Psychology As Level Paper 1

Question 1

Outline how two variables investigated by Asch affected conformity.

Answer 1

Changing group size- 1 con=3%, 2cons= 13%, 3cons=33%, social pressure increased conformity due to ISI

Task difficulty- more difficult the task, the more conformity, as uncertainty is increased. ISI

Question 2

Explain two ethical limitations of Asch’s investigations into conformity.

Answer 2

Deception- participants thought they were taking part in a test of perception

Lack of protection from harm- participants may feel embarrased or pressured

Question 3

Suggest two reasons why Asch’s conformity investigations could be considered to be unrealistic

Answer 3

Artificial task- judging line length is not an everyday activity therefore lacks mundane realism

Demand characteristics as in a lab setting so may have guessed aim of study, this is not how conformity would work in real life

Question 4

Outline flexibility as a factor in minority influence.

Answer 4

Where minority group is able to make compromises
Makes them seem more reasonable and therefore persuasive

Question 5

Consistency and commitment in minority influence

Answer 5

Consistency- repeating same message, challenging beliefs
Synchronic- within members of group
Diachronic- over time
Draws attention

Commitment- demonstrate this by making sacrifices, shows they truly believe

Conversion

Snowball effect/ social cryptomnesia

Question 6

Describe sensory register

Answer 6

Large capacity
Duration is 50 ms
Receives the info from all senses

Question 7

One strength and limitation of volunteer sampling

Answer 7

Strength- less effort for psychologist
Limitation- volunteer bias

Question 8

The psychologist was concerned that the number of correct answers recalled would be affected by participants taking part in both conditions of the experiment
Explain one way the psychologist could deal with this problem.

Answer 8

Independent group designs
Remove order effects such as fatigue or practice
Participants will only take part in one condition each

Question 9

Evaluate research into post event discussion as a factor that affects accuracy of EWT

Answer 9

Younger and older people are more affected by this
Gabbert et al- 71% of witnesses in group where post event discussion happened, recalled incorrect info from video
60% said girl guilt
Some research has taken place in lab so no ecological validity
Population validity

Question 10

Discuss interference as an explanation for forgetting.

Answer 10

•interference is where different pieces of information become confused in memory
• proactive interference is where old learning affects recall of new information
• retroactive interference is where new learning affects recall of old information
• newer information may overwrite earlier information
• interference is more likely to occur when the pieces of information are similar or smaller gap of time in between them

Schmidt et al- 211, 11-79y/o, childhood street names, more times moved, less street names remembered (retro)

Question 11

Briefly describe Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation.

Answer 11

disruption of the altachment between infant and primary caregiver (mother) could result in long-term intellectual (low IQ), social (delinquency), and emotional (affectionless psychopathy) difficulties for that infant

Critical period- 2 and a half years

Irreversible damage

Internal working model

Question 12

Using one example of cultural variations in attachment, explain Dave’s comments about insecure attachments.

Answer 12

•higher rates of insecure-avoidant attachments among German infants (35%) / as mothers encourage independence

• higher rates of insecure-resistant attachments in collectivist cultures, eg Japan (27%) / infants are rarely separated (Van lizendoorn and Kroonenberg, 1988) meta analysis