What do you need help with?

I am trying to make resources to help with both the unit 1 and unit 2 exam however if there is anything specific you would like me to put on the blog just comment below as it is surprising easy to make the resources and upload them x

Evaluating a Theory (Strengths and Weaknesses)

For the Unit 2 exam you will not be required to evaluate any theories, however you will be expected to do so in the Unit 1 exam.

There are 4 stages to evaluating a theory which you should make at least one point on each to guarantee full marks on an evaluation question in the exam:

1. Apply to real life, say who the theory can help and how it can help
2. Does your theory have a supporting study? use the results of the study to say how it supports your theory
3. Find one criticism of you supporting study, this can include having a low ecological validity and generalisability etc
4. Is there an opposing theory? Having an opposing theory means that our theory is not 100% accurate.
5. Any final weaknesses? (If there are any)

Using these stages to evaluate your theories is a simple way of making sure you evaluate correctly, make sure your points show a good understanding of the theory and study used with good detail. Evaluation questions tend to be around 4 marks.

If you have any questions leave a comment below x

Evaluating Studies

How to Evaluate a Study - Using Craik and Tulving (1975 Levels of Processing)

A question that asks you to evaluate a study in AS Psychology will roughly be around 5 marks, to achieve full marks you should make a developed point of at least 4 of these areas:

1.       Generalisability

o   How many participants took part in the study?

o   Can this be generalised to the rest of the population?

Craik and Tulving: Does not represent the whole population as there were only 20 participants

2.       Reliability

o   Is a controlled procedure used?

o   Would it be easy to repeat the study?

Craik and Tulving: There is a high reliability as the study took place in a lab

3.       Application to real life

o   How does society benefit from the study?

Craik and Tulving: Can be used to benefit students who are studying for their exams as they know to revise the content semantically by making sure they have a full understanding of their work.

4.       Validity

o   Does the study test what it set out to test?

o   Is the study set in an artificial or real setting?

o   Are there any factors that may affect the results? (confounding variables)

Craik and Tulving: The study has a high validity as being conducted in a lab there was a high level of control meaning there was a small chance of confounding variables affecting the results.

5.       Ecological Validity

o   Was the task conducted realistic?

o   Was a real life setting used? (lab experiment or field experiment?)

Craik and Tulving: Has a low ecological validity as the study took place in an artificial environment as it was a lab experiment meaning the behaviour experience was not realistic.

You can also talk about whether the study meets ethical guidelines, I will be making a seperate resource on this.

If you have any questions please leave a comment below x

How to Describe a Case Study

My class have studied Craik and Tulving thus why I am using it in this resource

Craik and Tulving – Describing a Cognitive Study

To complete a description on the designated study for your exam I recommend that you:

-          Make at least one point on the aim of the study

-          Make at least three points on the procedure of the study

-          Make at least two points on the results of the study
-          Make at least one point on the conclusion of the study

Here is what you could mention if you have studied Craik and Tulving:

Aim:

-          To see if semantic processing leads to a better recall of information.

-          To provide evidence for the levels of processing theory

Procedure:

-          20 participants

-          40 words

-          Yes or no questions were asked

-          Incidental (participants did not know they were doing a memory test)

-          Tested individually

-          Words shown one at a time for 200 milliseconds             

Detailed sentences should be used in this section to convey a good understanding of the case study.

Results:

-          30% more words were recorded if semantically processed

-          Semantic processing lead to the best recognition

Conclusion:

-          Shows that LOP is correct that semantic is the deepest form of processing

-          Deeper processing means we are more likely to understand the material

If you have any questions please comment below x

Theories of Memory - Describing

Theories of Memory

Describing the Multi Store Model of Memory (or MSM)

This process describes the memory as having three stores which are:

-          

Sensory Register (the sense organs)

-          Short Term Memory (STM)

-          Long Term Memory (LTM)

The Model:

For the exam you will be asked to describe this theory for roughly 5 marks in which you should aim to make five points using examples where possible.

Points should include:

-          What is the Multi store mode of memory (what are the three stores?)

-          The capacity of the stores

o   The capacity of the STM is 5-9 items (average = 7), we can increase this by chunking information.

o   The capacity of the LTM is unlimited.

-          The duration of the stores

o   Duration of the STM is 30 seconds

o   Duration of the LTM is unlimited

-          And that MSM encourages maintenance rehearsal (repetition) as a method of transferring information from the STM to the LTM to create long lasting memories.

KEY ISSUE APPLICATION: Says students will revise better through repeating what they are trying to remember in order for better recall of information in the exam.

Describing the Levels of Processing Theory

This theory states that there are three levels in which information can be processed into our long term memory. They are:

1.       Phonetic – based on what something sounds like

2.       Structural – processing based on how something looks (shallowest)

3.       Semantic – processing based on what something means (deepest)

The deeper the form of processing the easier the recall of information.

Says that elaborative rehearsal should be used rather than MSM’s maintenance rehearsal. Elaborative Rehersal is where information is transferred more effectively from the STM to the LTM through understanding the meaning of something rather than repeating what you are trying to store in your long term memory.

In order to answer a question which wants you to describe the levels of processing theory you should aim to cover these points:

-          That there are three levels of processing
-  What these levels are using an example to demonstrate how they work. (for example I would remember going to a place when I was younger by remembering how the beach looked)

KEY ISSUE APPLICATION: Helps students revise because it says that understanding the meaning of something will help you remember it better = elaborative rehearsal

Key Components of the Cognitive Approach - Unit 1

Define Cognitive Psychology	-          The cognitive approach is about the role of cognitive and information processes in human behaviour (Know this definition)
Theories of Memory	-          Multi Store Model -          Levels of Processing
Theories of Forgetting	-          Cue Dependent Theory -          Interference Theory
Studies in detail (Will depend on your teacher’s preferences)	-          Craik and Tulving’s study of -          Levels of Processing -          Godden & Baddeley’s study of Cue Dependent Forgetting
Key Issue (Will depend on your teacher’s preferences)	-          “Why should psychology students revise more effectively than non-psychology students?”
How Science Works	-          Hypotheses -          I.V and D.V -          Experimental Methods -          Experimental Design

Complete Checklist - Unit 1 Exam

Everything You Need to Know

·         Describe and Evaluate Multi Store Model of Memory

·         Describe and Evaluate Levels of Processing Model of Memory

·         Describe and Evaluate Craik and Tulving’s Levels of Processing Study

·         Describe and Evaluate Cue-Dependent Theory of Forgetting

·         Describe and Evaluate Godden and Baddeley study

·         Describe and Evaluate Interference Theory of Forgetting

·         Describe and Explain the Cognitive Key Issue

·         Cognitive Practical

·         Describe and Evaluate Agency Theory

·         Describe and Evaluate Milgram’s Original Study

·         Describe and Evaluate Meeus and Raaijmaker’s Study

·         Compare Meeus and Raaijmaker’s Study and Milgram’s Study

·         Describe and Evaluate Milgram’s Variation Study

·         Describe and Evaluate Hofling’s Nurses Study

·         Describe and Evaluate Social Identity Theory

·         Describe and Evaluate Sherif’s Robbers Cave Study

·         Describe and Explain the Social Key Issue

·         Social Practical

·         Describe and Evaluate Lab, Field and Natural Experiments

·         Describe and Evaluate Surveys

·         Describe and Evaluate Experimental Designs

·         Describe and Evaluate Sampling Methods

·         Hypotheses (one and two tailed and null)

·         IV’s, DV’s and Operationalising variables

·         Confounding Variables

·         Ethical Guidelines

·         Qualitative vs. Quantitative

·         Objectivity vs. Subjectivity

Make sure you can do all of these skills without your notes for success in this exam.