Memory | AQA GCSE Psychology (8182)
Memory
- 64 questions
- 4 subtopics
- Paper 1
- Paper 1
Memory is examined in Paper 1, Cognition and behaviour.
It covers processes and types of memory, the multi-store model of memory, primacy, recency and Murdock's serial position curve and reconstructive memory, Bartlett and factors affecting accuracy.
Sample questions from Memory
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
-
Processes and types of memory
Why does thinking about the meaning of new information help it to be remembered?
Show the answer
Semantic encoding links new information to knowledge already stored. The links give more routes back to the information when it needs to be retrieved. -
Processes and types of memory
How do episodic and semantic memories differ in the way they are recalled?
Show the answer
Episodic memories are recalled along with details of when and where they happened. Semantic memories are recalled as facts, usually without knowing when they were learned. -
The multi-store model of memory
What is the capacity of short-term memory?
Show the answer
Short-term memory holds about seven items, give or take two. Chunking items into larger units can increase how much is held. -
The multi-store model of memory
What happens to information in short-term memory that is not rehearsed?
Show the answer
Unrehearsed information is lost from short-term memory. The model says it decays over time or is pushed out by new items, which is called displacement. -
Primacy, recency and Murdock's serial position curve
How does the multi-store model explain the recency effect?
Show the answer
The last items in a list are still held in short-term memory when recall begins. Recall of these items can happen straight away, before they are lost. -
Primacy, recency and Murdock's serial position curve
What did Murdock conclude from his results?
Show the answer
Murdock concluded that the position of an item in a list affects its recall. The pattern supports the multi-store model's separate short-term and long-term stores. -
Reconstructive memory, Bartlett and factors affecting accuracy
What did Bartlett find when participants recalled the War of the Ghosts?
Show the answer
The story became shorter with each retelling, and unfamiliar details were left out or changed. Participants altered it to fit English cultural expectations. -
Reconstructive memory, Bartlett and factors affecting accuracy
A student learns French in Year 7 and Spanish in Year 9, and now mixes Spanish words into her French. Which type of interference is this?
Show the answer
The student is showing retroactive interference, because the newer Spanish is disrupting recall of the older French. Interference is most likely when the two sets of information are similar.
The 4 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Processes and types of memory | Encoding, storage and retrieval, acoustic, visual and semantic coding, and episodic, semantic and procedural memory, with recall and recognition. | 16 |
| The multi-store model of memory | Atkinson and Shiffrin's sensory, short-term and long-term stores, their coding, capacity and duration, the part attention and rehearsal play, and the model's strengths and weaknesses. | 16 |
| Primacy, recency and Murdock's serial position curve | The serial position effect, primacy and recency and how the multi-store model explains them, and Murdock's free recall study with its aim, method, findings and evaluation. | 16 |
| Reconstructive memory, Bartlett and factors affecting accuracy | Bartlett's War of the Ghosts study, effort after meaning, schemas and rationalisation, proactive and retroactive interference, context-dependent recall and false memories. | 16 |
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
-
Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
-
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
-
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Nearby topics
AQA GCSE Psychology Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 619 questions with their answers.