These notes include information on every topic in paper 2 of the AQA GCSE exam including memory, perception, development and research methods. There are definitions for key terms, example answers, case study information and basically everything you need for a 9/A on your exam.
What is procedural memory:
The memory of how to do things.
What is semantic memory:
The memory of what things mean (your own encyclopedia).
What is episodic memory:
Memory for events from your life.
State 2 characteristics of long term memory:
Unlimited capacity and storage up to a lifetime (duration)
State 2 characteristics of short term memory:
Capacity of 5-9 chunks of information and duration up to 30 seconds
State 2 characteristics of sensory memory:
Very big capacity, very short duration
Describe and evaluate Murdock’s serial position study:
The aim of Murdock’s serial position curve study was to see if the memory of words is affected
by their location in a list. In the study, participants listened to 20 wordlists with 10-40 words on
them and recalled the words after each list. Murdock found that recall was related to the position
of words- there was a higher recall for the first words (primacy effect) and last words (recency
effect) than those in the middle. This shows the serial position effect and supports the
multi-store model of memory stores. A strength of the study is that it was a controlled lab study-
there was a high level of control so it could be concluded that the position of words determined
recall. Another strength of the study is that it has supporting research- Carlesimo et al. found
that some amnesiacs can’t store long term memory, which shows that the primacy effect is
related to long term memory. A weakness of the study is that it was an artificial task- word lists
were used which is only one type of memory, so the study lacks validity.
Describe and evaluate the theory of reconstructive memory:
The theory of reconstructive memory suggests that people rebuild memory as an active
process. A strength of the theory is that it has more realistic research than other studies into the
accuracy of memory as it uses a story and not word lists (reflects how we use memory in
everyday life as not artificial). Another strength of the theory is that it has a real-world
application- it explains eyewitness testimonies as people do not always recall accurately. A
weakness of the theory is that it doesn’t explain why some memories are accurate and others
are reconstructed so it isn’t complete.
Define the phrase ‘effort after meaning’:
, Effort after meaning means that we focus on the meaning of events and make an effort
afterwards to make sense of fragments of memory.
Explain how interference affects memory:
Interference is when some memories interfere with the retrieval of other memories (especially
when similar) because they compete.
Design a study to test the effect of interference on memory
You must include the kind of data you would collect, one extraneous variable and how
you could control it and the experimental design you would choose and why:
For my study, I would have participants learn a list of 10 words which are basic items you would
buy at the grocery store (like a shopping list) and then I would have half of them watch a short
video describing and showing a recipe calling for different ingredients and utensils. Participants
would have to recall the words from the list. I would collect quantitative data by finding averages
of how many words were remembered correctly by each group. I would use independent groups
so that order effects don’t affect the results. I would expect participants who don’t watch the
recipe to recall more words from the list. One extraneous variable that may affect my results is
time (participants who don’t watch the recipe may do better simply because they read the list
more recently so still in short term memory), I would control this by giving each group 5 minutes
with the list to memorise it and then have my recipe group watch the video (3 minutes) while the
other group waits 3 minutes without the list and then have both groups recall.
Explain how context affects memory:
Context is the environment in which information is encoded. When the context of encoding and
retrieval is the same recall comes easier because there are visual cues that trigger the memory.
Design a study to test the effect of context on memory
You must include the kind of data you would collect, one extraneous variable and how
you could control it and the experimental design you would choose and why:
For my study, I would have participants listen to a list of 10 words in a room and then either stay
in the room, go to a different room with some of the same decorations or go to a completely
different room (all created in a lab setting, near one another). I would collect quantitative data by
finding averages of how many words were remembered by each group (same room, similar
room, different room). I would use repeated measures in order to have no participant variables. I
would expect participants who stay in the same room to do best and participants who go to a
completely different room to do worst, however, I wouldn’t expect much of a difference in results
for the similar room and the different room. One extraneous variable is time (if some participants
have more time/ less time after listening and before recalling this could affect results). To control
this I would have pre-programmed timers so each participant will have 5 minutes after the word
list was played on the speaker to wait and rehearse (this includes the time of going to a new
room), and after these 5 minutes, I would have each participant recall the words from the list (so
the same for everyone).
Evaluate the theory of types of long term memory:
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