evaluations paper 1

Question 1

What are the 2 + and 1 - of the theory that there are three different types of LTM?

Answer 1

+ Specific locations in the brain: Brain scans show different types of LTM are linked with different brain areas e.g. Procedural memory -> Motor area

+ Amnesic patients: Patients such as Clive Wearing support the theory as he had an intact procedural memory (he could still play the piano) but lost most episodic memories.

• It’s not that simple: Distinctive types of LTM are difficult to separate (some semantic memories are also episodic) so this theory may be an oversimplification

Question 2

What are the 2- and 1+ or Badleys study?

Answer 2

+ Well controlled (e.g. hearing test)

• STM is sometimes visual (Brandimote)
• LTM may be longer than 20 minutes.

Question 3

What are the 1 + and 2 - of the multi-store model of memory?

Answer 3

+ Supporting research e.g. Baddeley showing different kinds of coding for STM and LTM

• The model is too simple. There is lots of evidence for different LTM e.g. Clive Wearing
• The supporting experiments all use artificial materials e.g. random lists of words that we would be unlikely to have to remember in every day life.

Question 4

What are the 2 + and 1 - of Murdock’s study?

Answer 4

+ It was highly controlled

+ Amnesiacs who have no LTM did not have the primacy effect so this supports that the primacy effect is LTM related

• It was an artificial task so low validity for real life.

Question 5

What are the 3- of Bartlett’s War of the Ghosts study?

Answer 5

• It lacks control. Participants were not told accurate recall was important which could have affected the results.
• The results could have been biased as Bartlett analysed the recollections himself (he may have subconsciously come up with the conclusions he wanted to)
• The story was unusual so may not reflect everday memory processes.

Question 6

What are the 2 + and 1 - of the theory of reconstructive memory?

Answer 6

+ It’s realistic - it uses memories of stories instead of artificial words lists.

+ It explains problems with eyewitness testimony as people do not always recall accurately.

• Not all recall is reconstructed, some memories of the story are very accurate.

Question 7

What are the three evaluative points for Gibson’s theory? (1- and 2+)

Answer 7

+ Real world meaning Gibons did research on 2nd World War pilots so relevant to real life.

+ Experimental support Gibson and Walk showed few infants crawl off a visual cliff so we are born with depth perception, it is not learned.

• Theory struggles to explain visual illusions Illusions “trick” the brain so we don’t always accurately perceive things.

Question 8

What are the three evaluative points of Gregory’s theory? (2- and 1+)

Answer 8

+Support from research from different cultures People interpret visual cues differently (e.g. Hudson’s study( showing experience affects perception)

• Illusions Gregory’s research can explain illusions but he used 2D visual illusions which are artificial so may not apply to the real world.
• How does perception get going? Babies have some perceptual abilities e.g. faces so perception can’t only be the result of what is learnt.

Question 9

What were the three evaluative points of Mcgunnies’s study into how emotion affect perception? (1+ and 2-)

Answer 9

+ it used an objective measurement of emotion.
A scientific method was used – the galvanic skin response – to test biological anxiety responses.
This produces results that are less open to bias than, for example, rating scales.

• delayed recognition may be more to do with embarrassment: Participants may have hesitated in giving their response as they were uncomfortable repeating rude words in a study. This suggests that awkwardness may have been an extraneous variable.
• research in this area produces contradictory results . . .
  This is because sometimes they suggest we are more likely to notice emotional material, and sometimes we are less likely. This makes it difficult for psychologists to draw firm conclusions.

Question 10

Evaluate Gilchrist and Nesberg’s study into how motivation affects perception (2- and 1+)

Answer 10

+ One strength is that similar studies have found similar results.
Sanford deprived participants of food and showed them ambiguous pictures. The longer they were deprived of food the more likely they were to see food.
This increases the validity of the Gilchrist and Nesberg results.

• A problem with studies in this area is that they are unethical.
  This is because depriving participants of food and water could cause them to feel uncomfortable.
  This is an issue as you should not do this in psychological research.
• A problem with the study is that it was not like everyday life.
  Participants were asked to judge pictures of food rather than real food.
  This makes it harder to apply the results to situations in the real world.

Question 11

Evaluate Bruner and Minturn’s study into how expectation affects perception (2- and 1+)

Answer 11

• One weakness of the study is that it used an artificial task.
  An ambiguous figure is designed to trick perception.
  This makes the results lack validity.
• One weakness relates to the fact that there were individual differences between groups.
  This is because an independent groups design was used.
  This is an issue as differences in perception between the groups may have been due to participant variables rather their expectations.

+ One strength of this study is that it has real-life application.
It can explain errors that people make as the results suggest that expectations can influence perception.
This helps to explain why people make sometimes serious mistakes on tasks in the real world.

Question 12

Evaluate Piaget’s theory: Three key points (2+ and 1-)

Answer 12

+ Research evidence:
A strength of Piaget’s theory is that it has led many studies to be carried out. These have helped test the claims of his theory. This is an important part of any theory – if we can’t test it we don’t know if it is right or wrong.

+ Real-world
application A strength of Piaget’s theory is that it has helped change classroom teaching for the better. It has led to teachers carrying out more activity-based learning. This has helped children learn in a more effective way.

• Extra: The sample A weakness of Piaget’s theory is that research was carried out on middle-class Swiss children. These children were from families where academic studies were more important than making things. Therefore his theory may not be universal.

Question 13

Evaluation of McGarrigle and Donaldson’s ‘naughty teddy study’: Three key points (2- and 1+)

Answer 13

• The sample:
  One weakness is that the primary age children all came from one school. The primary children might have done better than the nursery children due to differences in educational background. Therefore, differences between the two groups of children might be due to other factors.
• The change was not noticed:
  A weakness is that children may not have noticed the change in the accidental condition. Moore and Frye showed that, if the teddy did actually take a counter away, they still said the rows were the same. This means it wasn’t that the children weren’t conserving, they were just distracted.

+ Extra: Challenges Piaget:
A strength of this study is that it challenges Piaget’s theory. McGarrigle and Donaldson’s study implies that Piaget’s original work confused young children. Therefore this study helped refine this type of child development research.

Question 14

Evaluation Hughes Police man study - Egocentrism: Three key points (2+ and 1-)

Answer 14

+ More realistic
One strength of the study is that the task made better sense to children. Hiding from a policeman is easier to think about than selecting a view of a mountain top. This makes it a more realistic test of children’s abilities.

• Effects of expectations:
  A weakness is that the researcher’s expectations may have influenced the children’s behavior. They may unconsciously have given the children cues on how to behave in the naughty policeman task. This could have caused the results to lack validity.

+ Extra: Challenges Piaget:
A strength of this study is that it challenges Piaget’s theory. The results imply that Piaget’s original study confused young children because the task didn’t make sense to them. Therefore this study helped refine this type of child development research.

Question 15

Evaluation of Stages of cognitive development: Three key points (2- and 1+)

Answer 15

• Underestimated children’s abilities:
  A weakness with Piaget’s theory is that he underestimated children’s abilities. Other research has found that younger children can show conservation and a reduction in egocentrism. This suggests that certain types of thinking develop earlier than he proposed.
• Overestimated children’s abilities:
  A weakness is that Piaget overestimated what children could do. He argued that 11-year-old children should be capable of abstract reasoning when other research (e.g. Wason’s card task) has found this is not true. This shows that not all children’s thinking is advanced as he suggested.

+ Extra: Basic idea is correct:
A strength of his theory is that it does show that children’s thinking changes with age. Although research has suggested that changes in thinking occur earlier, the fact remains that they still occur. This shows that the basic principle of the theory is valid.

Question 16

Evaluation of Piaget’s theory - Application to education: Three key points (1+ and 2-)

Answer 16

+ Very influential:
A strength is that Piaget’s theory has had a positive impact on education in the UK. It led to schools taking on a more child-centred, activity-based approach. This has helped students learn more effectively.

-Possible to improve with practice:
A weakness of Piaget’s theory is that it suggests that practice should not improve performance. In fact their thinking can develop at an earlier age than expected if they are given enough practice on a task (Bryant and Trabasso). This suggests that children don’t have to be ‘ready’.

-Extra: Traditional methods may be good:
A weakness is that discovery learning may not always be best. Bennett showed that formal teaching methods work best for maths, reading and English. Suggests that some parts of education are best delivered through direct instruction.

Question 17

Evaluation of Dweck’s theory: Three key points (2+ and 1-)

Answer 17

+ Research support:
One strength is evidence that a growth mindset leads to better grades. Dweck found that seventh graders taught a growth mindset had better grades and motivation than a group who were just taught about memory. This suggests that this approach can improve performance.

• Both mindsets involve praise:
  A weakness is that any sort of praise may be bad. The idea of praising people’s effort still leads to them doing things for approval from others rather than doing it for themselves. Growth mindset can therefore discourage the type of independent behaviour it is trying to promote.

+ Extra: Real-world application:
A strength is that it has good real-world application. Mindset has been used to improve performance in areas such as schools, businesses, sport and relationships. Teaching people to see failure as a lack of effort rather than lack of talent motivates future effort.

Question 18

Evaluation of Praise and self-efficacy: Three key points (2+ and 1-)

Answer 18

• Praise destroys internal motivation:
  One weakness with using praise to encourage learning is that it can have the opposite effect. Research by Lepper found that children were less interested in doing a task if they had previously been rewarded for it. This suggests that praise can be demotivating.

+ Low self-efficacy can lower performance:
A strength is that support for self-efficacy comes from research into the stereotype effect. Steele and Aronson found that African-American students scored lower on an IQ test if they had to indicate their race beforehand. This suggests that their performance was affected by how they expected to do, supporting the theory of self-efficacy.

+ Extra: Practical application:
A strength is the value of understanding rewards. Dweck found that students who were criticised for their effort performed better on a test than those who had been previously praised. This shows that the kind of praise that is given is important.

Question 19

Evaluation of Willingham’s learning theory: Three key points (2+ and 1-)

Answer 19

+Evidence-based theory:
A strength is that the theory is based on scientific evidence. The studies on which it was based were well-designed, objective investigations. This gives the claims of his theory greater validity.

+ Real-world application:
A strength of the theory is that it has real-world applicability. Willingham has selected research that has clear relevance to education and has a better foundation than learning styles. His approach offers an explanation of what you learn (rather than how you learn).

• Extra: Application of neuroscience:
  An issue with Willingham’s research is that dyslexia cannot just be diagnosed by observing people’s brain waves. There would be a number of other causes that would need to be investigated. This makes it unlikely that brain waves would be used for diagnosis in this way.