Exam preparation June 2010 exam paper (Unit one)

Summer 2010 – Unit 1

General points Don’t write outside the lines Be guided by the amount of space available – if you have one line for a 4 mark question it’s not enough, but if you’re trying to squash it in to the space provided, you’re writing too much! You can’t do well in this exam by writing down everything you know about a topic!

Question 1a Short answers MSM No problems! Hurrah!!!

Question 2 Describe strategies for memory improvement. Few problems. Plural – at least two. Name them, e.g. method of loci, verbal mnemonics, etc.

Question 2 – excellent answer The method of loci is useful for remembering a list of words or objects, eg. Items in a shopping list. The items to be remembered are associated with locations in a well known place, e.g. the home. For example, if the shopping list contains milk, bread and an apple, you could perhaps place the mil at the front door, apples on an sofa in the living room, and so on. The first letter mnemonic helps to learn the order of something eg. When trying to remember the order of the planets use the first letter of each planet to create a new sentence – My Very Easy Method Just Speeds Up Naming Planets. A third memory improvement strategy can include linking words together into a narrative story eg if a list of words to remember includes bicycle, duck and ice cream, you could turn it into - Bob got on to his bicycle, and rode down the duck pond at the park, he bought and ice cream and sat on the bench.

Question 3a Write a non directional hypothesis. Not too many problems. Underline key words – eg. NON DIRECTIONAL. There will be a significant difference in the number of words recalled between children and adults.

Question 3b Why did he use independent groups? Mixed answers. He had no other choice but independent groups – to use repeated measures, he would have to have used children and then waited for them to grow up! Good answer – because the researcher wanted to see whether age would affect short term memory, so he kept each age group separate to see the difference.

Question 3c Calculation of mode from graph. No problems!

Question 3d What does the frequency distribution show? Mostly ok, but quite basic. Good answer: Adults can recall on average one more number than children. The children have a wider range of results than adults. Few people mentioned range!

Question 3e Do the results support the findings of other research. Mostly ok. Good answer: Yes, as Miller suggested that the average capacity of STM is seven plus or minus two which has been supported because the mode for adults correct digit recall was 7 digits.

Question 4 One study of the duration of short term memory. Underline/circle DURATION and STM! Peterson and Peterson. 3 parts: stimulus materials, what p’s were asked to do and how duration was measured – full marks can only be achieved if all 3 parts answered.

Question 4 Good answer: One experiment was done by Peterson and Person in They asked p’s to remember short trigrams (3 letters) while counting back in 3’s form a certain number, say 400. Each time, the length of time counting back was increased. By using this method, duration was measured by seeing how long information can last without rehearsal. By focusing on counting backwards, we cant rehearse the information and it cant go into long term memory.

Question 5a Space shuttle crash – cognitive interview. Some good answers. Application question AO2 – so try to relate to the incident.

Question 5a Excellent answer – The student could ask the participants to recreate the context of the original incident, such as weather. To report everything in detail even if it is not to do with the explosion. To recall it in different order, eg. From the explosion and work your way back. Also to change perspective, as you were in the shuttle.

Question 5b Explain how anxiety might have affected eyewitness testimony of the event. Refer to psychological research in your answer. A lot of problems with this one! An application question so a maximum of 4 marks if the stimulus example is not referred to – most people didn’t do this! Underline key words in the example and question – FRIENDS AND RELATIVES OF THE ASTRONAUTS and SIX MONTHS AFTER THE EVENT and REFER TO RESEARCH IN YOUR ANSWER. The Yerkes Dodson law would be particularly relevant here or perhaps Yuille and Cutshall.

Question 5b Good answer: According to the Yerkes Dodson law that EWT performance decreases in arousal up to an optimum point, then it declines, if a close friend or relative were asked to describe the scene where someone they knew died, the anxiety level would get too high [ ] so it would cause the EWT to decrease in accuracy.

Question 5c Why is it better to carry out research in a real life setting? No problems here – ecological validity/generalisable to other settings. But just ensure that you explain clearly. Good answer: It will be more ecologically valid, meaning that the findings can be better applied to real life settings.

Question 6a Characteristics of insecure attachment. No problems. Did not matter if you explained insecure resistant or insecure avoidant, or one characteristic of each.

Question 6b Generally no problems in identifying the sampling method – volunteer sample. Most people were also able to say that a weakness of this type of sample is that it may not be representative of the whole population. Just ensure that you explain the weakness clearly.

Question 6b Bad answer: Opportunity sample. It’s not representative. Good answer: Opportunity sample. A disadvantage is that it may not be representative as the same type of people (people with same characteristics/lifestyles) volunteer themselves.

Question 6c No problems with identifying an issue, but not always clear about how to deal with it. Good answer: Debriefing. Explaining why they did what they did, and what they found. The researcher could publish a report in the same newspaper of the findings and why the questionnaire was carried out.

Question 6c Quite a few marks lost here because an advantage/disadvantage of using a questionnaire was used. BUT, the question asked for an advantage/disadvantage of using a questionnaire RATHER than an interview. Therefore, ‘people may lie’ is not creditworthy, because this applied to both techniques.

Question 6c Good answers: Advantage: The data can be collected quickly and easily rather than conducting many interviews that can be time consuming. Disadvantage: Low return rate, whereas in interviews, once they have given consent participants have to answer the questions.

Question 7a Strength of an observation. Mostly ok, but make sure you express yourself clearly. E.g. If people are unaware that they are being watched, they will behave more naturally, so the results are more ecologically valid. NOT. It’s life real life.

Question 7a Cultural variations in attachment. Mixed answers – some very good, some lacking in detail. Remember, it’s a 4 mark question! Van Ijzendoorn is the obvious study, but you could also have mentioned Takahashi. Would expect to see mention of similarities in secure attachment but differences in insecure attachment.

Question 7b Good answer: Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg carried out a meta analysis of the Strange Situation in different countries. They were analysed to find overall patterns. The percentage of children classified as secure was very similar in all the countries studied (two thirds), but there were differences in the types of insecure attachment shown in different cultures. For example, German children were more likely to be insecure avoidant, whilst Japanese children were more likely to be insecure resistant. This difference is believed to be due to the difference in parenting practices in each culture.

Question 8a Two different forms of daycare. As simple as it sounds – only pitfall would be if you didn’t read the stimulus material carefully and so suggested that Ali could be looked after by a relative. Again, underlining the key parts of the question would be useful here. Good answer: Childminders and nurseries.

Question 8b What would you advise Ali’s parents? Quite a few problems with this question. Most people assumed it was asking about secure or insecure attachment, but it was really concerned with what makes good quality day care. It’s an application question, so you MUST mention Ali and/or his parents at least once!

Question 8b Good answer: Ali’s parents should look for a daycare centre that has a low staff turnover and a low ratio of staff to children, so that Ali can form an attachment with the people looking after him. Many nurseries aid this by employing a key worker system, so that each child is assigned one special carer who they can go to in times of need. Ali’s parents should also ensure that staff are trained to be sensitive to the needs of the child – again this will help Ali to form an attachment with his carers.

Question 9 Effects of institutionalisation. Key studies – Hodges and Tizard and Rutter. Would expect to see mention of disinhibited attachment and problems with forming an attachment. Also age of adoption and quality of care after adoption are important. Evaluation would probably centre around the fact that both studies were longitudinal natural experiments. Therefore, there would be a high dropout rate (explain why this is a problem – may affect validity of results), there is a lack of control, but studies are ecologically valid. Also problems with separating the effects of institutionalisation from the effects of abuse or neglect in the institution – particularly relevant to the Rutter study.