AS-Level AQA 2025 Psychology Exam
Including Mark Scheme
What was Baddeley (1966) study into - answers Coding in STM and LTM
What was Baddeley (1966) procedure - answers Acoustically similar words (e.g. cat,
cab) or dissimilar (e.g. pit, few)
Semantically similar words (e.g. large, big) or dissimilar (e.g. good, hot)
What was Baddeley (1966) findings and conclusion - answers Immediate recall worse
with acoustically similar words, STM is acoustic. Recall after 20 mins worse with
semantically similar words, LTM is semantic
What was Jacobs (1887) study into - answers Capacity of STM
What was Jacobs (1887) procedure - answers Digit span: Researcher reads 4 digits
and increases until the ppt cannot recall the order correctly
What was Jacobs (1887) findings and conclusion - answers On average, ppts could
repeat back 9.3 numbers and 7.3 letters in the correct order immediately after they were
presented
What was Miller (1956) study into - answers Capacity of STM
What was Miller (1956) procedure - answers Miller made observations of everyday
practice. For example, he noted that thing come in 7s: 7 notes on a scale, 7 days a
week
What was Miller (1956) findings and conclusion - answers The span of STM is about 7
items (plus/minus 2) but can be improved by chunking - grouping sets of digits/letters
into a meaningful units
What was Peterson & Peterson (1959) study into - answers Duration of STM
What was Peterson & Peterson (1959) procedure - answers 24 students given
consonant syllable (trigram) to remember & 3 digit number. Told to count backwards
from it until told to stop, preventing mental rehearsal of consonant syllable. Each trial
they stopped after different amount of time - 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 or 18 seconds, known as
*retention interval*
What was Peterson & Peterson (1959) findings and conclusion - answers Students
recalled about 80% of the syllables correctly with a 3 second interval. Average recall
after 18 seconds fell to about 3%. Suggesting that duration of STM without rehearsal is
about 18 to 30 seconds
,What was Bahrick et al. (1975) study into - answers Duration of LTM
What was Bahrick et al. (1975) procedure - answers Ppts were 392 Americans aged
between 17 and 74
1) Recognition test: 50 photos from ppts' high school yearbook
2)Free recall test: ppts listed names of their graduating class
What was Bahrick et al. (1975) findings and procedure - answers Ppts tested 48 yrs
after graduation were about 70% accurate in photo recognition. Free recall was less
accurate
What are the evaluation points of coding, capacity and duration of memory - answers
Baddeley's study = didn't use meaningful material
Jacobs study = conducted a long time ago
Miller's research = may overestimated capacity of STM
Peterson & Peterson = artificial stimulus
*Bahrick et al = high external validity* (positive)
Explain Baddeley's study = didn't use meaningful material - answers Words used had
no personal meaning to ppts. When processing more meaningful info, people may use
semantic coding even for STM tasks. Therefore, results of this have limited application.
We should be cautious about *generalising* the findings to different kinds of memory
tasks
Explain Jacobs study = conducted a long time ago - answers Early research in
psychology often lacked control of *extraneous variables*. E.g., some ppts may been
distracted while being tested so didn't perform as well as they might. Therefore, results
may not be valid as *confounding variables* weren't controlled. But, results have been
confirmed in other research, supporting its validity
Explain Miller's research = may overestimated caoacity of STM - answers E.g. Cowan
(2001) reviewed other research. He concluded that the capacity of STM was only about
4 chunks. This suggests that the lower end of Miller's estimate (5 items) is more
appropriate than 7
Explain Peterson & Peterson = artificial stimulus - answers Trying to memorise
consonant syllables doesn't reflect most real-life memory activities where what we try to
remember is meaningful. So could argue it lacks *external validity*. But, we do
sometimes try to remember fairly meaningless things, e.g. phone numbers. So the study
isn't totally irrelevant
Explain *Bahrick et al = high external validity* (positive) - answers Real life meaningful
memories were studied. When lab studies were done with meaningless pictures to be
remembers, recall rates were lower. Downside of such real-life research is confounding
,variables aren't controlled, e.g. Bahrick's ppts could've looked at photos & rehearsed
their memories
Who made the theory of MSM - answers Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)
What are the different memory stores in MSM - answers The MSM describes how info
flows through the memory system. Memory is made of three stores linked by
processing, these are sensory register, short term memory and long term memory
What is the sensory register (SR) - answers Stimulus from environment passes into SR
along with lots of other sights, sounds, etc. This part of memory is not 1 store but 5, one
for each sense. Iconic = sight. Echoic = sound.
Duration: very brief - less than 1/2 a second
Capacity: high e.g. > 100 million cells in 1 eye, each storing data
Coding: depends on the sense - visual, auditory
How does the info transfer from SR to STM - answers Little of what goes into the SR
passes further into the memory system - needs attention to be paid to it
STM - answers STM is a limited capacity and duration store
Duration: about 18-30 seconds unless the info is rehearsed
Capacity: between 5 and 9 items before some forgetting occurs
Coding: acoustic
Transfer from STM to LTM - answers Maintenance rehearsal occurs when we repeat
(rehearse) material to ourselves. We can keep info in STM as long as we rehearse it. If
we rehearse it long enough, it passes into LTM
LTM - answers Permanent memory store. When we want to recall materials stored in
LTM it has to be transferred back to STM by a process called retrieval.
Duration: potentially up to a lifetime
Capacity: potentially unlimited
Coding; tends to be in terms of meaning, i.e. semantic
Evaluation points of MSM - answers MSM - oversimplifies LTM
MSM - research studies supporting it use artificial material
Evidence suggests there is more than 1 type of STM
MSM - only explains 1 type of rehearsal
MSM - supported by research showing STM and LTM are different
Explain oversimplifies LTM (MSM) - answers There is a lot of research evidence that
LTM isn't a unitary store. We have 1 LTM store for memories of facts about the world
(semantic), and a different one for memories of how to ride a bike (episodic). The MSM
is limited as it doesn't reflect these different types of LTM
, Explain research studies supporting it use artificial material (MSM) - answers
Researchers often ask ppts to recall meaningless things. Peterson & Peterson even
used consonant syllables which have no meaning. In everyday life we form memories
relating to useful things. Suggesting MSM *lacks external validity*. Research findings
may reflect how memory works with meaningless material in lab testing, but doesn't
reflect how memory mainly works in every day life
Explain Evidence suggests there is more than 1 type of STM (MSM) - answers Shallice
& Warrington studied KF, amnesia patient. His STM for digits was poor when they read
them out loud to him but when he read the digits himself, his recall was much better.
MSM states there's only 1 type of STM. But this suggests there's 1 Short Term store to
process visual and another for auditory info. The working memory model is better
explanation for this as has separate stores
Explain only explains 1 type of rehearsal (MSM) - answers Craik & Watkins argued are
2 types of rehearsal - maintenance & elaborative. Maintenance is 1 described in MSM.
But elaborative rehearsal is needed for long term storage. This occurs when you link
info to existing knowledge, or process it. Serious limitation of MSM as it's another
research finding that cannot be explained by MSM
Explain supported by research showing STM and LTM are different (MSM) - answers
Baddeley (1966) found we tend to mix up words sound similar when using STMs. But
mix up words that have similar meanings when use our LTMs. Clearly shows coding in
STM is acoustic & in LTM it is semantic. This supports the MSM's view that these 2
memory stores are separate & independent
Multi store Model diagram - answers
What are 3 different LTM stores - answers Episodic
Semantic
Procedural
What does the episodic memory store - answers Events from our own lives. This store
has been likened to a diary of daily happenings. E.g., your most recent visit to the
dentists
Why are episodic memories complex - answers They are time-stamped - you remember
when they happened
They involve several elements - people, places, objects and behaviours are woven into
1 memory
You have to make a conscious effort to recall them
What does the semantic memory store - answers Knowledge of the world. This is like a
combination of an encyclopedia and a dictionary. E.g. it includes knowledge of such
things as the taste of an orange and the meaning of words
Including Mark Scheme
What was Baddeley (1966) study into - answers Coding in STM and LTM
What was Baddeley (1966) procedure - answers Acoustically similar words (e.g. cat,
cab) or dissimilar (e.g. pit, few)
Semantically similar words (e.g. large, big) or dissimilar (e.g. good, hot)
What was Baddeley (1966) findings and conclusion - answers Immediate recall worse
with acoustically similar words, STM is acoustic. Recall after 20 mins worse with
semantically similar words, LTM is semantic
What was Jacobs (1887) study into - answers Capacity of STM
What was Jacobs (1887) procedure - answers Digit span: Researcher reads 4 digits
and increases until the ppt cannot recall the order correctly
What was Jacobs (1887) findings and conclusion - answers On average, ppts could
repeat back 9.3 numbers and 7.3 letters in the correct order immediately after they were
presented
What was Miller (1956) study into - answers Capacity of STM
What was Miller (1956) procedure - answers Miller made observations of everyday
practice. For example, he noted that thing come in 7s: 7 notes on a scale, 7 days a
week
What was Miller (1956) findings and conclusion - answers The span of STM is about 7
items (plus/minus 2) but can be improved by chunking - grouping sets of digits/letters
into a meaningful units
What was Peterson & Peterson (1959) study into - answers Duration of STM
What was Peterson & Peterson (1959) procedure - answers 24 students given
consonant syllable (trigram) to remember & 3 digit number. Told to count backwards
from it until told to stop, preventing mental rehearsal of consonant syllable. Each trial
they stopped after different amount of time - 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 or 18 seconds, known as
*retention interval*
What was Peterson & Peterson (1959) findings and conclusion - answers Students
recalled about 80% of the syllables correctly with a 3 second interval. Average recall
after 18 seconds fell to about 3%. Suggesting that duration of STM without rehearsal is
about 18 to 30 seconds
,What was Bahrick et al. (1975) study into - answers Duration of LTM
What was Bahrick et al. (1975) procedure - answers Ppts were 392 Americans aged
between 17 and 74
1) Recognition test: 50 photos from ppts' high school yearbook
2)Free recall test: ppts listed names of their graduating class
What was Bahrick et al. (1975) findings and procedure - answers Ppts tested 48 yrs
after graduation were about 70% accurate in photo recognition. Free recall was less
accurate
What are the evaluation points of coding, capacity and duration of memory - answers
Baddeley's study = didn't use meaningful material
Jacobs study = conducted a long time ago
Miller's research = may overestimated capacity of STM
Peterson & Peterson = artificial stimulus
*Bahrick et al = high external validity* (positive)
Explain Baddeley's study = didn't use meaningful material - answers Words used had
no personal meaning to ppts. When processing more meaningful info, people may use
semantic coding even for STM tasks. Therefore, results of this have limited application.
We should be cautious about *generalising* the findings to different kinds of memory
tasks
Explain Jacobs study = conducted a long time ago - answers Early research in
psychology often lacked control of *extraneous variables*. E.g., some ppts may been
distracted while being tested so didn't perform as well as they might. Therefore, results
may not be valid as *confounding variables* weren't controlled. But, results have been
confirmed in other research, supporting its validity
Explain Miller's research = may overestimated caoacity of STM - answers E.g. Cowan
(2001) reviewed other research. He concluded that the capacity of STM was only about
4 chunks. This suggests that the lower end of Miller's estimate (5 items) is more
appropriate than 7
Explain Peterson & Peterson = artificial stimulus - answers Trying to memorise
consonant syllables doesn't reflect most real-life memory activities where what we try to
remember is meaningful. So could argue it lacks *external validity*. But, we do
sometimes try to remember fairly meaningless things, e.g. phone numbers. So the study
isn't totally irrelevant
Explain *Bahrick et al = high external validity* (positive) - answers Real life meaningful
memories were studied. When lab studies were done with meaningless pictures to be
remembers, recall rates were lower. Downside of such real-life research is confounding
,variables aren't controlled, e.g. Bahrick's ppts could've looked at photos & rehearsed
their memories
Who made the theory of MSM - answers Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)
What are the different memory stores in MSM - answers The MSM describes how info
flows through the memory system. Memory is made of three stores linked by
processing, these are sensory register, short term memory and long term memory
What is the sensory register (SR) - answers Stimulus from environment passes into SR
along with lots of other sights, sounds, etc. This part of memory is not 1 store but 5, one
for each sense. Iconic = sight. Echoic = sound.
Duration: very brief - less than 1/2 a second
Capacity: high e.g. > 100 million cells in 1 eye, each storing data
Coding: depends on the sense - visual, auditory
How does the info transfer from SR to STM - answers Little of what goes into the SR
passes further into the memory system - needs attention to be paid to it
STM - answers STM is a limited capacity and duration store
Duration: about 18-30 seconds unless the info is rehearsed
Capacity: between 5 and 9 items before some forgetting occurs
Coding: acoustic
Transfer from STM to LTM - answers Maintenance rehearsal occurs when we repeat
(rehearse) material to ourselves. We can keep info in STM as long as we rehearse it. If
we rehearse it long enough, it passes into LTM
LTM - answers Permanent memory store. When we want to recall materials stored in
LTM it has to be transferred back to STM by a process called retrieval.
Duration: potentially up to a lifetime
Capacity: potentially unlimited
Coding; tends to be in terms of meaning, i.e. semantic
Evaluation points of MSM - answers MSM - oversimplifies LTM
MSM - research studies supporting it use artificial material
Evidence suggests there is more than 1 type of STM
MSM - only explains 1 type of rehearsal
MSM - supported by research showing STM and LTM are different
Explain oversimplifies LTM (MSM) - answers There is a lot of research evidence that
LTM isn't a unitary store. We have 1 LTM store for memories of facts about the world
(semantic), and a different one for memories of how to ride a bike (episodic). The MSM
is limited as it doesn't reflect these different types of LTM
, Explain research studies supporting it use artificial material (MSM) - answers
Researchers often ask ppts to recall meaningless things. Peterson & Peterson even
used consonant syllables which have no meaning. In everyday life we form memories
relating to useful things. Suggesting MSM *lacks external validity*. Research findings
may reflect how memory works with meaningless material in lab testing, but doesn't
reflect how memory mainly works in every day life
Explain Evidence suggests there is more than 1 type of STM (MSM) - answers Shallice
& Warrington studied KF, amnesia patient. His STM for digits was poor when they read
them out loud to him but when he read the digits himself, his recall was much better.
MSM states there's only 1 type of STM. But this suggests there's 1 Short Term store to
process visual and another for auditory info. The working memory model is better
explanation for this as has separate stores
Explain only explains 1 type of rehearsal (MSM) - answers Craik & Watkins argued are
2 types of rehearsal - maintenance & elaborative. Maintenance is 1 described in MSM.
But elaborative rehearsal is needed for long term storage. This occurs when you link
info to existing knowledge, or process it. Serious limitation of MSM as it's another
research finding that cannot be explained by MSM
Explain supported by research showing STM and LTM are different (MSM) - answers
Baddeley (1966) found we tend to mix up words sound similar when using STMs. But
mix up words that have similar meanings when use our LTMs. Clearly shows coding in
STM is acoustic & in LTM it is semantic. This supports the MSM's view that these 2
memory stores are separate & independent
Multi store Model diagram - answers
What are 3 different LTM stores - answers Episodic
Semantic
Procedural
What does the episodic memory store - answers Events from our own lives. This store
has been likened to a diary of daily happenings. E.g., your most recent visit to the
dentists
Why are episodic memories complex - answers They are time-stamped - you remember
when they happened
They involve several elements - people, places, objects and behaviours are woven into
1 memory
You have to make a conscious effort to recall them
What does the semantic memory store - answers Knowledge of the world. This is like a
combination of an encyclopedia and a dictionary. E.g. it includes knowledge of such
things as the taste of an orange and the meaning of words
