GCSE Psychology Paper 1 Cognition and behaviour, Exams of Psychology

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GCSE Psychology

Paper 1

Cognition and behaviour

Revision guide

NAME: ___________________________________________________________

EXAM DATES

FRIDAY 24

TH

MAY 2019 MONDAY 3

RD

JUNE 2019

GOLDEN RULE

ANSWER EVERY QUESTION ON THE PAPER!

YOU CAN ONLY GAIN MARKS IF YOU WRITE SOMETHING!

EXAM TIPS

Use a template like the one below to help structure your 9 mark answers

AIM: What did the researcher want to find out?

METHOD : How was the study carried out?

RESULTS : What did the researcher find?

CONCLUSION : What can the researchers now say about people in general?

EVALUATION PEE #1: EVALUATION PEE #2:

EXAM TIPS

If you struggle to remember evaluation, use the prompts below to help!

LESSON #1 – INTRO TO ENCODING, STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL

ENCODING

• Changing information so it can be held in our brains

THERE ARE 3 TYPES OF ENCODING:

VISUAL – Storing info

based on the way it

looks (i.e. the colour of

your dog)

ACOUSTIC – Storing

info based on the way

it sounds (i.e. what

noise your dog makes)

SEMAN T IC – Storing

info based on its

meaning (i.e. knowing

what the word dog

means)

EXAM PRACTICE

1) Which one of the following is a description of storage? [1 mark]

a) Putting information into your memory

b) Recalling information

c) Learning information in terms of how it sounds

d) Holding information in your memory

2) Use your knowledge of psychology to explain how your memories are encoded. Give an

example in your answer. [2 marks]

3) Explain what is meant by each of the following terms: ‘encoding’ and ‘retrieval’ [4 marks]

STORAGE

• Keeping the information in your brain for a period

of time

THERE ARE 2 TYPES OF STORAGE:

SHORT-TERM – holding a

limited amount info for

approximately 18-30 seconds

LONG TERM – holding info

for up to a lifetime

RETRIEVAL

• Locating stored information and using it

THERE ARE 3 TYPES OF RETRIEVAL:

RECOG-NITION –

Retrieving info

whilst having

options to choose

from (i.e. multiple

choice questions)

CUED RECALL –

Retrieving

information whilst

being given a cue

(i.e. it begins with

the letter A)

FREE RECALL –

Retrieving

information without

cues/ options (i.e.

what is the capital

of France? Paris!)

LESSON #2 – A STUDY OF ENCODING BY BADDELEY (1966) - DESCRIPTION

BADDELEY (1966) - ENCODING

AO1 DESCRIPTION AO3 EVALUATION

A

To see how information is coded in STM and

LTM. We cannot say for sure that other people would

have acted in the same way during this study.

Baddeley used students and therefore we cannot

generalise the findings to the rest of the

population – especially people who aren't students.

this is a disadvantage because we are not able to

apply the findings to real life.

M

He gave different lists of words to groups

of participants to remember:

• Group 1 (Acoustically similar): words

sounded similar (cat, cab, can)

• Group 2 (Acoustically dissimilar): words

sounded different (pit, few, cow)

• Group 3 (Semantically similar): words

with similar meaning (great, large, big)

• Group 4 (Semantically dissimilar):

words with different meanings (good,

huge, hot)

Participants were shown the original words

and asked to recall them in the correct

order.

Participants only took part in one condition of the

experiment rather than several. This is an

advantage because taking part in several conditions

can mean the participant becomes bored or tired,

leading to inaccurate results. The participant also

might guess what the study is aiming to do and

show demand characteristics – acting in a way to

please the researcher.

R

When they had to recall immediately (STM

recall), they tended to perform worse with

acoustically similar words.

When they had to recall after 20 minutes

(LTM recall), they tended to perform worse

with semantically similar words.

The experiment took place in a lab setting which

was unnatural for participants. Being in a different

environment might have made them feel nervous or

under pressure and could have lead to inaccurate

results. We can say this study lacks ecological

validity and it is therefore a disadvantage as the

results might be inaccurate. C

This suggests that information is coded

acoustically in STM and semantically in

LTM.

LESSON #3 – A STUDY OF ENCODING BY BADDELEY (1966) - EVALUATION

EXAM PRACTICE

1) Research into encoding could be said to lack validity. State what is meant by a ‘lack of validity’.

Briefly explain why validity might or might not be an issue in a study that investigated encoding [

marks]

2) Imagine that you have been to asked to conduct a study to investigate encoding. Write a

hypothesis for this study. [2 marks]

3) Describe and evaluate one study that has investigated how memories are encoded. [4 marks]

PICK 2 EVALUATION POINTS

TO REMEMBER – NOT ALL 3!

LESSON #5 – THE MULTI-STORE MODEL - EVALUATION

MULTI-STORE MODEL

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES

A case study supports the theory of the MSM.

HM suffered from severe epilepsy and so he

underwent brain surgery to relieve his symptoms.

The procedure went wrong and when he woke up,

he was unable to form new memories. He was

unable to store memories into long-term memory

nor access any of his long-term memories. This

supports the MSM because it shows us that the

two memory stores must be different and unitary,

otherwise they would have both been damaged.

CA case study weakens the theory of the MSM.

KF had a motorbike accident and his short-term

memory was damaged. According to the MSM, KF

shouldn’t be able to access any of his short-term

memory if it was damaged. However, KF was able

to access visual information from his short-term

memory. This weakens the theory as it shows that

the short-term memory store can’t be a single

unit otherwise it would have all been damaged in

his accident. The MSM fails to explain why KF can

remember visual information.

The MSM has been useful in helping students to

revise for exams. The MSM states that we can

get information to enter our long-term memory by

rehearsing it. This has useful applications as

students can now repeat information over and

over in order for it to enter their long-term

memory. This is a strength as it shows how the

MSM has been useful in real life situations.

A weakness of the MSM is that is fails to explain

how we can manipulate information in our short-

term memory. Other researchers said the MSM

was too simple and therefore came up with their

own idea. The WMM states that information in

our short—term memory is directed to other

systems in order to be manipulated. This is a

weakness of the MSM as it fails to explain what

another theory can explain.

EXAM PRACTICE

1) Identify three features of short-term memory (STM). Refer to encoding, capacity and duration

in your answer [3 marks].

2) Explain how the multi-store model has increased our understanding of memory. [2 marks]

3) Describe and evaluate the multi-store model of memory. [4 marks]

PICK 2 EVALUATION POINTS

TO REMEMBER – NOT ALL 4!

Sensory store STM LTM

Coding Depends on stimulus Acoustically Semantically

Capacity Very limited 5 - 9 items Unlimited

Duration Less than 0.5 sec 18 - 30 seconds Unlimited

THE MULTI-STORE MODEL – KEY INFO

LESSON #6 – TYPES OF LONG-TERM MEMORY

EPISODIC

SEMANTIC

PROCEDURAL

TYPES OF LONG-TERM MEMORY

STRENGTHS

People who suffer from loss of memory due

to brain damage lose only certain kinds of

memory. An example of this is Clive Wearing.

He developed an infection in his brain that

meant he lost other types of memory whilst

his procedural memory remained intact. This

is a strength because it shows the types of

long-term memories are separate. If they

weren’t, all of Clive’s memory would have been

destroyed but that isn’t the case. This is an

example of supporting research.

Brain scans have shown separate locations in

the brain for each of the three types of

memory. Researchers have found that

episodic memory is associated with the right

prefrontal area, semantic memory is

associated with the left prefrontal area and

procedural memory is associated with the

motor area. This is a strength because it

shows that the types of long-term memories

are separate. If the memories were all in the

same area of the brain, it would be difficult

to say there are different types. This is an

example of supporting research.

WEAKNESSES

There isn’t a clear difference between

episodic and semantic memories. Most of our

memories could actually be classed as a

combination of episodic and semantic ones.

For example, your knowledge (semantic

memory) of your favourite band is closely

linked to your experiences of seeing them

perform (episodic memory). This is a

weakness because it suggests that the type

of long-term memories have been over

simplified. It doesn’t provide a clear

distinction between the different types,

especially semantic and episodic memories.

PICK 2 EVALUATION POINTS

TO REMEMBER – NOT ALL 3!

EXAM PRACTICE

1) Outline two strengths of the theory of types of

long-term memory [4 marks]

2) Explain what is meant by the terms ‘episodic

memory’, ‘semantic memory’ and ‘procedural

memory’ [6 marks]

LESSON #9 – A STUDY OF RECONSTRUCTIVE MEMORY BY BARTLETT (1932) - DESCRIPTION

BARTLETT (1932) – RECONSTRUCTIVE MEMORY

AO1 DESCRIPTION AO3 EVALUATION

A

to investigate how memories are reconstructed

when people are asked to recall a story they

have been told.

We cannot say for sure that other people would

have acted in the same way during this study.

Bartlett used students and therefore we cannot

generalise the findings to the rest of the

population – especially people who aren't

students. this is a disadvantage because we are

not able to apply the findings to real life.

M

In order to investigate this, Bartlett used 20

people from a university in the UK. He told

them a story (The War of the Ghosts) and then

asked them to recall it 15 minutes later to

another participant. This then repeated itself,

almost like a game of Chinese whispers.

Participants were then asked to recall the story

after a few days, weeks, months and years.

The experiment took place in a lab setting which

was unnatural for participants. Being in a

different environment might have made them

feel nervous or under pressure and could have

lead to inaccurate results. We can say this study

lacks ecological validity and it is therefore a

disadvantage as the results might be inaccurate.

R

Participants remembered fragments of the

story and then retold it with small changes,

based on what they expect from a social

situation. The story became shorter and some

phrases were changed based on the

participants’ cultures.

Students were found to have altered the story

so it fit into their own experiences and culture.

For example instead of canoes, students

recalled the mode of transport being cars and

weapons as guns instead of bow and arrows.

Participants took part in several tests during the

experiment rather than just one. This is a

disadvantage because taking part in several

conditions can mean the participant becomes

bored or tired, leading to inaccurate results. The

participant also might guess what the study is

aiming to do and show demand characteristics –

acting in a way to please the researcher.

C

People remember fragments of memories and

reconstruct the memory based on what they

expect to happen, based on their social

expectations

KEY STUDY - IMPORTANT

LESSON #10 – A STUDY OF RECONSTRUCTIVE MEMORY BY BARTLETT (1932) - EVALUATION

PICK 2 EVALUATION POINTS

TO REMEMBER – NOT ALL 3!

Reconstructive memory

The idea that we only store some parts of

memories and fill in the gaps with our

expectations when it comes to telling it so it

makes sense.

KEY STUDY - IMPORTANT

EXAM PRACTICE #

1. Outline what is meant by reconstructive

memory [2 marks]

2. Outline two weaknesses of Bartlett’s

study [4 marks]

3. Describe and evaluate Bartlett’s

reconstructive memory study [9 marks]

LESSON #11 – THEORY OF RECONSTRUCTIVE MEMORY

BARTLETT – RECONSTRUCTIVE MEMORY THEORY

AO1 DESCRIPTION AO3 EVALUATION

The reconstructive memory theory is concerned with

what happens when information is stored and

retrieved from memory.

Some people think memory is like a DVD where we can

mentally play back events and recall them exactly the

way they happened, however, this is not the case.

We tend to try and reconstruct memories on the basis

of what we think probably happened, what usually

happens, or what must have happened. Bartlett said

that we store fragments of information and when we

need to recall it, we piece these fragments together

to make sense. Sometimes elements may be missing

which is when we ‘fill in the gaps’, leading to an

inaccurate memory.

Individuals use schemas (packets of information to

help understand the world based upon previous

experience) to try and make sense of new information.

For example, if we saw a car crash and the police

interviewed us, we may tell them we are sure that we

saw a lot of broken glass on the road after the

accident (even though there may not have been any!).

The reason for such an inaccurate memory may be

that we thought that that’s what usually/probably

happens when two cars crash based upon previous

experience.

The theory of reconstructive memory has a

wide range of supporting evidence. For

example, Bartlett’s War of the Ghosts study

found that people do indeed reconstruct

their memories based on what they think

should have happened or probably would have

happened

The theory of reconstructive memory

explains how memories can change but it fails

to explain how memories are stored and

retrieved, among other things. A theory that

does explain these processes is the multi-

store model of memory. This is a

disadvantage for the theory of

reconstructive memory as it fails to explain

these basic memory processes.

Bartlett conducted research that was

investigating his own theory. We could say

that his study may not be credible as he

conducted it himself. He may have adjusted

the results to suit his theory and therefore

we cannot rely on the study too much.

PICK 2 EVALUATION POINTS

TO REMEMBER – NOT ALL 3!

EXAM PRACTICE #

1. Ann and Martyn were at the bank when a person attempted to rob it. Later, they

described the incident differently. Ann said the incident happened in a different order

than Martyn recalled. She remembered the robber wearing different clothes to what

Martyn recalled.

Use your knowledge of the theory of reconstructive memory to explain why Ann and

Martyn have different memories of the same event. [6 marks]

2. Outline two criticisms of the theory of reconstructive memory [4 marks]

GODDEN AND BADDELEY (1975)

AO1 DESCRIPTION AO3 EVALUATION

A

To see if the context of learning and

recall has an impact on how many words

we remember

The research only uses 18 participants and

therefore it is really difficult to be able to

generalise the findings to the wider population.

We can’t really say that the actions of 18 people

is similar to the actions of everyone else. This is

a weakness of the study.

M

The participants were divers. There were

18 participants in total. All of the divers

were given the same list of 36 unrelated

words to learn. After listening to the

word lists, they were tested to see how

many words they could recall. They

listened to the words on the beach (dry)

or in the water (wet) and then recalled on

the beach (dry) or in the water (wet).

Research into the impact of context on the

accuracy of memory has helped the police when

they are interviewing witnesses. The police can

take the witness back to the scene of the crime

to refresh their memory of what happened.

R

The divers remembered the most words

when the learning and recall environment

matched (for example beach – beach and

ocean – ocean).

The study was a repeated measures design as

participants took part in all conditions (all 6 word

lists). This could have led to participants

becoming bored and tired of the research

meaning that the results have a possibility of

being inaccurate.

C

Learning and recalling information in the

same context improves the accuracy of

memory.

EXAM PRACTICE #

1. Outline one criticism of research into context affects the accuracy of memory. [

marks]

2. Describe the results and conclusion of one study that investigated how context

impacts the accuracy of memory. [4 marks]

LESSON #13 – A STUDY OF CONTEXT BY GODDEN AND BADDELEY (1975)

PICK 2 EVALUATION POINTS

TO REMEMBER – NOT ALL 3!

CPAGETT 18/

LESSON #14 – A STUDY OF FALSE MEMORIES BY LOFTUS AND PICKRELL (1995)

LOFTUS AND PICKRELL (1995)

AO1 DESCRIPTION AO3 EVALUATION

A

To see if false memories could be created in

participants through suggestion in order to test the

existence of repressed and false memories.

The study used 21 females and only 3

males. This means that the study can be

criticised for not representing males and

therefore the results cannot be

generalised to males.

M

The study included 24 participants (3 males and 21

females) ranging in age from 18 to 53. For each

participant, a relative was also contacted. The

participants were given 4 short stories about their

childhood events that had been obtained from

relatives. 3 of the stories were true and one of them

was false. The false story was about getting lost in a

shopping mall and being rescued by an elderly woman.

The participants were asked to read each story and

write down what they remembered about each one. A

week later, participants were debriefed.

Research into false memories has shown

us how people may remember things that

may not have actually happened. This has

influenced the court system in the UK as

eyewitness testimonies are not primarily

used anymore. This shows how useful the

research has been and is therefore a

strength.

R

6 of the participants (25%) recalled the false story

fully or partially.

This study involved planting false

memories into people’s minds and the

false memory used in this study was quite

traumatic. This could have caused

significant harm and distress to the

participants and therefore is a weakness

of the study

C

This research suggests that the simple act of

imagining an event has the potential of creating and

implanting a false memory in a person. Even though

only a small number (25%) believe the false memory

was true, it is still surprising to see how false

memories can be planted.

EXAM PRACTICE #

1. Outline one criticism of research into how false memory affects the accuracy of

memory. [2 marks]

2. Describe the results and conclusion of one study that investigated false memory. [

marks]

3. Mark, a full-time clothes model was arrested for stealing a woman’s handbag from a

café. The victim, called Debbie, identified him as stealing her handbag and picked him

out from a line-up. He had an alibi and couldn’t have done it as he was out of the

country working. The victim admitted she had seen a picture of Mark in a magazine she

was reading before her handbag was stolen.

Outline what is meant by false memory and how it affected the accuracy of Debbie’s

memory of the theft of her handbag. [4 marks]

PICK 2 EVALUATION POINTS

TO REMEMBER – NOT ALL 3!

KEYWORD DEFINITION

LONG-TERM

MEMORY

EPISODIC

MEMORY

SEMANTIC

MEMORY

PROCEDURAL

MEMORY

PRIMACY EFFECT

RECENCY EFFECT

SERIAL POSITION

EFFECT

RECONSTRUCTIVE

MEMORY

INTERFERENCE

PROACTIVE

INTERFERENCE

RETROACTIVE

INTERFERENCE

CONTEXT

FALSE MEMORIES

# Content

1 Sensations and perception

2 Depth cues

3 Visual illusions

4 Gibson’s direct theory of perception (AO1 + AO3)

5 Gregory’s constructive theory of perception (AO1 + AO3)

6 Factors affecting perception: Culture

7 Factors affecting perception: Emotions

8 Factors affecting perception: Motivation: Gilchrist and Nesberg

9

Factors affecting perception: Perceptual set and expectation:

Bruner and Minturn

TOPIC 2 - PERCEPTION

What do I need to know for the perception topic?