Schemas and Scripts
A schema is simply an organized set of knowledge about specific items and events. Schemas give a general or common understanding of how things are. Schemas are not only a way to organize information but also influence our perception and interpretation of new things or experiences. A script is a schema with a particular order or sequence. For example, there is a common schema and script for driving a car. If I told a story about how a man left his house, got into his car, and went for a drive at night, we would assume that he had turned on his lights between getting in his car and going for a drive even though we are not told so. The general information about driving a car would be the schema and the sequence of events in driving the car would be the script, or a schema in a particular order.
Read more about this topic: Organizing Knowledge Cognitively