paper 1 past paper 2024

Question 1

Question 1 - Ethical concern of research into social influence, name at least one study. (4)

Answer 1

Deception - Asch, Milgram
Psychological harm - Zimbardo, milgram
Informed consent - Asch, Milgram, Zimbardo
Right to withdraw - Milgram, Zimbardo

Question 2

Question 2 - Applied Explanations for conformity (6)

Answer 2

People agree with the opinion of the majority in order to be liked and gain approval/avoid ridicule
This leads to compliance which is where people will agree publicly with the group privately but they do not change their personal opinions
Theory related to conformity such as informational social influence and/or internalisation
Identification ; When a person changes their public behaviour and private belief but only when they are in the presence of the group. Short term change the result of nsi.

Question 3

Question 3 - Applied Explanations for obedience (6)

Answer 3

Credit also the inverse of factors usually used to explain conformity and obedience, eg (lack of) uniform; (increased) distance between participant and victim/authority figure; (reduced) group size; (lack of) ambiguity of task; (lack of) social support.
Authoritarian personality: a collection of traits/dispositions developed from strict/rigid parenting; examples of traits - conformist /conventional/dogmatic; obedient/servile towards people of perceived higher status
Legitimacy of authority: of context/setting; genuineness/status of authority figure.
Agentic shift/state: person ‘unthinkingly’ carries out orders; diffusion of responsibility

Question 4

Consistency and Flexibility role in minority influence (8)

Answer 4

Consistency is repeating the same message
Flexibility is listening to others and being willing to change an opinion
Minority influence refers to situations where one person or a small group of people change the ideas or beliefs of other people.
Moscovici, Nameth, Martin et al
Use of artificial materials
Other factors may be involved (commitment)
Issues with specific studies (Moscovici had very low % influence)

Question 5

Applied explain how inferential testing can improve this investigation (3)

Answer 5

Establish a relationship between the two variables
Generalise results to the general population
Quantify results
Establish a conclusion

Question 6

Explain two differences between episodic and semantic memories (4)

Answer 6

Episodic is knowledge of situations/events, semantic is knowledge of facts
Stored in different locations in the brain as represented by the cases of Patient HM and clive wearing
Episodic memories are time stamped, semantic are not
Episodic memories are related to emotions (strength determined by emotions, semantic are not)
Episodic and semantic memories must be recalled consciously, whereas procedural memories are recalled unconsciously.

Question 7

Explain retrieval failure as an explanation for forgetting. Outline one limitation. (4)

Answer 7

Forgetting is due to insufficient clues or cues
Lack of external contextual cues - where environment for learning and recall is different (Context-dependent forgetting)
Lack of internal contextual cues - where physical state from learning and recall is different (State-dependent forgetting)
Use of artificial materials in lab studies
— The findings from studies of retrieval failure may lack and ecological validity. This is because Baddeley argued that it is difficult to find conditions in real-life which are as polar as water and land, for example, and thus questioned the existence of context effects in normal life. This suggests that retrieval failure may be best suited to explaining cases of forgetting where the cues associated with encoding and retrieval are uncommonly distinct, thus not providing an accurate depiction of forgetting in day to day life.

Question 8

Question 1 - Which attachment behaviour is being shown in stem. (1)

Answer 8

Reciprocity

Question 9

Question 2 - Which attachment behaviour is being shown in stem. (1)

Answer 9

Interactional synchrony

Question 10

Explain the concepts ‘Critical Period’ and ‘Internal Working Model’ in the context of attachment (6)

Answer 10

Notion of critical/sensitive period up to approx. 2 years
Attachment to primary caregiver provides child with internal working model of relationships (Bowlby). The model represents/gives a mental view of relationship with primary figure and acts as a template for future relationships. Continuity in quality/type of relationship across generations. Credit application of knowledge and research into the origin and/or consequence of the internal working model e.g. Bailey et al

Question 11

Multiple choice, tick the 2 that are emotional characteristics of OCD (2)

Answer 11

anxiety
low mood

Question 12

Explain the two process model using STEM (8)

Answer 12

Acquired by classical conditioning - UCS was the breaking the arm/ danger associated with the dog and the NS was the dog which causes the conditioned response.
Leads to avoidance and the phobia is maintained by operant conditioning through positive and negative reinforcement. The Relief felt from avoidance.
when avoiding balloons becomes reinforcing
Description of the two-process theory
Reference to avoidance learning; reference to generalisation.

Question 13

Name a cognitive approach to explaining depression

Answer 13

Elis’ ABC model
Becks cognitive explanation for depression

Question 14

What does the ABC model stand for?

Answer 14

Activating event
Belief
Consequence

Question 15

Explain Elis’ ABC model

Answer 15

A stands for the activating event which happens in someone’s life. B is the belief about why that event occurred. C is the consequence of that belief. If the belief is irrational, then it will lead to to negative emotions like depression. These irrational beliefs come from musturbatory thinking.

Question 16

Explain Becks cognitive explanation for depression

Answer 16

Beck’s cognitive explanation for depression sees the roots of the disorder as lying in traumatic childhood experiences, such as continual parental criticism and/or rejection by others. These experiences lead to negative cognitive schemas developing, such as expecting to fail in situations similar to those present when the schemas were learned. These expectations lead to depression. Negative schemas and biases maintain what Beck calls the negative triad, a pessimistic and irrational view relating to the self, the world, and the future

Question 17

What is Beck’s negative triad?

Answer 17

a pessimistic and irrational view relating to the self, the world, and the future

Question 18

Give a negative of cognitive explanations of depression.

Answer 18

= Both the ABC model and Beck’s cognitive theory of depression share the same disadvantage in that they cannot explain all aspects of depression e.g. hallucinations, anger. This poses a particularly difficult practical issue in that patients may become frustrated that their symptoms cannot be explained according to this theory and therefore cannot be addressed in therapy.
Another problem is that, it is very likely that genetic factors and neurotransmitters are involved in depression. Research has shown that depressed people have lower levels of serotonin. This means that neurotransmitters also play a role in causing depression, and so a diathesis-stress model could be a better explanation for depression rather than cognitive or biological explanations on their own.

Question 19

Give 2 positives of cognitive explanations of depression.

Answer 19

+ = An increased understanding of the cognitive basis of depression translates to more effective treatments i.e. elements of the cognitive triad can be easily identified by a therapist and challenged as irrational thoughts on the patient’s part. Thus, it translates well into a successful therapy and the consequent effectiveness of CBT (as discussed later on) is merit to the accuracy of Beck’s cognitive theory as an explanation for depression.
+ = The ABC model shares the same advantage as Beck’s cognitive theory in that it provides a practical application in CBT. The effectiveness of CBT suggests that identifying and challenging irrational beliefs are at the core of ‘curing’ depression, which in turn supports the theoretical basis of the ABC model, through a specific focus on the role of faulty cognitions in the development of depression and specifically, in the interpretation of an activating event.

Question 20

Name a Romanian orphan story

Answer 20

Rutter et al (2007) who investigated the effects of institutionalization on 165 Romanian orphans

Question 21

Describe Rutter et al (2007) procedure

Answer 21

165 Romanian orphans assessed at 4, 6 and 11 years old in terms of physical, emotional and psychological development. compared to 50 British orphans

Question 22

Describe Rutter et al (2007) findings

Answer 22

Majority of orphans were malnourished.
IQ dependent on age of adoption. E.G. those adopted at 6 months had 25 more IQ points than those at 2 (as demonstrated by Goldman)
Those after 6 months showed signs of disinhibited attachment - characterized by attention seeking, and affectionate behaviour towards any adults - due to too many caregivers within the critical period to create a secure attachment

Question 23

Give an advantage of Rutter et al (2007)

Answer 23

The main advantage of Rutter’s study, compared to other adoption studies, is that he was able to study the effects of institutionalisation in isolation through removing the confounding and extraneous variables of PTSD and trauma often associated with war orphans. This increases the confidence that researchers can place in drawing conclusions about the effects of institutionalisation and the displayed differential rates of recovery

Question 24

Give two weaknesses’ of Rutter

Answer 24

• A key methodological issue with Rutter’s study is the focus on short-term recovery, rather than long term rates. For example, just because a child adopted at the age of 3 does not exhibit normal intellectual development at age 4 does not mean that the child has an intellectual disability or that they will not achieve normal development at a drawn, it would have been to carry out the study across a longer time scale.
• Some researchers have criticised the findings from Rutter’s study as having very low ecological validity because the conditions of the Romanian orphanages were especially poor. For example, the orphanages did not provide any intellectual stimulation for the orphans, which may have had a larger impact on their intellectual development compared to maternal deprivation as a single cause. Cases of abuse were also frequently reported. Since the average orphanage would have considerably better conditions, this suggests that the findings cannot be generalised beyond the research setting they were found in.

Question 25

Name 3 explanations for obedience

Answer 25

Agentic state Legitimacy of authority Situational factors Authorian personality (Dispositional factor)

Question 26

Explain what is the agentic state.

Answer 26

Agentic state – This is when a person believes that someone else will take responsibility for own actions. When a person shifts from an autonomous state (the state in which a person believes they will take responsibility for their own actions) to the agentic state, it is called an Agentic Shift. Therefore, agency theory is the idea that people are more likely to obey when they are in the agentic state as they do not believe they will suffer the consequences of those actions. This is because they believe that they are acting on behalf of their agent.

Question 27

Describe two explanations for Conformity

Answer 27

Informational Social Influence - When someone conforms because they want to be right, so they look to others by copying or obeying them, to have the right answer in a situation they would look to others for information. It usually leads to internalisation and occurs in situations where we do not have the knowledge or expertise to make our own decisions. Normative Social Influence – when someone conforms because they want to be liked and be part of a group; when a person’s need to be accepted or have approval from a group drives compliance. It often occurs when a person wants to avoid the embarrassing situation of disagreeing with the majority.

Question 28

Explain what is the Legitimacy of authority.

Answer 28

This describes how credible the figure of authority is. People are more likely to obey them if they are seen as credible in terms of being morally good/right, and legitimate (i.e. legally based or law abiding). This is why students are more likely to listen to their parents or teachers than other unknown adults. In Milgram’s study, the people saw the experimenter as legitimate as they knew he was a scientist and therefore is likely to be knowledgeable and responsible - this is called expert authority. This authority was legitimate (justified) because the researcher held the highest position within the social hierarchy of the experimental scenario

Question 29

What are the situational factors that effect obedience?

Answer 29

The appearance of the authority figure The location/surroundings The proximity of the authority figure

Question 30

Explain the impact of the appearance of an authority figure on obedience

Answer 30

A person is more likely to obey someone wearing a uniform as it gives them a higher status and a greater sense of legitimacy. It was found that obedience was much higher when the experimenter wore a lab coat as opposed to normal clothes. However, demand characteristics were particularly evident in this condition, with even Milgram admitting that many participants could see through this deception.

Question 31

Explain the impact of the location/surroundings on obedience

Answer 31

A person is more likely to obey someone in a location linked to higher status and legitimacy. Milgram’s study was conducted at a prestigious American university (Yale), and so obedience was greater than in a variation of the study conducted in a rundown office. This is because the prestigious nature of specific locations demand obedience from participants as well as potentially increasing the trust that they place in the researchers.

Question 32

Explain the impact of the proximity of the authority figure on obedience

Answer 32

A person is more likely to obey when they are less able to see the negative consequences of their actions and are in closer proximity to the authority figure. This is because it increases the pressure to obey and decreases the pressure to resist. In Milgram’s study, obedience was higher when the experimenter was in the same room (62.5%) as the participant as opposed to being in a different room and speaking over the phone i.e. the remote instruction condition (20.5% obedience levels).

Question 33

Explain what is an authoritarian personality.

Answer 33

The authoritarian personality is when you believe that people should completely obey or submit to their authority figures, and suppress their own beliefs. This means that they believe they should strictly submit to those higher in authority but those who are perceived as lower than the individual should also submit to the individual. This term was coined by Theodore Adorno. Adorno believed that these traits are developed from overly harsh and strict parents.

Question 34

Name a study relating to Minority influence

Answer 34

Moscovici’s study

Question 35

What is minority influence?

Answer 35

Minority influence refers to situations where one person or a small group of people change the ideas or beliefs of other people.

Question 36

Describe moscovici's study

Answer 36

Randomly selected participants and confederates Aim - To observe how minorities can influence a majority It was a lab experiment Participants were in a group where there were two confederates (the minority) and four participants (the majority). Everyone was shown 36 blue slides, each with a different shade of blue. They were each asked to say whether the slide was blue or green. Confederates deliberately said they were green on two-thirds of the trials, thus producing a consistent minority view. When the confederates were consistent in their answers about 8% of participants said the slides were green. However, when the confederates answered inconsistently about 1% of participants said the slides were green. This shows that consistency is crucial for a minority to exert maximum influence on a majority.

Question 37

Give a weakness of Minority Influence including reference to Consistency, Commitment and Flexibility (Moscovici’s study )

Answer 37

— A key issue with Moscovici’s study in particular is the reliance on artificial tasks and stimuli. This means that such methodology lacks mundane realism because the tasks do not reflect the scenarios within which minority groups would act in real life. This also means that the findings are likely to lack ecological validity because the extent to which the results can be generalised is limited.

Question 38

Explain the effect of consistency on Minority influence

Answer 38

Moscovici’s study clearly demonstrates the role of consistency in minority influence. The majority is more likely to be influenced by the minority when the minority is consistent in their views. This is because it makes the opposition think that the views of the minority are real and serious enough to pay attention to , if they are so determined to stay consistent.

Question 39

Explain the two different types of Consistency in minority influence

Answer 39

Diachronic consistency is when the group remains consistent over time – they do not change their views over time Synchronic consistency is when the group is consistent between all the members of the group – everyone in the group has the same views, and therefore agree with and support each other.

Question 40

Explain the effect of Commitment on Minority influence

Answer 40

The majority is more likely to be influenced by the minority when the minority is committed, because when the minority have so much passion and confidence in their point of view, it suggests to the majority that their view must somehow be valid, and it encourages them to explore why; offering more opportunity to be influenced.

Question 41

Explain the effect of Flexibility on Minority influence

Answer 41

The majority is more likely to be influenced by the minority when the minority is flexible. Being too consistent can suggest that the minority is inflexible, uncompromising and irrational, making their argument less appealing to the majority. However, if they appear flexible, compromising and rational, they are less likely to be seen as extremists and attention seekers. They are more likely to be seen as reasonable, considerate and cooperative.

Question 42

What are the 3 types of long term memory?

Answer 42

Episodic Semantic Procedural

Question 43

What types of long term memory require conscious recall?

Answer 43

Episodic and semantic memories must be recalled consciously, whereas procedural memories are recalled unconsciously.

Question 44

What is Episodic memory?

Answer 44

Episodic is knowledge of situations Episodic memory describes those memories which have some kind of personal meaning to us, alongside details as to when and how these events occurred

Question 45

What is semantic memory?

Answer 45

Semantic is knowledge of facts

Question 46

What is retrieval failure

Answer 46

Retrieval failure suggests that forgetting occurs when the ‘cues’ (triggers of information recollection) present at the time of encoding the information are not present at the time of recall

Question 47

What is eyewitness testimony?

Answer 47

Eyewitness testimony refers to the information recalled about a crime by an eyewitness. The accuracy of such an account can be reduced through the influence of misleading (incorrect) information in the form of leading questions and post-event discussions.

Question 48

What is post-event discussion?

Answer 48

Post-event discussions describe the discussions that take place between co-witnesses after the crime has taken place, and is subject to the influence of media and TV reports on the crime, as well as participants’ pre-conceived expectations of how they would imagine the crime. Gabbert et al (2003), using a matched-pairs design, showed participants a film clip of the same crime scene, but with different details for each member. After engaging in post-event discussions with the other member of each pair and individually completing a test of recall, the researchers found 71% inaccuracy rates of information gained through such discussions, compared to a 0% control group rate who had worked alone throughout.

Question 49

Give a weakness of Gabbert et al (2003) about post event discussion

Answer 49

— The artificial tasks and stimuli used by both Loftus and Palmer, alongside Gabbert, reduces the ecological validity of the findings and the mundane realism of the methodology. For example, the film clips of the car crashes do not expose participants to the anxiety of experiencing a real-life car crash. This anxiety may either have a negative (Johnson and Scott) or positive (Yuille and Cutshall) effect on the accuracy of EWT, thus biasing the findings.

Question 50

What is your internal working model?

Answer 50

This is an area in the brain, a mental schema for relationships where information that allows you to know how to behave around people is stored. The internal working model affects your expectations of others and subsequently you attitude towards them, which would have an impact on the quality of romantic relationships in adulthood. For example, someone who is insecure resistant may have issues and may find it hard to commit to one person. Bowlby suggested that there will be continuity between your experiences as a baby (attachment type) and your relationships later in life. Bailey et al - strange situation - attachment type of baby similar to that of parents

Question 51

What is Avoidance?

Answer 51

Avoidance behaviour is negatively reinforced because it is carried out to avoid the unpleasant consequence of being exposed to the phobic stimulus. Therefore, avoidance severely impacts the patients ability to continue with their day to day lives.

Question 52

What is the two process model?

Answer 52

According to the two-process model, phobias are initiated through classical conditioning (learning through association) and maintained through operant conditioning (negative reinforcement).