts. You could go through a lot of different details, and of course it might vary. But again, there's a sort of timeline involved; and any of this kinds  of activities that we go through throughout the day—whether it's your wakeup routine in the morning, attending class, or going to a restaurant—these scripts help us to get through and know what are the things to do and what's that process kind of looks like? So this is another important ingredient of thought that really influences our cognition.