Schemata are mental frameworks or concepts we use to organize and understand the world. We use schemata every day. If you see an animal, you can quickly decide if it's a bird, mammal, reptile or fish. These basic animal concepts are schemata. When you go into a restaurant, you have a certain order of events that you expect to happen. That's because you have a schema for the concept of restaurant. We have schemata for every important category or structure that exists in our world.