GCSE Psychology (AQA) 2024: 9 Mark Studies

A: to investigate the function of the temporal lobe using the Montreal procedure
M: operated on patients with severe epilepsy, he could stimulate areas of the brain in a conscious patient who reported their experiences
R:-when stimulation was applied to the different areas the patients reported different things:
-visual cortex=colors, shadows and crude outlines of objects
-somatosensory cortex=tingling sensation or a false sense of movement
-temporal lobe (in either hemisphere)=experiences and feelings (hallucinations) associated with those experiences, including deja vu
C: area stimulated in the temporal lobe has a role in storing memories of previous events
stored in 2 different ways:
facts of the experience and facts for the individual
the interpretive cortex stores info on feelings

P- used a precise method of studying the brain
E- could stimulate the exact same part of the brain and have verbal reports from awake patients
L- useful in enabling a “map of our brain functions” and would benefit neuroscience immensely

P- unusual sample
E- all participants had severe epilepsy
L- may not reflect people that have “normal” brains

P- mixed results in later research
E- findings weren’t consistent as in later research only 40/520 people recalled past experiences when the temporal lobe was stimulated
L- interpretive cortex doesn’t always respond in the same way (lacks validity)

A: to investigate if episodic memories produce different blood flow patterns to semantic ones
M: -6 participants injected with radioactive gold they monitored blood flow using PET scans, repeated measures
-8 memory trials:
-4 episodic (holidays they had been on as a child
-4 semantic (recalling history facts)
R:-different blood flow in 3/6 participants
-semantic memories=greater concentration of blood towards posterior cortex
-episodic memories=greater concentration of blood towards frontal lobe
C:-suggests that episodic and semantic memories are separate forms of LTM and that they’re located in different areas of the brain (localised)
-supports the idea that memory has a biological bases

P- produced objective (scientific) evidence
E- evidence from brain scans are difficult to fake
L- unbiased evidence

P- restricted sample
E- only 6 participants including Tulving and his wife
conclusion was only based on 3 of the participants
L- data is inconclusive, difficult to generalise results to all people

P- episodic and semantic memories are often very similar
E- episodic and semantic memories are difficult to separate
L- which may explain inconclusive evidence

A: to investigate if memory of words was affected by where the words were positioned in the list
M: -words from the 4,000 most common words in english were chosen randomly
-participants listened to 20 word lists (with 10-40 words on them)
-they recalled the words after each list
R: -recall was related to the position of the word in the list
-higher recall=first few words (primacy)
-higher recall=the last words (recency) compared to words in the middle of the list
C: -shows the serial position effect=position of a word determines the likelihood of recall
-supports the MSM

P- it was carried out in laboratory conditions
E- things like familiarity of words could be controlled
L- more certain that the position of the words affected recall

P- task was artificial
E- list of words=relates to only 1 type of memory
L- results don’t relate to how we use our memories in other ways (personal events)

P- research with amnesiacs supports the conclusion
E- Carlesimo et al found that some amnesiacs can’t store long term memories and don’t show a primacy effect but show a recency effect
L- proves that primacy effect is related to LTM

A:to investigate whether people’s memory for a story is affected by previous knowledge (schemas) and the extent to which memory is reconstructive
M:-Bartlett gave British participants a Native American Folk story to read (culture different from their own) called “War of Ghosts”
-after 15 minutes he asked them to reproduce the story to another person who then has to recall it to someone else (Chinese whisperers)
-each time the story was reproduced a record was made, he asked them again and again over a period of months and years (serial production)
R: -main idea of story was remembered
-changed unfamiliar elements to make sense of the story using more familiar terms to their cultural expectations
eg= -shortened by omissions
-phrases were changed to language and concepts from the participants’ own culture (boat->canoe)
-slight variations
C: -our memory isn’t an exact copy of what we hear
-distorted by what we already know about the world
-people don’t remember details, we remember fragments and use our knowledge of social situations to reconstruct memory

P- explains problems with eye witness testimony
E- this research showed memory is affected by expectations showing that people don’t always recall accurately
L- EWT is no longer solely relied on as evidence in criminal investigations

P- reflects how we use memory in our everyday life
E- uses a story instead of artificial materials
L- findings are more relevant to real life memory processes

P- not all memories are reconstructed
E- participants often recalled “something black came out of his mouth” because it was distinctive
L- shows some memories are accurate

A: to describe dances of honey bees to understand their communication
M: -observed bees in their natural habitat
-sometimes changed their environment–>put food close to hive (10-20 meters) and far away (up to 300 meters)
-observed bees 6,000 times over 20 years
R: -bees tell each other where sources of pollen are
-round dance: moving in circle to show pollen is less than 100 meters away
-waggle dance: figure of eight shows the direction
-60% of bees went to sources at the distance indicated by the dances
C: sophisticated communication system

P- important contribution to science
E- opened people’s eyes to the capabilities of animals
L- great scientific value

P- importance of sound was overlooked
E- when the bees performed dances in silence, other bees wouldn’t go and investigate the food sources
L- the communication system may be more complex and might include sound based signals

P- bees don’t always respond to the waggle dance
E- bees wouldn’t use the info from the waggle dance when food was placed on a boat in the middle of a lake (bees may know instinctively that food won’t be found in the middle of water/may prefer not to)
L- may be other factors that affect communication; these aren’t investigated so the research is limited

A: to find out if there’s a difference in interpretation of emoticons in Japan and America
M: -95 Japanese students and 118 American students
-participants were presented with a set of six emoticons with different combinations of eyes and mouths (happy, sad, neutral)
-participants were then asked to rate the faces in terms of happiness expressed (9 point likert scale), average was then worked out
R: -Japanese: higher happiness rating for happy eyes than Americans
-American: higher happiness rating for happy mouths even with sad eyes
C: -suggests that Japanese and American people interpret facial expressions differently (may be due to social norms and expectations)
-Americans: brought up to express emotion openly—>look at mouths
-Japanese: brought up to hide emotions—>eyes may be a better way of telling how they’re feeling

P- emoticons may not represent human faces
E- emoticons leave out features such as wrinkle lines which may be important when judging emotion
L- study may lack relevance to everyday life

P- the study only investigated 2 types of emotion (happy or sad)
E- in everyday life we express a range of emotions so the results/conclusions may not be true for all other emotions
L- doesn’t give us insight into how the full range of emotional expressions are interpreted by people of different cultures

P- rating scales were used
E- emotions are very complex and ratings scales reduce emotion to a single score
L- may have measured the interpretation of emotions in too simple a way

70% of depressed people are treatment resistant, holistic approach using antidepressants and CBT=more effective
A: to test the benefit of using CBT plus antidepressants for treatment resistant depression rather than antidepressants alone
M: -469 participants with treatment resistant depression
-patients were randomly assigned to 2 conditions:
-usual care (antidepressants only) -usual care+CBT
-improvement was measured using Beck's Depression inventory (symptoms)
R: at the end of 6 months:
-usual care: 21.6% had more than 50% reduction in symptoms
-usual care+CBT: 46.1% had more than 50% reduction in symptoms
-after 12 months people with usual care+CBT continued to have better recovery
C: using CBT with antidepressants is more effective than antidepressants alone

P- well designed study
E- participants were randomly assigned to groups and initial BDI scores were checked on average so that both groups were similar so extraneous variables were carefully controlled
L- changes in the dependent variable weren't affected by potential extraneous variables

P- self report methods were used to determine levels of depression
E- participants had to make subjective judgements so they may overestimate or underestimate how sad they feel or may not answer truthfully
L- results may lack validity

P- focuses on developing a useful therapy
E- study lead to a useful holistic approach which can treat depression more successfully
L- real world application and can help people that suffer from depression

A: to see if alcohol addiction is due to nature (hereditary factors) or nurture using twins
M: -male twins
-at least one twin was registered with the Temperance board which followed individuals who had problems with alcohol abuse
-interviews were conducted with the twins and close relatives to collect info about drinking habits and whether they were identical or non identical
R: -percentage of twins that co twin registered was higher for identical twins than non identical twins
-61% of identical (MZ) and 34% of non identical twins were both alcoholics
-it was also noted that twins with social problems were over presented
C: -alcoholism is related to hereditary factors
-NOT 100% genetic or MZ twins would all be the same
-NOT 100% environmental or MZ and DZ would be the same

P- flaws in the design of his study
E- temperance board only includes drinkers who made a public display of their alcohol abuse which doesn't mean they're addicted so the classifications weren't accurate
L- results lack validity

P- supported by later research
E- Kendler found that MZ twins are more likely to both be alcoholics (48%) than DZ twins (33%)
L- supports view that genetic factors have a major influence on alcoholism

P- biological explanations of addiction may be misleading
E- inheriting certain genes does not make addiction inevitable as life events also play a role
L- the study implies that genes are more influential than they actually are

A: to investigate group pressure in an unambiguous situation
M: -participants (123 male students) thought they were taking part in a study of visual perception
-participants were shown a standard line and three comparison lines, they were told to pick which line was the same as the standard line
-each participant was tested with a group of 6/8 confederates and the true participant was always sat at the end so they could hear everyone else's answers first
-the first 12 trials the participants said the correct answer to gain trust
-the last 6 trials the confederates all gave the identical wrong answer
-Asch counted how many times the participant agreed with this wrong answer
R: when wrong answers were given:
-32% conformed overall
-5% always conformed
-75% conformed at least once
-25% never conformed
C:-majority of people are influenced by group pressure

- though many can resist

P- results may only be relevant to 1950s America
E- 1950s America was a particularly conformist as politicians ensured that people followed the rules so people were afraid to behave differently
L- his research isn't consistent over time and may only be apparent in certain conditions

P- task and situation was artificial
E- judging the length of a line with strangers isn't an everyday task
L- results may not reflect everyday situations (especially when the consequences of conformity are more

P- Asch's research is more reflective of conformity in individualist cultures (UK and America)
E- research has found that conformity studies done in collectivist countries (China) produce higher conformity rates as they're more oriented to group needs
L- suggests that Asch's findings are probably less reflective of conformity in collectivist cultures

A: to investigate if characteristics of a victim affect help given in an emergency
M: -103 trials -4 researchers
-"victim" (male student) staged a collapse on the subway and remained on the floor until help was coming
-38 trials: victim smelled of alcohol and carried a bottle of alcohol wrapped in a brown bag (drunk condition)
-65 trials: victim appeared sober and carried a black cane (disabled condition)
-victim dressed and behaved the same in both conditions
R: -disabled condition: helped at some point on 95% of the trials and 87% of the of the victims were helped in the first 70 seconds after they collapsed
-drunk condition: helped at some point on 50% of the trials and 17% of the of the victims were helped in the first 70 seconds after they collapsed
C: -characteristics of victim affects help given
-number of onlookers doesn't affect help in natural setting

P- high realism
E- participants weren't aware that their behaviour was being studied so they responded how they would normally (natural)
L- results have high validity

P- people studied were likely to be mainly people who lived in the city
E- they might have been accustomed to seeing beggars and may have become more used to ignoring someone in need
L- observed behaviour may not be typical of all people (info can't be generalised)

P- qualitative data was recorded
E- observers noted remarks from passengers which gives a deeper insight into why people didn't help
L- has the value of both qualitative and quantitative data

A: to investigate if food deprivation affects the perception of food
M: -one group went without food for 20 hours whereas the other group ate as normal
-all participants were shown a set of pictures (4 typical meals) on a screen for 15 seconds
-they were shown the pictures again but the researcher had changed the brightness settings
-they were then asked to adjust the lighting so that it looked like the original
R: -no food group: adjusted lighting so that it was brighter than before
-food group: adjusted it similar to the original photo
C: hunger is a motivating factor that affects perception

P- support from similar studies
E- Sanford found that food deprived participants were more likely to see vague pictures as food
L- strengthens validity

P- deprived people of food
E- may have caused discomfort (physical harm)
L- raises ethical issues

P- used independent groups design (individual differences)
E- participants may have perceived things differently
L- results may be inaccurate

A: to investigate if an ambiguous figure is seen differently if context is changed
M: -lab, independent groups
-one group was shown a sequence of letters and the other group was showed a sequence of numbers
-were shown an ambiguous figure and were asked wether they saw it as a B or a 13
R: -saw letters: more likely to report it as a B
-saw numbers: more likely to report it as a 13
C: expectation is affected by the context the figure is presented

P- used an artificial task
E- ambiguous figures are designed to trick perception
L- lacks validity

P- used independent groups design
E- might have been individual differences
L-may be inaccurate as difference in perception may have been due to participant variables rather than expectation

P- real world application
E- explains errors made as a result of expectation
L- helps explain why people make serious mistakes on tasks in the real world

A: aimed to see whether the child's reaction would be different if there was no deliberate change in the row of counters
M: -80 children aged 4/6 years old
-introduced to "naughty teddy" who could spoil their game
-shown 2 rows of equal counters
-teddy jumps out of box and pushes the counters in one row about, transforming display by making one row look smaller
-child was then asked if the rows were the same
R: -deliberate change: 41% gave the correct answer (same number in each row)
-accidental change: 68% gave the correct answer
-older children did better than younger children
C: -Piaget's method doesn't show what children can do (nursery kids conserved quantity)
-older children did better than younger ones which supports Piaget's idea that the way children think changes as they grow older

P- primary children all came from one school
E- primary kids may have done better than the nursery kids due to their educational backgrounds, may have coped better due to their better developed language/better educated families
L- challenges validity of conclusions as other factors can explain the difference

P- the children's better performance in the accidental condition may be because they didn't notice any change had taken place
E- the children may have been distracted by the teddy and didn't realise anything had changed so they kept their original answer (that both rows were the same)
L- just means that the children weren't looking, not conserving

P- challenges some of Piaget's assumptions
E- shows that Piaget confused young children with his style of questioning, children are actually more able
L- helps to refine his theory

A: aimed to create a task that would be more understandable than Piaget's
M: -30 kids 3 1/2 to 5 year olds

 - children were asked to hide a boy doll from two policeman dolls on a model with different sections 
 -practice was given beforehand 

R: -90% could hide the boy doll away from 2 policemen
-with a more complex task (more sections) the 3 year olds had more trouble (60% correct) whereas the 4 year olds had 90% success
C: -children aged 4 are mostly not egocentric
-Piaget underestimated younger children's abilities
-correct that thinking changes with age

P- task made more sense to the children than Piaget's version
E- policeman task was more realistic and a similar to something they'd experience in everyday life, the children also had practice so they fully understood task
L-more realistic test of abilities/the children's capabilities

P- researcher may have unintentionally hinted about the correct answer
E- researcher may have unconsciously given cues (gazing in a certain direction) and influenced the child's behaviour
L- results may lack validity

P- challenges some of Piaget's assumptions
E- study shows that Piaget's task confused the children making them appear like less able thinkers
L- helps to refine his theory