In psychology and cognitive science, a schema is a pattern of thought or behavior that organizes categories of information and the relationships among them). Schemas are mental frameworks that help individuals organize, process, and store information about their environment. They allow us to interpret new experiences through the lens of pre-existing schemas. Schemas can include mental models, social schemas, stereotypes, social roles, scripts, worldviews, heuristics, and archetypes).

Piagets theory of development suggests that children construct a series of schemata based on the interactions they experience to help them understand the world). Schemas are not just frameworks to be called upon, but are active processes for solving problems and interacting with the world). Schemas can be changed and reconstructed throughout a persons life through assimilation and accommodation.

Schemas have been pivotal in influencing theories of learning as well as in teacher instruction methods. They are a major determinant of how people think, feel, behave, and interact socially. People generally accept their schemas as truths about the world, outside of awareness, despite how they influence the processing of experiences. Schema therapy is an integrative therapy approach and theoretical framework used to treat patients, most often with personality disorders.