Schema are mental structures used for organizing the information that a person comes in contact with on a daily basis.  It is made up of traces (records of experience in the brain's nerve cells) of symbols, images, experiences, and meaning that are recorded and stored for recollection.  They can be thought of as general ideas about people, one's self, or social roles (Devito 2005).  

The schema for the broad concept of "animals."  There are many categories within this domain, and such categories can be broken down further into subcategories.  The images and ideas present for each category may vary for each person because a schema is created according to a person's subjective experiences and memories.