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AQA GCSE Psychology Overview and Key Concepts

May 5, 2025

Lecture Notes: AQA GCSE Psychology Paper One

Introduction

  • Overview of AQA GCSE Psychology Paper One by Dr. Roblox.
  • Focus on understanding key case studies, concepts, and keywords.
  • Resources available: website with multiple-choice questions and additional study materials.

Topic 1: Memory

Types of Long-Term Memory

  1. Episodic Memory

    • Recollection of personal experiences and specific events.
    • Conscious recall, autobiographical (e.g., holidays).
    • Associated with the right prefrontal cortex.
  2. Semantic Memory

    • General knowledge and facts.
    • Conscious recall, understanding concepts (e.g., sky is blue).
    • Associated with the left prefrontal cortex.
  3. Procedural Memory

    • Memory of motor skills and actions (e.g., riding a bike).
    • Subconscious recall, involves motor areas.

Memory Processing

  • Encoding: Transforming sensory input to neural code.
  • Storage: Memories stored in various brain regions (hippocampus, neocortex, amygdala).
  • Retrieval: Accessing stored memories through cues or free recall.

The Multi-Store Model of Memory

  • Sensory Register: Initial stage, brief storage.
  • Short-Term Memory: Limited capacity (7±2 items), 20-30 seconds duration.
  • Long-Term Memory: Unlimited capacity and duration.

Serial Position Effect

  • Primacy Effect: Better recall of initial items (processed into LTM).
  • Recency Effect: Better recall of items at end of list (still in STM).

Case Study: Murdoch's Serial Position Curve

  • Demonstrated primacy and recency effects.
  • Strengths: Establishes cause and effect.
  • Limitations: Artificial task (word lists).

Reconstructive Memory

  • Memory is not an exact recording, but reconstruction.
  • Influenced by schema, beliefs, and previous experiences.

Case Study: Bartlett's War of the Ghosts

  • Showed how cultural schemas affect memory recall.

Factors Affecting Memory Accuracy

  • Interference: New information affects recall.
  • Context: Physical/emotional state at encoding.
  • False Memories: Influenced by suggestions and expectations.

Topic 2: Perception

Sensation vs Perception

  • Sensation: Detection of sensory stimuli.
  • Perception: Organization and interpretation of sensory data.

Visual Cues and Constancies

  • Monocular Cues: Height, relative size, occlusion, linear perspective.
  • Binocular Cues: Retinal disparity, convergence.

Gibson's Direct Theory of Perception

  • Emphasizes direct perception without mental processing.
  • Affordances and invariant information from environment.

Visual Illusions

  • Occur due to ambiguity, misinterpreted depth cues, fiction, size constancy.

Gregory's Constructivist Theory of Perception

  • Perception as an inference process influenced by visual cues and past experience.
  • Supported by cultural studies (e.g., Hudson's 2D images study).

Factors Affecting Perception

  • Perceptual Set: Influenced by culture, motivation, expectation.

Case Studies

  1. Gilchrist and Nesberg Study: Hunger affects perception of food brightness.
  2. Bruner and Min 10 Study: Expectations influence letter/number recognition.

Topic 3: Development

Early Brain Development

  • Brain Stem, Thalamus, Cerebellum, Cortex: Each has distinct functions and development rates.

Nature vs Nurture

  • Genetic (nature) and environmental (nurture) influences on development.
  • Interaction of factors affects behavioral and cognitive outcomes.

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

  • Stages: Sensory-motor, Pre-operational, Concrete operational, Formal operational.
  • Concepts of assimilation and accommodation.

Case Studies

  1. McGarrigal and Donaldson’s Naughty Teddy: Conservation understanding in children.
  2. Hughes’s Policemen Doll Study: Reduction of egocentricity in children.

Effects of Learning on Development

  • Dweck's Mindset Theory: Fixed vs growth mindset impacts learning.
  • Influence of praise on self-efficacy.

Learning Styles

  • Verbalizers vs Visualizers; criticism of learning styles as beneficial.

Topic 4: Research Methods

Hypothesis Formulation

  • Null vs Alternative Hypothesis: Testing validity of research claims.

Types of Variables

  • Independent, Dependent, Extraneous Variables

Sampling Methods

  • Random, Opportunity, Systematic, Stratified Sampling.
  • Importance of representativeness and randomization.

Research Design

  • Quantitative Methods (Experimental, Surveys, etc.) vs Qualitative Methods (Interviews, Case Studies).

Correlation

  • Measures relationship strength/direction; does not imply causality.

Ethical Considerations

  • Informed consent, confidentiality, protection from harm, debriefing.

Data Handling

  • Distinction between primary/secondary and quantitative/qualitative data.
  • Normal distribution characteristics.