Psychology Paper 1

Question 1

Sensations

Answer 1

Processed by sense receptors which allow us to experience the world around us

Question 2

Perception

Answer 2

Organization and interpretation of sensory information

Question 3

Ponzo illusion

Answer 3

Horizontal line higher up appears longer.
than horizontal line in bottom
However both lines are actually the same size.

Question 4

Müller–Lyer illusion

Answer 4

Two separate vertical lines of the same length, side by side, one with ingoing fins and the other with outgoing fins.
People perceive the vertical line with outgoing fins as longer than the vertical line with ingoing fins.

Question 5

Rubin’s vase

Answer 5

Image of two faces and a vase in the same picture.
Both are correct so your brain can’t decide which one it is.

Question 6

Ames Room

Answer 6

When two people stand on either side on the wall, one appears to be much bigger than the other even though they are both the same size.

Question 7

Visual cues

Answer 7

Features of our environment that give up information about movement and distance.

Question 8

Monocular depth cues

Answer 8

Allow us to judge depth with 1 eye

Question 9

Examples of Monocular depth cues

Answer 9

Height in plane- Objects that are higher up in the visual field appear further away.

Relative size- smaller objects in the visual field appear further away.

Occlusion- Objects that are in front of others appear closer to us whilst objects behind other objects seem further away.

Linear perspective- When parallel lines converge in the distance, the point at which they come together is perceived to be further away.

Question 10

Binocular depth cues

Answer 10

Allow us to judge depth with 2 eyes.

Question 11

Examples of Binocular depth cues

Answer 11

Retinal disparity- each eye sees a slightly different image. They put these 2 images together and the difference between the 2 images help us judge depth. Difference(disparity)

Convergence- when our eyes follow an object coming towards us this causes our eyes to get closer together. Our eye muscles detect this change and send information to our brain.

Question 12

Ambiguity

Answer 12

The brain cannot decide which one to choose, e.g. the Necker cube and Rubin’s vase.

Question 13

Misinterpreted depth cues

Answer 13

If something is the same size but further away, our brain will tell us its bigger, e.g. Muller-lyer illusion, Ponzo.

Question 14

Fiction

Answer 14

This is where a person perceives something in the illusion that is not there, e.g. Kanizsa triangle.

Question 15

Size constancy

Answer 15

When objects appear to get smaller the further they are away and larger the closer they get, e.g. Ponzo, muller Lyer illusion

Question 16

Describe Gibsons direct theory of perception

Answer 16

-No clear difference between sensation and perception

-The image that reaches the eye contains all the information needed to understand what we are looking at.

• Our eyes detect fine changes in light, texture, movement and depth so we can understand distance and depth

-We don’t need past experience.

• Optic flow patterns let our brain know we are moving.

Binocular and monocular depth cues are a vital part of perception as they enable us to judge depth and distance accurately.

-We do not need to learn to perceive the world around us as it’s innate.

Question 17

Evaluate Gibson’s theory

Answer 17

A strength of Gibson’s theory is that it has real-world meaning.
Research was based on the experience of pilots from the Second World War.
This makes it more relevant to explain how we perceive the world on a daily basis.

A weakness of Gibson’s theory is that it struggles to explain visual illusions.
Gibson proposed that we will always perceive accurately whereas illusions trick the brain into misperception.
This suggests there is more to perception than his theory suggested.

A strength of Gibson’s theory comes from Gibson and Walk’s study.
They found that very few infants would crawl off a ‘visual cliff’.
This suggests that infants are born with an ability to perceive depth, which shows that some perception is innate.

Gibson’s theory provides a good explanation for how we are usually able to perceive quickly and
accurately in everyday life using information from the optic array.

Gibson’s theory has helped us to understand the richness of the optical information our eyes receive,
such as texture and colour gradient.

Evidence shows that factors such as expectation and culture affect perception. This challenges
Gibson’s theory and suggests that nurture (knowledge and past experience) also play an important role in perception.

Question 18

Gregory’s constructivist theory of perception

Answer 18

-There is a clear difference between perception and sensation.
-Perception is a process of construction.
-We use past experience to make sense of the world around us, and fills gaps
-When making inferences, features of the environment (visual cues) give the brain information about depth, distance, etc.
- visual illusions occur because of misinterpreted visual cues ( brain makes wrong conclusions from visual cues )
-The more we interact with the world, the more sophisticated our perception becomes.

Question 19

Evaluate Gregory’s theory

Answer 19

One strength is that Gregory’s theory has good support from studies that show cultural differences in perception.
Research in different parts of the world has found that people interpret visual cues differently (e.g. Hudson’s study).
This means that their different experiences have affected their perception.

One weakness relates to Gregory’s use of visual illusions to support his theory.
They are artificial two-dimensional (2D) images that are deliberately designed to fool us.
As a consequence, his theory may not tell us much about how perception works in the real world.

Another weakness is that Gregory’s theory cannot explain how perception gets started in the first place.
Research has shown that babies have some perceptual abilities at birth, such as they prefer human faces to random patterns (Fantz).
This suggests not all perception is the result of our experience.

Question 20

Factors affecting perception- Motivation

Answer 20

Aim- Gilchrist and Nesberg aimed to find out if food deprivation affects the perception of pictures of food.

Method- Two groups of students: one group deprived of food for 20 hours and a control group (not hungry). Students were shown four slides, each one showing a meal. The slide was displayed for 15 seconds. The picture was shown again, but dimmer, and participants had to adjust the lighting to make it look the same as it did before.

Results- Participants perceived the food as brighter the longer they were deprived of food. The control group (who were not deprived of food) didn’t perceive the food as brighter.

Conclusion- Being deprived of food increased perceptual sensitivity. This shows that hunger is a motivating factor that affects the way food-related pictures are perceived.

Question 21

Evaluate Motivation study

Answer 21

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 22

Factors affecting perception- Expectations

Answer 22

Aim- Bruner and Minturn aimed to find out whether an ambiguous figure was seen differently if the context of the figure was changed.

24 participants took part in an experiment on recognising numbers and letters using an independent groups design.
• Half of the participants were shown a series of letters with an ambiguous figure in the middle. The other half were shown a series of numbers with the same ambiguous figure in the middle.
• The ambiguous figure was a broken ‘B’ that could be seen as either the letter B or the number 13.
• Most of the participants who had been shown numbers drew a ‘13’. Most of the participants who were
shown letters drew a ‘B’.
• The researchers concluded that the participants’ expectations had directly affected how they
interpreted the ambiguous figure.
• This shows that expectation affects perception.

Question 23

Evaluation of Expectation study

Answer 23

This is a laboratory-based study, so people were perceiving figures under highly controlled conditions.
• This is useful for the researcher who has eliminated many extraneous variables so can be sure the IV
has affected the DV if the results show an effect.
• Procedures are standardised so the study can be replicated.
• Laboratory-based studies are often carried out in artificial settings. This means there is a lack of ecological validity.
• Laboratory-based study often use artificial tasks (such as interpreting ambiguous images). Because people do not normally have to do these, this can reduce the validity of the results.
• High control can decrease the validity of the results because it increases the artificiality of the
performance of the participants. This means it is difficult to generalise research findings to predict behaviour in a more normal setting.

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 24

Memory

Answer 24

Encoding: means to change information into a form so it can be stored in the brain.

Storage: the information is then kept in your memory store for a period of time - possibly a lifetime.

Retrieval: the information has to be located and brought back out of your brain.

This can be done through recognition (e.g. multiple choice identifying through options) , cued recall (given a clue to remember something you are close to remembering) or free recall (without cues).

Question 25

3 processes

Answer 25

Memory involves three processes: → encode → store→ retrieve

Question 26

Types of encoding:

Answer 26

> Visual encoding - Changing information by how it looks so it can be stored.

> Acoustic encoding - Changing information by how it sounds so it can be stored (what you hear).

> Semantic encoding - Changing information by its meaning so it can be stored. Your ability to understand and use words and concepts.

Question 27

Long term memory

Answer 27

Episodic memory - Your memory for events (episodes) from your life. It’s your memory for things you have done and experiences you have had. E.g. your 10th birthday party.

Semantic memory - Memory about what things mean, it is the meaning of everything you know. E.g. the capital of France is Paris.

Procedural memory - This is muscle memory, remembering how to do things.

• Episodic and semantic memories are declarative as they need conscious recall.
• Procedural memory doesn’t require conscious recall so this is non-declarative.

Question 28

Evaluation of LTM

Answer 28

One strength is that dividing LTM into different types is that brain scans have shown different locations for each type of memory supporting the idea of different kinds of memory.
Episodic - right prefrontal area. Semantic - left prefrontal area. Procedural - motor area.

One strength is that people who experience memory loss due to brain damage lose only certain types of memory such as Clive Wearing.
He lost most of his episodic memory but not his procedural as he could still play piano, this shows there are different kinds of memory.

One weakness is that distinctive types of LTM are difficult to separate. There isn’t a clear difference between semantic and episodic memories because memories are usually a mixture.
Therefore, having three separate types of LTM may be an oversimplification.

Question 29

Multi store model

Answer 29

Sensory memory - Information received by senses, attention transfers this information into STM. Very short duration, large capacity.

STM - Temporary memory store with limited capacity of +- 7 pieces of information lasting up to 30 seconds. Tends to be acoustic.

LTM - Permanent memory store, encoding tends to be semantically and this has unlimited capacity and can last a lifetime.

Question 30

Evaluation of Multi store model

Answer 30

One strength is that there is evidence backing different types of memory stores.
The model is supported by Baddeley’s study of encoding which shows that STM and LTM encode information differently.
This shows the two types of memory have qualitative differences.

One weakness the model suggests we only have one STM and one LTM. Yet there is research showing STM is divided into visual and acoustic stores and LTM into episodic, semantic and procedural stores.
This suggests that our memory is more complex than the model proposes.

One weakness is that the studies in the 1950s and 60s tended to use artificial memory tasks.
For example word lists or nonsense syllables. This means the results would not illustrate the different ways we use memory.

The multi-store model of memory does not explain how you can remember some information even though you have not rehearsed it and also struggles to explain why we can forget information that we
have practised and rehearsed.

Question 31

Murdocks study

Answer 31

Aim - Murdock set out to see if memory of words was affected by the number of words a person had to remember.

Method - Words from the 4,000 most common words in English were chosen randomly.103 participants listened to 20 word lists with 10 to 40 words on them. They were asked to recall the words after each list had been heard.

Results - He found that the likelihood of recall was related to the position of the word in the list. Participants had higher recall for the first few words (primacy effect) and the final few words (recency effect), compared to words in the middle of the list.

Conclusions - This shows the serial position effect, i.e. the position of a word determines the likelihood of recall.
These results support the MSM as the first few words were rehearsed, so are in LTM, and the last few words are in STM.

> Primacy effect - Words at the beginning of a list are remembered more as they have been rehearsed and have become long-term memories.
Recency effect - Words at the end of a list are remembered more as they have been heard recently so are in short-term memory.

Question 32

Evaluate Murdocks study

Answer 32

One strength is that the study was conducted in very controlled conditions which means we can trust the results.
Things like the familiarity of words or speed of reading were controlled so none of these things can affect the DV and show the real cause and effect. Therefore, we can be more certain it was the position of the words that affected recall.

One weakness is that as memory was investigated by using word lists it only represents a small part of what we do with our memories.
This research only tells us about one aspect of memory.
Therefore, the results don’t relate to how we use our memories in other ways, such as for personal events.

One strength Research with amnesiacs supports the conclusions.
Carlesimo et al. found that some amnesiacs can’t store long-term memories and do not show a primacy effect but do show a recency effect.
This shows that the primacy effect is related to long-term memory.

Question 33

Bartlett’s War of the Ghosts study

Answer 33

Aim - Bartlett investigated how memory is reconstructed when people are asked to recall an unfamiliar story, in particular a story from a different culture.

Method - He showed participants the story and asked them to reproduce it shortly after (15 minutes). He then showed the new version to another participant and asked them to recall it a short time later, he repeated this further. Bartlett kept a record off all successful recall. A key feature of the story was that it belonged to a very different culture from that of his participants.

Results - Bartlett found participants remembered different parts of the story and that they changed the story to fit within their own social and cultural expectations. They left out information that they were less familiar with. The story was shortened and phrases were changed to those used in the participants’ own culture. For example changing “canoes” to “boats”.

Conclusion - Memory is a reconstruction as we don’t remember the details but remember the main/ important fragments. We then use our knowledge to add details that fit to our culture and social knowledge. This reconstructed version of events is simpler and easier to remember and therefore becomes our memory for the event.

Question 34

Evaluate Bartletts study

Answer 34

One weakness is that this study was conducted rather casually with no set standards about recall.
Participants were not given specific instructions at the outset about what they should do.
Another study found that recall was higher when they were told accurate recall was important.
This suggests that recall is probably more accurate than Bartlett suggested.

One weakness is that Bartletts own beliefs were likely to have affected the way he interpreted the data.
He analysed each recall and determined what was accurate recall or not. Since he believed recall was to be affected by cultural expectations, he may have been more likely to see this kind of effect in results.
Therefore, we cannot fully trust the validity of his results and conclusion.

One weakness is that recall of the story may not reflect everyday memory processes.
These would not be affected by cultural expectations and therefore, we may recall quite accurately.
Therefore, this study tells us little about everyday memory.

Question 35

Theory of reconstructive memory

Answer 35

Memory is inaccurate

We do not have exact recall. Elements are missing and memories are not an accurate representation of what happened.

Reconstruction

We record small pieces of information in long-term memory. During recall we recombine them to tell the whole story. Each time, the elements are combined slightly differently.

Social and cultural influences

The information you tell is affected by social and cultural expectations.

Effort after meaning

We focus on the meaning of events and interpret the meaning in more familiar terms

Question 36

Evaluate theory

Answer 36

One weakness is that it is wrong to suggest all memories are in accurate as some aren’t.
Personally important or distinctive memories we tend to remember in accurate detail.
For example, in the study participants often recalled ‘something black came out of his mouth’ because it was quite a distinctive phrase.
This shows that some memories are accurate.

A strength is that reconstructive memory explains problems with eyewitness testimony (EWT).
Bartlett’s research showed memory is affected by expectations so shows that people do not always recall accurately.
Therefore, EWT is no longer solely relied on as evidence in criminal investigations.

• There is research evidence to support the idea that people add effort after meaning when recalling events. For example, in Bartlett’s ‘War of the Ghosts’ study, participants changed parts of the story when they retold it, showing that memories are reconstructed.

• Not all memories are reconstructed. Research evidence shows that important personal events, such as our first day at school, are often accurately remembered.

• The theory can be applied to everyday situations. It helps us understand why two different people, such as eyewitnesses, can give very different versions of the same events. Both have reconstructed the events in different ways.

• The theory is based on evidence that has higher ecological validity than memory research in which participants have to learn word lists. This is because retelling a story is a more familiar use of memory in everyday life than learning word lists

Question 37

Learning style

Answer 37

Different ways a person takes in information

Question 38

Brain stem

Answer 38

Controls autonomic functions, e.g. heartbeat, breathing, etc.

Connects brain to spinal cord

Question 39

Cerebellum

Answer 39

The coordination of movement and sensory information balance

Question 40

Thalamus

Answer 40

Receiving signals and sending these signals.
Sensory information

Question 41

Cortex / cerebral cortex

Answer 41

Cortex is thin and covers the brain.
Divided into two hemispheres and several regions: frontal cortex (thinking), visual and auditory cortex (sight and hearing), motor cortex (movement)
Thinking happens

Question 42

Piagets cognitive development

Answer 42

Cognitive development -
↳ A person’s knowledge, thinking and intelligence changes as they get older.
↳ Piaget believed that children think differently from adults.

Stages -
↳Piaget believed that children’s brains are not mature enough to think in a logical way at the beginning.
Their brains develop in stages and at each stage different kinds of thinking occur.

Schemas -
↳A schema is a mental structure containing knowledge about one aspect of the world. They become more numerous and more complex through assimilation and accommodation.

Assimilation -
↳Occurs when we understand a new experience through adding new information to an already existing schema.

Accommodation -
↳Occurs when we acquire new information that changes our understanding, so we need to form a new schema(s).

Question 43

Evaluate Piagets theory

Answer 43

-Piaget underestimated children’s abilities in his first three stages of development.

-Critical research such as Hughes ‘policeman doll’ study shows that children can think in more
developed ways than Piaget suggested when they are tested in different ways.

-Piaget assumed that all children develop the ability to think in abstract and logical ways in the formal operational stage but research shows that this is not the case for all people.

-Piaget’s theory has been very influential in education, actively engaging in tasks rather than copying from board.

-Piaget developed his theory using a small sample of children. They were middle class and from Switzerland. This means his findings may not tell us about the cognitive development of children from different social classes or cultures.

-His theory is not representative of all children.
Piaget’s research involved middle class European children. These children were from families where academic studies were valued importantly.
In other cultures, and social classes greater value may be placed on making things or creativity rather than academics.
Therefore his theory may not be universally applicable.

Question 44

Conservation

Answer 44

Conservation - The ability to realise that quantity remains the same even when the appearance changes.

Question 45

Naughty teddy study

Answer 45

Piaget showed that younger children can’t conserve with numbers or volume. This was challenged by McGarrigle and Donaldson’s “naughty teddy study”

Aim -
↳McGarrigle and Donaldson (1974) wanted to see if younger children could conserve if there was an accidental change in a row of counters.

Method -
↳4- to 6-year-olds were shown a naughty teddy and two rows of four counters.
The teddy jumped out of his box and messed up one of the rows (making it look smaller). Each child was then asked before and after the teddy jumped out “Is there more here or more there or are they both the same number”

Results -
68 % gave right answer if change was accidental
Primary children gave more correct answers then nursery children.

Conclusion -
Children ages 4-6 could conserve numbers when the change was accidental.
Piaget believed that they could not do this until 7 years. It does support Piaget’s idea of age-related changes .

Question 46

Evaluate naughty teddy

Answer 46

A strength is that it challenges some of Piaget’s assumptions.
Shows that Piaget confused young children with his style of questioning, children are more able.
Helps to refine his theory.

The primary children may have done better than the nursery children due to differences in educational background.
This suggests that it might not be reasonable to compare two different groups of children because other factors could explain the differences. This challenges the validity of the conclusions.

Replicated, same results, increases validity.

Over 30 % couldn’t conserve, huge percentage

A weakness is that the children may have not noticed the change in the accidental condition.
The children were distracted by the teddy and didn’t realise anything had changed so they kept their original answer (that both rows were the same)
Just means that the children weren’t looking, not conserving.

Question 47

Egocentrism

Answer 47

Means to see the world from only one’s own view point.

Question 48

Hughes’ “Policeman doll study”

Answer 48

Thirty children aged from 3.5 to 5 years from Edinburg old took part in the laboratory study.
• Hughes tested egocentrism using a model of two intersecting walls, a boy doll and two policeman dolls.
• To introduce the task, a policeman doll was placed on the model. Each child was asked to hide the boy doll from the policeman doll.
• A child was told if they made a mistake. Then they were allowed to try the task again.
• In the actual experiment, a second policeman doll was placed on the model and the child was asked to hide the boy doll so that neither of the policeman dolls could see him.
• Ninety percent of the children were able to hide the boy doll from the policeman dolls.
• In following trials, where more than two walls were used, the younger children were only correct 60 percent of the time.
• Hughes concluded that most children between 3.5 and 5 years old can see things from another person’s point of view so are not egocentric in their thinking

Question 49

Evaluate Hughes’ “Policeman doll study”

Answer 49

One strength of the study was that asking children to hide a doll made the task engaging and meaningful because hiding games were likely to be familiar to them. It can be argued that this meant children were better able to show their cognitive ability than in Piaget’s original research.
• A limited sample of children was used as all of the participants came from Edinburgh. This means it may be problematic to generalise these findings to explain when children from other cultures can see things from another person’s point of view.
• One limitation of the study was the possibility that hidden cues from the researcher, such as looking at the place where the doll might be positioned, may have influenced the children’s behaviour.
• Other research studies support the findings that some children under seven years old can see things from another person’s point of view.
• One strength of this study is that it challenged Piaget’s conclusion that children show egocentric thinking until the age of about seven years old. It suggested that some children can see the world from different viewpoints at a significantly younger age than was previously thought.

Question 50

Stages of Cognitive Development

Answer 50

Sensorimotor (0→2) -
↳ learn to coordinate sensory and motor info

Preoperational stage (2→7) -
↳ no logical thinking
-egocentric and can’t conserve

Concrete-operational stage (7→11) -
↳ most can conserve, less egocentric
-logical thinking

Formal-operational stage (11+) -
↳ capable of formal reasoning
children can draw conclusions about abstract concepts and form arguments.

Question 51

Evaluate the Stages of cognitive Development

Answer 51

A weakness is that Piaget underestimated what young children are capable of.
Younger children performed better than Piaget predicted, they were just unable to cope with unusual tasks which confused them.
Some aspects of children’s thinking develops earlier than Piaget proposed.

Another weakness is that Piaget overestimated what children can do.
He argues that 11-year-olds should be capable of abstract reasoning when other research (Wason’s card task) has found this is not true.
This shows that not all children’s thinking is as advanced as he suggested.

A strength 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 still valid.

Question 52

Piaget’s theory in application to education

Answer 52

Readiness - can only teach something to a child if they’re biologically “ready”.

Learning by discovery -
Children must play an active role in their education, must discover concepts themselves.
The child’s thinking will develop better in a stimulating learning environment
Teachers should form activities to engage children, meaning assimilation and accommodation takes place.

Individual learning -
Children can go through the same stages in the same order but at different rates.
Therefore they should plan activities for individuals and groups rather than the entire class.

Sensorimotor- experiment with different objects and learn motor coordination
Pre operational- reduce egocentricity, experimentation
Concrete- following logical instructions eg cooking
Formal- scientific activity

Question 53

Evaluate Piagets education

Answer 53

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.

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.
This suggests that children don’t have to be ‘ready’.

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 54

Dweck’s mindset theory

Answer 54

Mindset - The set of beliefs we all have about our ability to succeed in education and other areas.

Fixed mindset –
abilities/talent is fixed in their genes
-aren’t doing well, give up
-no amount of effort will change the situation
-focused on performance goals (doing well=feel good)

Growth mindset –
-can improve with effort
-enjoy challenges
-focused on learning goals (working hard=feel good)

Dealing with failure:
-Fixed: failure indicates lack of talent=give up
-Growth: opportunity to learn more and put in more effort

Question 55

Evaluate Dweck’s mindset theory

Answer 55

A strength is that there 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 shows that a growth mindset can be taught and can improve performance.

Strength is that mindset has been used to improve performance in areas such as schools, businesses, sports and relationships.
Teaching people to see failure as a lack of effort rather than a lack of talent motivates future effort. Positive value

A weakness is that any sort of praise may be bad.
The idea of praising people’s effort still leads to them doing them for the approval of others rather than doing it for themselves.
Growth mindset can therefore discourage the type of independent behaviour it is trying to promote.
This means that even praise of effort may not be the best way to motivate learners.

Question 56

The Role of Praise and Self - Efficacy in Learning

Answer 56

→ Praise is a reward. It makes us feel good and encourages you to repeat the behaviour to gain further rewards.

→ Praise must be honest, sincere, deserved and in proportion to performance.

→ Self efficacy is how competent you feel in a specific activity (music, sport etc.).

→ Self-efficacy affects motivation because if it is high you will put in greater effort, persist longer, have greater task performance and more resilience than if you think you can’t do it.

→ Praising effort is motivating – it gives a sense of control as people can always put in more effort. Praising others for their performance is demotivating especially when you can’t compete.

Question 57

Evaluate of Praise and Self efficacy

Answer 57

Strength is that support from research that shows that reduced self-efficacy leads to poor performance.
African American students did worse on an IQ test if they were reminded of their race due to the stereotype that African Americans don’t do well on IQ tests (lowered their self efficacy)
Strengthens validity

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 for their effort. This shows that the kind of feedback and praise that is given is important.

A weakness with using praise to encourage learning is that it can have the opposite effect. Other research found that children were less interested in doing a task if they had been previously rewarded for it. This shows that praise can be demotivating.

Question 58

Learning style

Answer 58

Learning styles

Verbaliser
-focus on words
-gather and process info by hearing and reading
-remember info by repeating it and focusing on sounds
-solve problems by talking about it/writing it down

Visualisers
-pictures
-visual processing
-spatial relationships (diagrams and mind maps)

kinaesthetic learners
-hands on
-learning by active exploration
-prefer carrying out physical activities

Question 59

Evaluate learning style

Answer 59

Strength is that they have encouraged teachers to focus on other teaching methods rather than just the traditional verbal ones.
This led to teachers adopting a more varied approach and in turn benefited their students’ learning.

A weakness is that there is little evidence to suggest that learning styles work. Pasher et al. reviewed many good quality research studies and found no support.
This challenges the claim that learning styles improve performance.

A weakness is that there are too many learning styles.
Coffield et al. identified 78 different theories of learning styles.
This is a problem as it will make it difficult for people to work out their preferred learning style.
This suggests that learning styles are not a useful concept.

Question 60

Willingham’s learning theory

Answer 60

• Willingham criticised the learning style approach to teaching and says it does not improve learning.
• Believed that students should be taught using the best method based on the content rather than their preferred learning style.
• For example when learning about maps, visual learning style should be used whereas for learning a new language, auditory/ verbal styles may be preferable.
• A student’s ability to store the information is more important than how they learn it.

-His approach suggests it would be better for students to acquire the ability to use styles that are not their preferred style, so that when information is presented in non-preferred styles learners can still access the information.

-If a student struggles to learn a particular type of information, they should practise dealing with that type of information.

-Willingham suggests teaching and learning can be improved by findings from cognitive psychology and neuroscience studies.

-Teaching children only in their preferred learning style will not improve their knowledge

Question 61

Evaluate Willinghams theory

Answer 61

• His criticism of the learning style approach is supported by evidence that shows teaching using a student’s preferred learning style does not necessarily improve that student’s results.

-Willingham’s work can be applied to education to enhance learning, therefore his theory has real world value.

-Willingham’s ideas are backed up by valid scientific evidence which is replicable meaning his theory is testable and valid.

• His ideas were criticised for not valuing modern day teaching.
• The theory has been criticised for discouraging creativity/imaginative learning.

-Willingham contradicts himself as some aspects of his theory suggest only facts are important
whereas other aspects of the theory say that is not the case such as not relying too heavily on
exams.

-A weakness is that an issue with his 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 and may actually be misleading.

Question 62

Variables and Hypothesis

Answer 62

Independent variable- something you change

Dependent variable- something you measure

Aim- purpose of the investigation

Hypothesis- predicts what the outcome will be. Written at the beginning of the investigation.

Alternate hypothesis- States a difference between the variables

Null hypothesis- States no difference between the variables

Extraneous variables- A variable that may affect the results of a study if not controlled. Something you can’t control or see. EV should be controlled where possible.
the researcher cannot truly know what caused the change in the DV

Question 63

Cause and effect

Answer 63

the only thing that should cause a change in the DV is the IV

Question 64

Research procedures-

Answer 64

Instructions to participants- All participants should receive the same information throughout the investigation. Before a study is conducted a researcher will write down exactly what should be said to each of the participants.

Standardized procedures- Using the exact same methods and instructions for all participants in a research study.

Randomization- Using chance- e.g., tossing a coin or picking names from a hat- to control for the effects of bias.

Question 65

Different types of methods-

Answer 65

Qualitative methods- Find out new information rather than testing a prediction. Gather a lot of detailed information from which ideas and theories emerge. Collecting descriptions e.g., how good their memory is.

Quantitative methods- research that tests a prediction. This kind of method will support a theory. Collecting numbers e.g., to find how many balls a person can get in the bucket.
Experiments are a quantitative approach. All experiments involve independent, dependent variables. The experimenter looks for a measurable change in the DV.

Question 66

Validity

Answer 66

Is when a result reflects on what’s happening in the real world. It represents something that is real, when a researcher conducts a study, they want their results to relate to everyday life.

Question 67

demand characteristics

Answer 67

• characteristics of a study that may give away the purpose of the experiment
• participants might become aware of aim
• participants may change their behaviour to be seen in a better light/different way

Question 68

Laboratory experiment-

Answer 68

-takes place in a controlled environment.
-The experimenter has a high degree of control of everything that happens in space.
-It is a highly controlled setting, and laboratory experiments may have low validity.
-Participants know they are being tested; this may cause them to change their behaviour to help the experimenter get the results they want.

Question 69

Field experiment-

Answer 69

-takes place in a natural setting like a gym, café.
-More realistic than laboratory experiments as they are conducted in a natural setting.
-Behaviour is more natural, meaning they have good validity.
-More difficult to control EV. Unethical issues, as they are being studied without their informed consent.

Question 70

Natural experiment-

Answer 70

-conducted in the everyday environment.
-Have high validity because they involve real life changes as they occur in a natural setting.

Question 71

Experimental designs

Answer 71

Experimental design -describes the way participants are assigned to experimental groups of an investigation.

Types of Experimental designs-

Independent groups- Where different participants take part in each experimental condition, e.g., one group with an audience, the other group w/o audience.
-Strengths- order effects aren’t a problem because participants only do the experiment once
-Weaknesses- more people needed,
-participant variables can act as an EV (differing individual characteristics of participants)

Repeated measures- All participants take part in both conditions.
-Strengths- fewer participants needed so cheaper, no participant variables.
-Weaknesses- order effects reduce validity (eg. practice effect: participants may do better the second time)

Matched pairs- each person in group A is paired with a person in Group B
-Strengths- no order effects, less participants
-Weaknesses- time consuming as you need to match the ppls

Question 72

how do you deal with participant variables?

Answer 72

allocation: using chance or a systematic method to allocate participants to conditions, this way the researcher doesn’t influence who goes in each group and also makes participant variables even across the different conditions

Question 73

how do you deal with order effects?

Answer 73

counterbalancing: half the participants do the conditions in one order, other half do the opposite order

Question 74

Sampling

Answer 74

Target population- The sample is drawn from a larger group called target population

Sample- psychologists choose a smaller group of people to study

Generalisation- The sample must properly represent the target population. The purpose of the sample is to be able to generalise the results to the target population.

Bias- Most samples in psychological research are biassed.

Question 75

Sampling methods

Answer 75

Random sampling- This method gives every member of the target group an equal chance of being selected for the sample e.g., picking a name out of a hat, tossing a coin.
Strength- No bias, as everyone has an equal chance of being selected.
Weakness- takes more time and effort, as you need to write all their names

Opportunity sampling- it is the simplest form of sampling and involves selecting anyone who is available and willing to take part.
Strength-easy and cheap, as you just need to pick people who are willing to perform.
Weakness- Very unrepresentative samples and often biassed.

Stratified sampling- The target population is divided into subsets e.g. age, gender class etc.
Strength- Most representative of all sampling methods.
Weakness- takes a lot of time.

Systematic sampling- uses a system to select the ppl from a target group e.g., every 4th person.
Strength- No bias
Weakness- Might end up with all men/wome

Question 76

Ethic issues

Answer 76

Ethic issues- when there is a conflict between the rights of participants to be safe and the goals of research to produce valuable data.

right to withdraw- They should be told that they can leave the investigation at any time they wish
Informed consent- at the beginning of a study, participants should be given comprehensive information concerning the nature and purpose of a study and their role in it.

Deception-Participants should not be lied to or misled about the aims of the study.

Protection from harm- participants should not be placed at risk and their physical and psychological safety should be always protected. This includes not being made to feel embarrassed or stressed. They are free to leave the investigation anytime.

Privacy- privacy should not be invaded for example listening to someone’s conversations or watching them in the toilet.

Confidentiality- A person’s identity should be protected. To protect their privacy their personal details should not be leaked.

Question 77

BPS guidelines

Answer 77

-code of conduct all professional psychologists in the UK need to follow

Question 78

interobserver reliability

Answer 78

observational studies should be carried out by more than one researcher because bias can be a problem
a single researcher may overlook important details or only record data that fits expectations
the group or pair should produce the same records of behavior
they would watch at the same time, have the same categories of behaviour and correlate data

Question 79

Interviews

Answer 79

Structured interviews-questions are already prepared. May ask to follow up questions that are prepared beforehand. Interviewer follows an exact script.

Unstructured interviews- is a lot like a conversation. The interviewer developed new questions based on the answers given.

Semi-structured interviews- the interview has some questions prepared in advance but often goes with the flow and asks questions based on the answers e.g. the interviewer was supposed to ask 5 questions but ends up with 20

Strengths on interviews-
-Produces extensive information.
-Can ask follow-up questions that provide extra insights on the person’s thoughts and feelings.
-Only way to obtain information from people who can’t write or difficult to express feelings

Weaknesses on interviews-
-Difficult to analyze
-May end up with lots of information. some which are irrelevant
Less comfortable about revealing personal information than writing answers.c

Question 80

Questionnaires

Answer 80

Questionnaires- also called surveys, are made up of a prepared list of written questions to which a person responds. This can be done face to face or completed over the phone, or internet, by post.

Open and closed questions
-Open questions are most likely in an interview. An open question does not have a fixed range of possible answers. Participants are free to answer in any way they wish. Open questions tend to produce qualitative data.
-Closed questions are most likely in a questionnaire. Close questions produce quantitative data.

Strengths of questionnaires-
-They can gather information from lots of people relatively quickly.
-It can be sent to thousands of people at the same time.
-Easier to analyse than interviews.

Weaknesses of questionnaires-
-May not answer the questionnaires truthfully.
-Social desirability bias- people tend to give answers that put them in a better light. This means that the data collected is low in validity.
-The questions may be unclear or may be leading questions.

Question 81

Correlations

Answer 81

Correlations-
-how things are linked together
-is a technique to find the relationship between variables.
-Used to analyse data collected from different research methods

Co-variables-
-Correlations involve the analysis of quantitative data. This means the 2 co-variables need to be represented numerically.

Scatter diagrams-
-Correlations are plotted on a special type of graph called scatter diagrams.

Strengths of correlation-
-good starting point for research
-Correlations tell us that two variables are related, and this may give researchers ideas for future investigations
-this can be used to investigate more complex relationships than those describe on a facing page

Weaknesses of correlation-
- even though correlations tell us that two variables are related they don’t tell us how these variables are related
- no control of extraneous variables in a correlation as we can’t be as certain as we would be if we conducted an experiment.
-conclusions may be drawn wrong in a correlation

Question 82

Case Studies

Answer 82

Case study- is an in-depth investigation of something.

Qualitative method
-Case studies collect mostly qualitative data.
-The data in the case study may be history describing past events in the individual’s lives or actions.

Longitudinal
-often carried out over a long period, to see how behaviour changes.

Strengths-
-best way of studying rare behaviours.
-often more open minded when conducting a case study as they don’t have a particular aim.
- researchers can gain unusual insights.
-rich and detailed qualitative data

Weaknesses-
-case studies are subjective.
-lack of replication (every case is relatively unique)
-cant generalise findings (as it deals with only one person/group/event so you can never sure whether conclusions drawn from this case can be applied elsewhere)
-time consuming
-subjectivity bias causes low validity (findings are based on the psychologists opinion)

Question 83

Types of observations

Answer 83

Overt- observing people with their knowledge e.g., KHDA
Covert- observing people without them knowing

Participant- Observing people whilst being involved in activity
Non-participant- Observing people but not involved in activity

Naturalistic- Observing people in a real-life setting.
Controlled- Observing people in a place the researcher set up.

Strengths of observation studies-
-Observing behavior may provide data with high validity as observation may provide better indication of behavior.
-Observation studies look at real-life behavior.

Weaknesses of observation studies-
-Ethical issues, as people shouldn’t know they are being observed.
-Observers have expectations and this can influence what they hear or see

Question 84

Advantages of each

Answer 84

LOOK AT GOOGLE DOC

Question 85

Primary research

Answer 85

data that has been obtained first hand

strengths:

-suits the aims of the research=more useful
-original

weaknesses:

-takes time and effort to collect
-costly
-much easier and quicker to use that is already validated

Question 86

secondary data

Answer 86

data that already exists

strengths:

-easy and convenient to use
-saves expenses
-saves time
-little effort

weaknesses:

-may not fit what the researcher is investigating
-secondary data may be out-of-date, not quite complete or of poor quality=may waste time