Paper 1 Essays

Question 1

Discuss research into coding

Answer 1

Baddeley - participant list of words recall after learning different list
Semantic sim words worst after 20mins mix up
Accoustic worse instant recall mix up
•S= application to memory models
•L= artificial stimuli useless words

Question 2

Discuss research into duration

Answer 2

Petersons consonant syllable count backwards 3-18s 18 3% recall STM
Bahrick - high school 400 up to 75 left school 48yrs ago= 70% recog 15yrs=90%
•S- Bahrick high external validity real word stimuli
•L- Peterson v artificial stimuli decr external valid
•S- lab study
•L - Bahrick lack of control over confounding variables

Question 3

Discuss research into capacity

Answer 3

Jacob’s digit span 9.2 letter span 7.3
Miller chunking 7 +/-2
•S- Jacob study replicated similar results
•L- 7+/- 2 exaggeration should be 4+/-1

Question 4

Discuss the Multi store model theory

Answer 4

Sensory Reg = high capacity all sensory info coded modality specific duration 1/2 s
STM = 18s duration 7+-2 capacity accoustic coded
LTM= unlimited duration and capacity semantically coded
•S Plethora of supporting evidence first model of memory
•L- KF poor accoustic good visual STM
•L- elaborative Rehersal better than prolonged rehersal

Question 5

Discuss Working memory model

Answer 5

STM separate slave systems
Central executive sort into separate systems low capacity and duration
Phonological loop - inner ear audit artic process - form speech loop words
Visuospatial sketch pad- visual cache spatial inner scribe colour etc
Episodic buffer time mark memories process into Ltm high capacity
•S- KF damage PL intact VSS
•L- lack of evidence of CE
•S- dual task performance worst same system

Question 6

Discuss long term memory

Answer 6

Episodic - memory time stamped etc
Procedural - no recall required techniques
Semantic - facts and knowledge require recall
•S- HM and Clive wearing amnesia no episodic memory however CW could still play piano for example
L - contradicting neural research semantic left side prefrontal other episodic left and right encoding and retrieval

Question 7

Discuss reasons of forgetting - interference

Answer 7

Retroactive
Proactive
McGeoch and McDonald- similar words resulted in worst recall testing retroactive
•S- Baddeley and hitch rugby players more games more forgetting
•L- interference is v rare and a rare form of forgetting better explained by other
•L- only partial forgetting can be overcome w cues

Question 8

Discuss retrieval failure as an explanation for forgetting

Answer 8

When one cannot recall info from LTM
Context dependent forgetting- godden and Baddeley divers study
State dependent carter and cassaday antihistamines
Encoding specifity principle - cue has to present upon learning and recall
•S - plethora of supporting data
•L- Godden and Baddeley divers recognise is the same even w opposite conditions
•S- RWA Baddeley believed main reason go into room forget return remember again

Question 9

Discuss misleading info as a reason affecting EWT

Answer 9

Leading questions - loftus and palmer crashed collided - smashed 10% more than collided - response bias change response or substitution bias smash glass
Post event discussion- gabbert et al found if discussed afterwards 72% of pp recalled info not from perspective - memory conformity memory contamination
•L- Sutherland et al conducted study repeat and key events effecting crime didn’t change
•S- Loftus and palmer repeat asked if glass smashed once more likely if smashed verb used
•L - lab study demand characteristics recall more to please the experimenter recall other aspects
•S- RWA in justice system avoid leading Q and application to cog interview

Question 10

Discuss anxiety as a reason effecting eye witness testimony

Answer 10

+ve - shop robbery those directly involved had the greatest recall in comparison to bystanders seen to be most anxious
-ve- Johnson and Scott bloody knife and pen greasy tunnel vision on weapon 40% correctly ident knife in comparison to 70%
•S - London dungeons heart rate monitor those highest rate worst recall on average of actors
•L - bank robberies meta analysed in Sweden those score higher on anxiety scale greatest recall directly involved
•L - weapon focus pickel et al chicken in barber shop compared to scissors than more bizarre object the less accurate recall

Question 11

Discuss the cognitive interview

Answer 11

Reinstate the context - imagine u are there at the scene trigger memories context dependent forgetting
Recall everything ensure details aren’t missed trigger other memories
Recall backwards to avoid schemas or dishonesty of recall
Change perspective pic self in a different perspective to trigger memories
•L - training time copious expensive
•S - meta analysed 44 cases found that majority using CI increased less than 4 stayed the same
•L- found that some aspects are more useful than other aspects recall everything and reinstate context best

Question 12

Discuss research into conformity

Answer 12

Asch study - line X compare ABC 123 American males group of fake participants
Incorrect conform 37% of the time task was v easy NSI
Task difficulty changed conformity incr
ISI occurs
•S - research support Lucas et Al maths problems conformity incr when harder ISI occurs
•L- androcentrism basing off male standard
•S- Nolan San Diego NSI leaflets energy usage neighbours decr so pp decrease
•L - study seen as trivial to some pp so went along w conforming w majority

Question 13

Discuss research into conformity to social roles

Answer 13

Zimbardo Stanford prison experiment 31 American men guards prisoners mentally stable found willing to conform to roles guards brutal and prisoners converse about prison life
Stopped after 6 days - mental instability
•S control of variables and validity in test method stable men randomly assigned
•L - based off of stereotypes and not conforming to social rules Cool hand Luke
•L- exaggerated those who confirmed upon review only 1/3 guards were brutal 2/3 didn’t conform and comforted prisoners- participate researcher bias

Question 14

Discuss research into obedience

Answer 14

Milgrams test - 40 participant teacher and student actor zapped by current if incorrect answer 100% up to 300v 65% to 450v max
L- androcentrism base standard off of men conducted experiment w real puppy only 50% men obeyed 100% of women obeyed
S- study replicated by French TV showed similar signs of distress and similar obedience rate incr validity
L- content analysis found that only 50% thought that the shock was real and therefore this who didn’t carried on willingly

Question 15

Discuss effect of situational variables on obedience referring to research

Answer 15

Milgrams test location conducted in run down office block obedience dropped to 47% Yale =legit
Uniform - member of public obedience dropped to 20% no authority
Proximity - learner in same room drop to 40% touch proximity 30% remote instructions 20.5%
•S- support by Bickman - mailman security guard and business man obey the security guard more pick up litter security more obey
•L - participants may be aware that this was fake extra manipulation of variables eg location to run down office block or use of a member of public ofc obedience drops - play acted see through deception
•S- replication in other cultures Dutch pp were ordered to say things in an interview 90% obeyed repeat Milgrams proximity factors

Question 16

Discuss situational explanations of obedience

Answer 16

Agentic state - when one acts and feels as if no responsibility of actions acts as an agent for an authority figure autonomous state= normal
Legitimacy of authority - when one believes someone is an authority figure due to their position in social hierarchy perceived as authority above them in hierarchy
•S-Milgrams test participants asked investigator who is responsible po acted more willingly
•S - presence of evidence way of explaining cultural variation. Milgrams like test 16% aus obeyed 85% Germans obeyed
•S - Bickman security guard perceived to have greater authority highest obedience rates

Question 17

Discuss dispositional explanation of obedience

Answer 17

Explanation of behaviour that highlights the importance of the individuals personality
Authoritarian personality - Adorno extreme respect and submissiveness to authority view society as weaker than it was - dictators - more likely obey authority negative emotions to those lower inflexible outlook v uncomfortable w uncertainty
Origins parenting style strict discipline and impossibly high standards only conditional love displace onto weaker
Adorno developed f scale unconscious attitudes towards ethnic groups
Black or white thinking - correlation w prejudice
•S- Milgrams participants fully obey scored high on f scale thus showing authoritarianism
•L- only measures tendency towards extreme right wing - politically bias both extreme right and left a lot in common possessing strong black and white thinking and importance of political authority
•L - cannot explain majority of obedient behaviour in population - antisemitic pre war Germany dont all possess same personality . Only identify w nazi state and scapegoat Jews - limited highly unlikely

Question 18

Discuss resistance to social influence

Answer 18

Social support - disagreeing confederate conform less often seen in Asch procedure reduce group pressure behaving more independently
Locus of control those with internal less likely to control
•L - longitudinal study over 40 yrs external incr resisting SI more contradicts beliefs
•S- Milgrams test 37% didn’t go full compared to 23% of internals
•S-14-19 buddy resist conformity g to smoke presence of buddy conformity far less than control

Question 19

Discuss minority influence

Answer 19

Consistency - continuous with point
Flexibility- adapt point w majority
Commitment - augmentation principle protest for example
•S-100 studies meta analyses found that those who use commitment are more likely to trigger social change
•S- Moscovicis tile green - minority said blue if committed and consistent with view that it is blue more likely to cause change
•L- Moscovicis experiment was trivial and v artificial stimuli

Question 20

Discuss social change

Answer 20

Draw attention Consistency Deeper processing Augmentation Principle Snowball effect Sociacryptoamnesia
NSI - pressure
•S- bring about change alternate thinking develops society alternate thinking
•S- NSI Nolan San Diego energy consumption posters
•L- Deeper processing may occur in minority rather than majority groups minority question whether opinion valid

Question 21

Outline Aschs variables

Answer 21

Group size - from 1 to 15 pp in group conformity increased w group size at 3 stopped at 31.8%
Unanimity - extent to which all pp agree introducing dissenter conformity levels drop - feel more independent
Task difficulty- incr difficulty conformity increased look to others for guidance ISI

Question 22

Discuss caregiver infant interactions

Answer 22

Reciprocity - infant and caregiver respond to each other’s behaviour like a dance alert phase identified 2/3 active involvement
interactional synchrony is mirroring behaviour Isabella et al
Social releasers
Caregiverese
•S= lab studies controlled variables
•L - hard to interpret babies behaviour lack of coordination
•S- ignore social releasers babies tantrum and lay motionless
•L- observing doesn’t tell importance or purpose may be phenomena

Question 23

Discuss Schaffer and Emerson’s research on attachment

Answer 23

60 Glaswegian babies 29 g /31 b mother reported to Schaffer and Emerson on how the baby behaves regarding attachment 27% joint attachment
From this propose stages 1=asocial 2=indiscriminate 3= specific 4= multiple
•S- RWA in application to child care best introduce in stage 1 and 2- stage 3 most conflict
•L- child may show preference and stranger anxiety in stage 2 however may lack coordination and ability to show this
•S- good external validity child was observed by mother in a natural environment

Question 24

Discuss the role of the father

Answer 24

Grossman reinforced no importance in childhood key development however used in play and stimulation. Form greater bond in adolescence w father due to this
Tiffany field - fathers have ability to provide primary care showed interactional synchrony etc
Schaffer and Emerson saw 3% of children prim attach to father 27% joint shows ability
•S - Rwa able to comfort single parent couples and same sex parents that the father role can be played by anyone
•L - grossman would predict implications of no father however found that those children raised with and without a father didn’t differ in later life development or attachment style

Question 25

Discuss animal studies

Answer 25

Harlow -monkeys cloth mother prefer maternal deprivation no mother release into wild kill young etc
Lorenz - imprinting goslings follow first thing see sexual imprinting
• L -ungeneralisable to humans lack prefrontal cortex development lack emotional complexity to humans
•S - RWA shows develop more of attach due to feeling of comfort prioritise foster care than institute and zoo programs used
•S - gosling study repeated chicks follow first thing = specific shape

Question 26

Discuss the learning theory of attachment

Answer 26

Classical conditioning - food unconditioned relate mother conditioned stimulus
Operant conditioning - crying
Hunger as primary drive causes attachment to become secondary drive
•L- contradicted by human studies of attach infants formed attach w those who didn’t feed 3% fathers cannot breast milk
•L - contradicted by animal studies Harlows monkeys preferred cloth mother more comfort when frightened develop attach to this than one w milk
•S - may hold some value - classical conditioning relate feeling of love w caregiver conditioned stimulus instead of food

Question 27

Discuss Bowlbys monotropic theory of attachment

Answer 27

Monotropy - forming one v strong primary attachment - mother law of continuity - constant love and law of prolonged separation - zero separation is best
Social releasers - cute innate behaviour
IWM acts as a template
Critical period 6 months to 2yrs
•S- Brazelton social releasers asked to ignore babies then threw tantrum distressed and then lay motionless role in emotional development
•S- Bailey et al 99 mothers and their mothers attach similar
•L lacks validity vs Schaffer and Emerson formation of joint attachment figures 27% and 3% fathers contradict evidence regarding one primary figure is the most important may not differ in quality may be stronger

Question 28

Discuss the types of attachment

Answer 28

Ainsworths study babies American observed - exploration and secure base proximity seeking stranger anxiety separation anxiety response to reunion
Secure- moderate exploration and anxiety happy to be reunited
Avoidant - high exploration no secure base low stranger and separation anx avoids upon reunion
Resistant - low exploration high anxiety resistant to reunion
•L - culture bound imposed etic found that collectivist cultures vary in comparison to western
•S- ability to apply to outcomes later in life eg bullying those secure good friends etc
•S- highly controlled lab experiment once internal valid

Question 29

Discuss cultural variations in attachment

Answer 29

Ijzendoorn and kroonenborg 8 different countries
High avoidant = Germany
High resistant = Israel + Japan
Simonelli - Italian mothers back to work insecure attached
•L- imposed etic tells little about attachment varies between cultures eg in Japan mother infant separation v rare in Germany praised for independence
• S use of indigenous psychologists to ensure data valid and language Barrie’s or miscommunication effects validity of results

Question 30

Discuss Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 30

Internal working model - infant attachment acts as a template for future relationships
Critical period up to 2 years afterwards irreversible psych damage
44 thieves 12/14 maternal deprivation
Low IQ +affection-less psychopathy
•S- Bailey et al 99 mothers shows IWM
•L- interviews conducted by Bowlby himself may be subject to researcher bias
•L- Czech twins adopted after 2.5 years developed into normal functioning people recovered emotions and IQ by adolescence

Question 31

Discuss research into institutionalisation

Answer 31

Rutter et al investigate Romanian orphans aged up to 25 and effects of adoption in the Uk.
Found that those adopted before 6 months developed completely normally those after 6 months developed an IQ of 88 and those older than 2 when adopt iq of 76.
After 6 months adopted formed specific attachment style called Disinhibited attachment - same emotions to strangers and family result of multiple carers
•S- RWA in adoption and orphan system prioritise foster care than in institute to avoid negative impacts
•S - confounding variables v low compared to previous orphan studies due to trauma due to the war
•L- no indication of long term effects of institutionalisation - data collected is not longitudinal thus can’t confirm that those effects weren’t grown out of or mental disorders develop limited

Question 32

Discuss early attachment on later relationships

Answer 32

Childhood -myron Wilson and smith secure leats bullied developed best friendships avoidant - bullied resistant were the bullies
Later in life - McCarthy resistant struggle to make friends avoidant struggle to have relationships
Bailey et al mothering style
•S- clear consequence of attachment styles evidence secure mental health fine however insecure avoidant mild issues disorganised worst MH issues
•L - Bailey et al study attachment assessed retrospectively may lie about attachment or mother and mother relationship may be different now than was previously - confounded w other variables meaningless

Question 33

Discuss reasons of abnormality

Answer 33

Stat infrequency when someone’s characteristic is less common on an extreme of a scale
•S- diagnosis eg depression score
•L- may not be negative
Deviation from social norms - don’t conform to standards of behav in community eg antisocial personality disorder
•S- diagnosis in psychopathy lack remorses etc
•L- may be discriminative different cultures

Question 34

Discuss reasons of abnormality

Answer 34

Failure to func adequately- inability to conform to interpersonal rules cannot hold eye contact and danger to themselves
•L- discriminate towards thrill seekers and travellers
•S- good threshold to seek help
Deviation from ideal mental health - jahoda self actualisation good self esteem cope w stress etc
•L- culture bound
•L- unachievable criteria more harm than good

Question 35

Outline phobia characteristics

Answer 35

Behav= panic avoidance endurance
Cog= cog distortions irrational beliefs
Emotion= anxiety stress unreasonable emotional response

Question 36

Outline depression characteristics

Answer 36

Behav- aggression, lack motivation sleep and food schedule
Cognitive- poor conc absolutist thinking dwell on negative
Emotion= anger negative mood low self esteem

Question 37

Outline OCD characteristics

Answer 37

Behav- repetitive compulsions compulsions to reduce anxiety avoid triggers
Cog- irrational beliefs reduced activities guilt if compulsion not complete
Emotion- anxiety depression guilt

Question 38

Discuss behavioural approach to explaining phobias

Answer 38

Classical conditioning- little Albert
Operant conditioning maintenance avoid negative reinforced
•S - Ad de Jongh supporting evidence 72% of those fearing dentist have experienced trauma
•L- ignores cognitive aspect of phobias no regard of irrational beliefs etc
•S- RWA to exposure therapies

Question 39

Discuss behavioural treatment of phobias

Answer 39

Systematic desensitisation- anxiety hierarchy reciprocal inhibition relaxation tech and exposure
•S- less traumatic more suitable for LD and less dropouts
•S- effectiveness in comparison to just relaxation techniques alone group were less scared than control group
Flooding - exposure of phobia works via extinction of conditioned stimulus
•L- v traumatic experience high drop outs unsuitable for LD
•S- far cheaper more available only takes 1-3 sessions less time nhs economic implications

Question 40

Discuss cognitive explanation of depression

Answer 40

Becks negative triad view on world future and self negative self schema and faulty info processing (black and white thinking lottery)
•S- application to treating depression effective CBT treatment as effective as drugs
•S- Cohen et al research into cognitive vulnerability - predispose eg negative schema (body dysmorphia) due to depression - 473 possibly due to cog vuln those develop depression
Ellis ABC activating event belief- musturbation (perfection) can’t stand it itus (disaster) Utopianism (life meant to be fair) consequences trigger depression
•L only explains reactive not endogenous - partial
•S-RWA in treating depression REBT vigorous argument

Question 41

Discuss cognitive treatments of depression

Answer 41

Becks CBT model - clients problem putting together a plan on how to solve identify irrational beliefs eg negative triad challenge these beliefs hw to disprove belief client- scientist
Ellis REBT involves vigorous dispute with client identifying Utopianism or musturbation and analysing these w the client via empirical arguments actual evidence logical argument is it based of facts?
Behav activation do something fun
•S- CBT as effective as antidepressants 81% however best = combo cost effective 6-12 sessions .CBT is first choice treatment
•L- relapse rates with CBT 49% half a year 57% a year relaps only temporary solution
•L - not effective for all those w LD or severe depression lack motivation etc