Psychology Paper 1 AQA GCSE

What is an independent variable?

A factor that is manipulated or changed in an experiment

What is a dependant variable?

A factor that is measured or observed in an experiment

How to answer an evaluation question?

Answer with strengths and weaknesses

Evaluation Strengths

Reliability, Validity, Practical apllication, Ecological Validity, Ethical consideration, Other research

Evaluation Weaknesses

Bias, Ethical issue, Generalisability

Height in plane

Monocular depth cue, when things that are further away often appear to be positioned higher up.

Relative Size

Monocular depth cue, where objects that are larger are perceived as closer than smaller objects.

Occlusion

Monocular depth cue, where an object blocking another is perceived as closer.

Linear Perspective

Monocular depth cue, where parallel lines appear to meet as they go into the distance.

Convergence

Binocular depth cue, where the eyes turn inward to focus on an object, indicating its distance.

Retinal disparity

Binocular depth cue, where the slightly different images from each eye are combined by the brain to perceive depth.

Null Hypothesis

A statement that there is no effect or no difference, used as a default position in statistical testing. It serves as a baseline to compare against the alternative hypothesis.

Alternative Hypothesis

A prediction that one variable will affect the other.

Extraneous Variable

A third variable that may unknowingly be affecting the outcome of the study

Sampling Methods

• Random sampling

• Opportunity sampling

• Systematic sampling

• Stratified sampling

Murdock’s Serial Position study 1962

Aim:

• to prove the existence of the short-term and long-term memory

Study design:

• laboratory study  Participants were male and female students who had a requirement as part of their course to take part
  

Method:

• 16 participants were presented with a list of 20 words at a rate of 1 word per second until all 20 words had been presented. They were then tasked with recalling as many of the words as they could remember within 90 seconds.
  The test was repeated with the same participants over 80 times over a few days using different word lists each time.

Results:

• words at the end of the list and the beginning of the list were recalled the best because they were in short-term and long-term memory

• Words being recalled at the end of the list became known as the recency effect

• Words recalled at the beginning of the list came to be known as the primacy effect

• Words in the middle were the least remembered

Evaluating Murdock’s Serial Position study 1962

Strength - Lab study, controlled conditions

Weakness - Artificial task

Strength - Supporting research

Bartlett’s War of the Ghosts 1932

Aim:

• to see how memory is reconstructed and see cultural effects on reconstruction

Study design:

• Serial Reproduction

Method:

• participants read a Native American story and then retold it to others multiple times.

Results:

• the stories became shorter

• phrases were changed to fit Western culture

• memory was not accurate but an active process

Evaluating Bartlett’s War of the Ghosts 1932

Weakness - Lacks control

Strength - Retelling a story is more realistic, enhances the validity of his findings.

Weakness - Unusual story

Proactive interference

when an old memory interferes with something a person is trying to remember now.

Retroactive interference 

when a new memory interferes with old memories.

Gibson’s Direct Theory of Perception

The theory that our perceptual abilities are innate, perception happens directly. Perception and sensation are the same thing.

Evaluating Gibson’s Direct Theory of Perception

Strength - Real world meaning, used research from the real world, young infant research supports theory

Weakness - Can’t explain illusions, ignores effects of culture or experience (nurture)

Gregory’s Constructivist Theory of Perception

The theory that perception worked by making reasonable guesses about what we are seeing based on what it is most likely to be. 

Perception is an active process because it involves drawing inferences.

Perception is constructed using both sensations and stored knowledge

Gregory’s Theory of Perception Evaluation

Strenght - Support from research in other cultures

Weakness - How does perception start?

Gilchrist and Nesberg 1952 Motivation Study

Aim:

• To investigate how motivation affects a person’s perception.

Study design:

• Lab experiment

Method:

• 26 university students, 20 hours without food (experimental group) vs. normal meals (control group). Adjust brightness of food images shown on screen after a 15-second delay. 4 color images of meals. Conducted after lunchtime, 6-hour interval, and 20-hour interval.

Results:

• The control group showed very little difference in their memory of how bright the pictures were as time went on and adjusted them to be most accurate. The experimental group judged the pictures to be brighter the hungrier they became.

Evaluating Gilchrist and Nesberg's 1952 Motivation Study

Strength - Ecological validity

Strength - Similar studies support

Weakness - Ethical issue

Weakness - Not realistic, lab

Bruner and Minturn’s Perceptual Set Study on Expectation 1955

Aim: Bruner and Minturn conducted a study to investigate how expectations can direct (influence) perception.

Study design: Laboratory experiment, independant group

Method: Participents were either shown the sequence of latters or numbers from the ambiguous figure and were asked to draw and say what they saw.

Results: When expecting a number to come up, they saw 13. When they were expecting either letter a B was reported.

Evaluating Bruner and Minturn’s Perceptual Set Study on Expectation 1955

Weakness - Artificial task, ambiguous figures are uncommon

Weakness - Independant group design, may be a problem with individual differences between groups

Strength - can explain human errors

Ecological validity

The ability to generalize study findings to real-world settings

Hughes Policeman Doll Study 1978

What was the study’s aim?:  The study was conducted to see if children are able to see things from another person’s perspective at an earlier stage than Piaget’s theory of cognitive development suggested.

Study design: The study was conducted in a laboratory where there was control over extraneous variables. All of the procedures were standardised to ensure the study could be replicated to check for reliability. Thirty children between the ages of 3.5yrs and 5yrs took part in the study.

Method: The children were shown a model with walls that formed a cross with a policeman doll placed on the model. The child was asked to hide a “boy doll” and position it in such a way the policeman would not be able to see him. The policeman was placed in different positions on the model, and the child was then tasked with hiding the boy doll each time. If the child made mistakes they were told of this and allowed to try again.
After some trials, the actual experiment was conducted but this time with two policeman dolls with the child tasked with placing the boy doll in such a way that neither police doll could see it. The experiment was conducted three times so that a different section of the grid was left as the only hiding place each time.

Results: 90% of the children aged between 3.5yrs and 5yrs were able to hide the boy doll from the two policeman dolls.

Evaluating Hughes Policeman Doll Study 1978

Strength - more realistic than Piagets study

Weakness - researcher may have hinted to correct answers

McGarrigle and Donaldson’s Naughty Teddy Study 1974

Aim: McGarrigle and Donaldson conducted a study to see if children developed conservation skills at an age that was earlier than Piaget’s theory predicted if the change to the materials (counters) was accidental.

Study design: A laboratory setting was used where there was control over some of the extraneous variables. All procedures were standardised to ensure replicability and reliability of findings. Eighty (80) children between the ages of 4yrs and 6yrs old took part in the study.

Method: The children were shown two rows of counters and asked if they were the same in both rows. A glove puppet named “Naughty Teddy” was introduced and shown to “accidentally” mess up one of the rows in front of the child so the counters were spread out and the row looked longer. The experimenter pretended to be annoyed at “Naughty Teddy” and told the hand puppet off. The children were then asked if there were the same amount of counters in each row. The image below gives you an idea of the different ways this experiment has been conducted to test children on their conservation skills:

Results: 62% of children aged 4yrs to 6yrs stated that the counters remained the same in each row, therefore displaying their ability to conserve. Only 16% of children in this age range answered correctly when an adult made this change in Piaget’s conservation of numbers study.

Evaluating McGarrigle and Donaldson’s Naughty Teddy Study 1974

Weakness - all the participents were from the same school

Weakness - change wasn’t always noticed

Strength - challenges Piaget which helps the scientific process

How do you describe a study?

Aim, Study Design, Method, Results, Conclusion

Piaget's Four Stages of Development

Sensorimotor stage, Pre-operational stage, Concrete operational stage, Formal operational stage

Sensorimotor stage

From birth to approximately 2 years old, where infants learn through sensory experiences and manipulating objects.

Pre-operational stage

Lasting from approximately 2 to 7 years old, where children begin to engage in symbolic play and learn to manipulate symbols, but do not yet understand concrete logic and are egocentric

Concrete operational stage

Occurring from approximately 7 to 11 years old, where children begin to think logically about concrete events, understand the concept of conservation, and organize objects into categories.

What is the Formal Operational Stage?

11 years old and onward, where individuals can think abstractly, use logic, and understand hypothetical concepts.

Processes of memory

Encoding. storage, retrieval

Evaluating the multi-store model

Strength - supporting research, STM and LTM research and Serial position
Weakness - too simple,studies show more than one stm and ltm
Weakness - research in the 50’s and 60’s were artificial

Evaluating reconstructive memory

Strength - realistic research, Bartletts storytelling more realistic than lists

Weakness - suggets all memories are innaccurate

Strength - can explain issues with eyewitness, real world applicable

Nature

The argument that characteristics and behaviours are genetically influenced

Nurture

The argument that characteristics and behaviours are influenced by upbringing, environment and experiences.

The process of encoding

• Information taken into the memory is changed into a form that can be stored and later recalled.

• Information can be encoded semantically by what it means.

• Information can be encoded acoustically by how it sounds.

• Information can be encoded visually by how it looks.

The multi-store model of memory.

If we pay attention to information in our sensory store, it flows to the STM. Rehearsal moves it to LTM, where it can be held for a lifetime and retrieved anytime.

Cerebellum

Balance

Posture
Movement

Last to reach maturity

Located near top of spinal cord

Brain Stem

Connected to the spinal cord

Highly developed at birth

Autonomic functions

Carries motor and sensory nerves to the brain from the body and vice versa via spinal cord

4 key parts of the brain

Brain stem, cerebellum, Thalamus, cortex

What is Piaget's theory of cognitive development?

The theory of cognitive development that children move through four stages of mental development each characterized by different abilities and ways of thinking.

Cortex

All thinking and processing Happens in this area of the brain.

Randomised Sampling

• selection of participants can be done in a randomised way

• E.g drawing numbers from a hat

Strength- unbiased, can be more representative, reduces impact of investigator effect, increases the validity

Weakness- sample can be unbalanced, time consuming

Oppurtunity sampling

• asking those around you and the easiest available

• E.g. your school or class

Strength- Fast and easy

Weakness - greater chance of bias, results can be unreliable investigator effect can be higher

Systematic sampling

Systenatic sampling

• selecting every nth member in target population

Strength- no bias, can be representative, can be reliable

Weakness- chance of unrepresentalive, need a big sample size, time consuning

Stratified Sampling

• Sub groups (strata) within population are identified, participents from each strata are put in proportion to their occurance in the population

• E.g in schools there are stratas as teachers, staff, students etc. If teachers made up 10% of the total, the teacher sample must be 10%

Strength- representative, high reliability, validity

Weakness- impractical, difficult to execute, time consuming

Independant group design

• conducted with participents involved usually being split into two subgroups

• one group takes part in the exprimental condition and the other will not (control group)

Strength- no order effects, easier, lowers participent demand characteristics

Weakness- differences in groups could be due to participent variables, you need a large groups

Repeated Measures Design

• All particients are exposed to both conditions

• E.g A group is given the experimental conditions first and then the control conditions, results are compared

Strength - less effort, pasticipent variables eliminated, faster

Weakness- high risk of order effects, high risk demand charaderistics

Matched pairs

• Participents are tested before to be matched into pairs of similar characteristics

• E.g one pair is under experimental conditions and another is under control conditions, results from a pair are seen as one person

Strength- reduces participent variables, no order effects, easy setup

Weaknesses- time consuming, difficult to make matches

Structured interviews

Type of interview

• All participents are asked the same preset questiona in the same order

• questions are often closed questions (yes or no questions) but can also have open questions

Strengths: easily replicated, high reliability

deaknesses: Time consuming, social desirablity participent bias, lack qualitative data

Unstructured interview

Type of interview

• participents are free to discuss anything freely

• interviewers can devise new questions as they go

• each partipent is likely to be and asked something different

• mix of open and closed questions

Strengths: provides detail, allows explinations

Weaknesses: not replicable, hard to compade responses, time consuming

Questionaires

• survey method used to collect large amounts of info from a target group

• similar to structured interviews

Strengths- practical, easily replicated, reliable, valid

Weaknesses- can be confusing or misleading, limits details, social desirability can effect respondants, time consuming

Observation study evaluation

Strength- high ecological Validity, high generalisability

Weakness- unethical, chance of researcher bias

Explain how context can affect the accuracy of memory

• Recall is more accurate when information is encoded and retrieved in the same context.

• Cues from the context are encoded and can trigger recall.

What is motion parallax?

A monocular depth cue: objects closer appear to move faster than those farther away – helps us perceive movement and depth.

Ethical issue examples

Informed consent, Deception, Right to Withdraw, Confidentiality, Protection from harm. Debriefing

Examples of standardising procedures

Standard instructions, same environment, same procedure, timing control, data collection method, use of script

What is qualitative data?

Data that is non-numerical and describes qualities or characteristics

What is quantitative data?

Data that is numerical and can be measured or counted.

Self-efficacy

An individual's belief in their ability to successfully complete a task or achieve a goal

What is the role of praise in learning?

• reinforces positive behaviour and effort

• boost motivation, self-esteem

• help develop a growth mindset,

How does culture affect perception?

Culture shapes what we pay attention to and how we interpret what we see.

How does expectation affect perception?

Expectation can influence what we see or experience. If we expect something to happen, our brain may "fill in the gaps" to match that expectation

Correlation Definition

Measures the relationship between two variables.

Correlation Evaluation

Strengths - can identify relationships for further research

Weaknesses - cannot say cause and effect, extraneous variables

Dweck’s mindset theory

Individuals either have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset

Growth mindset

Believing ability can be developed through effort and learning

Fixed mindset

Believing ability is innate and unchangeable

Dweck’s mindset theory evaluation

Strengths - supported by research

Weaknesses - oversimplifies learning, ignores other factors

Case Study Evaluation

Strength - provides detail

Weakness - hard to generalise

What is praise in the context of learning?

Expressing approval for the effort put in

Sensation Definition

The info we recieve through our senses

Perception definition

how we interpret and organise sensory info

What type of processing does Gregory's theory use?

Top-down processing

What type of processing does Gibson’s theory use?

Bottom-up processing

What is optic flow?

The pattern of movement in the visual field as we move – helps judge direction and speed.

What are affordances?

Information in objects that tells us how they can be used (e.g., chairs afford sitting).

What type of illusion is the Müller-Lyer illusion?

Misinterpreted depth cue – inward/outward arrows affect how we judge depth and size.

Why does the Ponzo illusion work?

Linear perspective makes the top line look further away → size constancy makes it look bigger.

What is a fiction illusion?

When we perceive something that isn’t really there (e.g., Kanizsa Triangle).

What causes the Ames Room illusion?

A distorted room shape tricks depth cues → size constancy is misapplied.

Learning Styles Definitions

The different ways in which a person can process/take in information.

Why are learning styles criticised in psychology?

There is no scientific evidence that matching teaching to learning styles improves learning.

What does Willingham say about learning styles?

He says they are not supported by evidence and don’t improve learning.

What does Willingham say is key to learning?

Practice, effort, and deep thinking – not preferred learning styles.

How should teachers apply Willingham’s theory in the classroom?

Focus on content-appropriate methods, encourage practice, and avoid distractions.

Ways to have high interobserver reliability

• Use the same record sheet to observe and record behaviour.

• Observe the same group at the same time.

• Observers should compare their data.

What is an ethical issue in research?

A moral concern about how participants are treated in a study.

Give two examples of extraneous variables.

Participant variables (e.g. age), and situational variables (e.g. lighting, noise)

What are investigator effects?

When the researcher’s behaviour influences the outcome of the study.