AQA GCSE PSYCHOLOGY New 9-1

GCSE

REVISION
WORKBOOK
CHAPTER 1:
MEMORY
Name:

Class:

Learndojo.org ©
A quick hello… What do you need to know about this topic?

Hello,
INTRODUCTION There are 3 main chapters you need to know within the Memory topic and these
also break down into individual subtopics themselves.

The memory topic breaks down as follows:

This revision workbook will cover the new AQA GCSE

Psychology course for the new 9-1 GCSEs and focus purely
on the Memory chapter for the course.

If you need further resources covering other chapters or

subjects, whether that is as a teacher, student or parent, you
can get this at Learndojo.org.
We plan to cover all the popular subjects across both GCSEs
and A-levels with high quality, affordable resources.
The aim of this workbook is to give you a complete and
comprehensive understanding of the Memory topic with
practice questions at the end too.

Free Resources For Schools!

We love supporting teachers and schools because Learndojo
has been made with them at the heart of what we do.

If you are a teacher and want to get all the resources for your
subject for free, we give premium accounts to every school
that links to our relevant subject page.

So if you are teaching AQA GCSE Psychology for example,

simply link to this page from your schools curriculum or
subject page:

• https://learndojo.org/gcse/aqa-psychology

Once done, email us at [email protected] and we will

automatically set you up with a free premium account.
Simples!

Never buy another textbook. Visit learndojo.org for all the revision resources you need.
 Different types of memory
1. Processes of memory
There are different types of memory we use to function with each serving a different
purpose.
Research has shown that memory can generally be divided into the following types:

• Episodic memory
• Semantic memory
• Procedural memory

Episodic memory
Episodic memory refers to memories of personal events or experiences you may
have had in your life that are personal to you.
i.e. places you visited or events that happened.
An example of episodic memory could be when you remember your first day of
school or a holiday you had taken last year.
Semantic memory
Semantic memory is a memory for facts and general knowledge. An example
of semantic memory is knowledge about the meaning of words. For example,
what is the capital of England?
• Memory is defined as the encoding, storage and the retrieval The answer, of course, is London, however, you have relied on your semantic
of stored information once needed. memory to help you recall this fact.
• There are three forms of encoding used within memory which Procedural memory
are acoustic, visual and semantic. Procedural memory is the memory that helps us recall information on complicated
• The three types of retrieval systems used by memory are skills.
recall, recognition and re-learning. An example of this is how we recall the information we need to carry out action-
based memories such as riding a bike, to swim or to tie our shoelaces.
Focus is on the amount of information stored (capacity), the length of Procedural memory is believed to be stored using a motor code rather than a verbal
time it is stored (duration) and the way information is stored code.
(acoustic, visual or semantic). This is why children need to be shown how to do tasks such as riding a bike or
swimming, rather than having it explained to them.
How are memories encoded, stored and retrieved? This process whereby you visualise them and begin to ask yourself their
Encoding is the processing of information in some form into our memory. names; you are digging deeper to understand the meanings behind this
Research into how memories are encoded have focused on three forms of visual image you see in your mind.
encoding: This is an example of semantic encoding.
1. Acoustic encoding (sound)
2. Visual encoding (picture)
How are memories are retrieved?
3. Semantic encoding (meaning)
Once the information has been stored, there also needs to be a process for
Acoustic encoding
these memories to be retrieved.
Acoustic encoding is the holding of information in your memory in the form of
Memories are believed to be retrieved in 3 different ways which are:
sound.
1. Recall
One example of this is when we are given a mobile phone number to
2. Recognition
remember; we repeat the number to ourselves to maintain the memory
3. Re-learning
acoustically until we are able to write it down on paper.
Visual encoding
Recall is a type of retrieval that is associated with remembering information as
Visual encoding is when we process information visually in the form of a
we search our memory.
picture in our mind.
For example, we may be asked a question such as “What is the capital of
One example of how information is encoded visually is if I asked you to
Thailand?”
think about how big your garden is?
In order for us to be able to answer this, we need to recall the answer which is
If you begin to picture your garden in your mind right now in an effort to
located in our memory (assuming you know the answer!).
answer this, this would be an example of visual encoding.
Semantic encoding
Recognition involves us being presented with items and being asked if we
Semantic encoding refers to encoding something through its meaning. An
remember any of them from previous exposure.
example of semantic encoding would be if I asked you to name David
Beckham’s spouse and all his children.
Re-learning involves us being exposed to something we may have learnt
To think about this, you may need to involve some visual processing as you
previously but have since forgotten (or so we think).
picture them together but you will also need to think about what the word
Once we are exposed to this again later, we are tasked with re-learning this
spouse means to decipher its his partner.
information but usually, it doesn’t take us as long as it did to initially learn it as
You may then ask yourself how many children he has and this may involve
we re-learn it much faster this time.
some visualisation. As you visualise his children, you may then begin to ask
yourself what their names are.
 2. Structures of memory

For this chapter on structures of memory, we will be looking at Atkinson Who Created the Multi-Store Memory Model?
and Shiffrin’s Multi Store Model of Memory.
The Multi Store memory model consists of 3 key components which we
will also be examining which are:

1. The Sensory Memory Store

2. The Short-term Memory Store
3. The Long-term Memory Store
Richard Atkinson Richard Shiffrin

The Multi-store Memory Model by Atkinson & Shiffrin 1968

The Sensory Memory Store The long-term memory store
Our senses are bombarded with sights and sound however not all of them Information that is processed deeply through elaborate or maintenance
we pay attention to and most are discarded almost as soon as they are rehearsal passes from the short-term memory store and into the long-term
registered. memory store.
The first part of the multi-store model of memory is the sensory store There is no specific duration for how long the information can be stored here
which stores this sensory information. and it could be for an entire lifetime or less.
This store is called the sensory information store (SIS) and it is not under The capacity of the long-term memory store is also believed to be unlimited
cognitive control. with encoding being mainly semantic and based on meaning.
Information deemed as important and given focused attention is selected
Multi-Store Memory Strengths and Weaknesses
and passed on to the next store which is the short-term memory store
(STM). Strengths
The sensory information store has a large capacity however the duration of • A major strength of this model is that the predictions around memory
storage is milliseconds unless this information is given focused can be easily tested to verify whether it applies to human behaviour.
attention. • The evidence supports the idea of STM and LTM being separate types
Research suggests encoding occurs in the way the information is of memory and it has been verified through the use of PET scans and
received - so for example information received visually will be encoded FMRI scans when participants have been doing separate tasks related to
visually. short-term memory and long-term.
• The prefrontal cortex is seen to relate to STM while the hippocampus
The Short-Term Memory Store associated with longterm memory supporting the models idea of
Information we choose to hold on to from the sensory store passes to the different memory stores.
short-term memory store. Weaknesses
Atkinson and Shiffrin proposed that we store this information in the short- • The theory is unable to explain how we are able to remember
term store through rehearsal and repeating it to ourselves although this information that we do not rehearse and repetition does not
may not necessarily be out loud or consciously. necessarily make it easier to remember the information.
Information that is not rehearsed is forgotten through decay or displaced • For example we can recall our activities last weekend without
by new incoming information due to the short-term memory store having a rehearsal yet in other situations such as an exam; we may still struggle to
limited duration of up to 18 seconds and a capacity of 7 +/- 2 items. recall information we have rehearsed.
Encoding is mainly acoustic and based on sound. • Other research suggests us understanding the meaning of information
Information that is rehearsed through elaborate or maintenance or how to put it into our own words is more important than simply
rehearsal passes on to the long-term memory store (LTM). repetition which undermines this explanation.
 The Effects of Serial Position
Primacy and Recency Effects In Recall
Murdock’s Serial Position curve study (1962) looked to see if the position of
a word in a list had any effect on the likelihood of it being remembered
Research into memory has found that we are more likely to remember
better.
information dependant on whether it is the first thing we are exposed to or
The serial-position effect was first coined by Hermann Ebbinghaus through
the last thing.
his own experiments conducted on himself.
This has become known as the Primacy and Recency effect and has been
Ebbinghaus found that the accuracy of recall tended to vary dependant on
studied through testing the recall of individuals.
the position of the word on the list.
Murdock’s study looked to validate this and in 1962, he conducted a study
Primacy effect
where people were asked to remember a list of words which varied from 10
The Primacy effect refers to the fact that items at the beginning of a list are in
words to 40 words.
a primary position (seen first) and we are therefore more likely to
Murdock’s Serial Position study 1962
remember them.
Aim:
The aim of the study was to prove the existence of the short-term and long-
Why does the primacy effect happen?
term memory stores as the multi-store model of memory proposed.
When participants are exposed to a list of words, participants have increased
Study design:
rehearsal time with these first words to enable them to be encoded in the
The study was a laboratory study which allowed researchers to control for
short-term memory and transferred into long-term memory.
extraneous variables.
All procedures were standardised to ensure the experiment could be easily
Recency effect
replicated.
The Recency effect refers to the fact that items at the end of a list (the most
Participants were male and female students who had a requirement as part of
recent) are more likely to be remembered compared to the items in the
their course to take part in psychological research.
middle.
Method:
16 participants were presented with a list of 20 words at a rate of 1 word per
Why does the recency effect happen?
second until all 20 words had been presented.
It is believed the recency effect happens because the last set of words a
They were then tasked with recalling as many of the words as they could
person is exposed to are still in the short-term memory.
remember within 90 seconds.
This therefore makes their recall much easier as the information is still
The test was repeated with the same participants over 80 times over a few
accessible in memory.
days using different word lists each time.
 Murdock’s Serial Position Study 1962 Results

Results
Conclusion:
Murdock concluded that this provided strong evidence for the multi-store
model of memory and short-term and long-term memory stores being
separate from one another.
Words recalled at the end of the list were seen to still be in the short-term
memory store hence they were readily available for recall thus provided
support for the short-term memory stores existence.
Words recalled at the beginning of the list had time to be rehearsed and had
thus been transferred over to the long-term memory store ready for recall
which provides support for the long-term memory stores existence. The
words in the middle were not recalled as well as they had been
stored in neither the short-term or long-term store.
The results of this study found that people remembered the words that
The results of Murdock’s study found that the words at the end of the list tended to be at the beginning of the list or at the end with words in the
and the beginning of the list were recalled the best. middle recalled the least.
Words being recalled at the end of the list became known as the recency The effects of serial position mean the chances of recalling items
effect. depends on their position and those at the beginning and end of a list
Words recalled at the beginning of the list came to be known as the having the highest chances of being recalled.
primacy effect.
Words in the middle were the least remembered.
 Evaluating Murdock’s Serial Position Study

Strengths Weaknesses
• The study was repeated by Murdock with the number of words • The participants in this study were given lists of words to remember
given as well as the amount of presentation time the participants which is not the same use of memory in everyday life. In the real
were given varied yet the results still produced primacy and recency world people use their memory to remember tasks they need to do,
effects. This supports the validity of the multi-store model of exams, work and general day to day life.
memory. • Therefore it could be argued the study lacks ecological validity due
• A variation of the study also saw the participants given a distraction to its artificial setup.
task where participants were not asked to recall the words straight • The study involved students who were all of a similar age and
after hearing them but instead count backwards in threes. studying a psychology course. Due to the specific demographic
• When participants were allowed to recall the words they found that involved in the study it raises the question as to whether the results
the words from the beginning of the list were recalled as they had can be generalised across different age groups or people of
been embedded in the long-term memory but participants struggled different backgrounds.
with the words from the end of the list. • For example the students may try and work out the aim of the study
• This is believed to be because the distractor task took up the and alter the results accordingly or display demand characteristics.
capacity of the short-term memory store which Murdock believed • Additionally the students were required to repeat the study over 80
proved the existence of the short-term and long-term memory times and this could have affected their genuine effort levels
stores as the multi-store model of memory suggested. meaning their recollection or efforts could have been affected by
low motivation.
 3. Memory as an Active Process

The next chapter looks at memory as an active

process.
This chapter will look at the following topics:
• The theory of reconstructive memory
• Bartlett’s War of the Ghosts (1932)
• Effort after meaning
• Factors affecting the accuracy of memory
interference
• False memories
• Context

Bartlett’s War of the Ghosts Study 1932 gave a different explanation for how memory works

The Theory of Reconstructive Memory

Bartlett proposed the reconstructive explanation of memory and suggested memory was not simply a recording device as initially thought.
Bartlett’s theory proposed that instead memories were “reconstructed” and interpreted to fit in with the hopes, fears, emotions and previous
experiences of individuals.
He believed people looked at memories and past events and strived to make them more logical and meaningful.
This was done by the people making inferences and deductions and what should have happened.
Therefore memories were not just registered exactly but constructed and reconstructed to fit in with the individuals own expectations and
understanding.
 Bartlett’s War of the Ghost Study 1932

Bartlett (1932) tested the reconstructive explanation for memory through his study “The Frederick Charles Bartlett
Sir Frederick Charles Bartlett was a
war of the ghosts”.
British psychologist and the first professor
He wanted to see if memory could be altered by the individual’s previous experiences of experimental psychology at the University of
Cambridge. He was one of the forerunners
influencing their recall of events. of cognitive psychology as well as cultural

To do this Bartlett played a game of “Chinese whispers” and asked students to pass psychology. Bartlett considered most of his own
work on cognitive psychology to be a study in
on a story they are told to the next student. social psychology, but he was also interested in
anthropology, moral science, philosophy, and
The story they were told was a Native American story which was culturally very different sociology.

from what western students would be familiar to.

It involved Native Americans travelling in canoes and fighting another group which
Strengths
turned out to be ghosts.
• Results appear to support the reconstructive explanations of
Results found that the war of the ghosts story had dramatically changed by the time it memory which suggests memory is altered to fit in with
reached the final student. individuals rather than a recording of events
• The model also explains everyday aspects of our memory and
Students were found to have altered the story to make it fit into their own experiences why we may have “failures” and why we do not accurately recall
and culture. everything as they occur.
• This study helps us understand why people may remember
For example, instead of canoes, students recalled the mode of transport being cars and
events incorrectly as it may be down to errors in reconstruction
the weapons were recalled as guns instead of bow and arrows. rather than wilful attempts to mislead or malfunctions in
Bartlett concluded that memory was not accurate recordings of events but processing.
Weaknesses
constructed and reconstructed to fit in with the individual’s own experiences.
• The study and findings may lack validity as students may have
He believed individuals needed to impose meaning on something they did not consciously change the story or intentionally change it due to
demand characteristics and wanting to make the story more
understand and based this on their own understanding, experiences, hopes and fears.
entertaining.
Key findings: • The story may have simply been misheard as it was being told
Details such as ghosts were omitted. to them suggesting this may not be sufficient enough evidence
for the reconstructive memory having validity as an explanation.
The story was recalled more logically and shaped to fit together better than the original.
• The reconstructive memory model makes predicting behaviour
Details were changed to more familiar concepts to the person; for example, canoes difficult and a good explanation for memory should make
prediction possible for it to have credibility.
were changed to cars, bows and arrows changed to guns.
• The reconstructive model of memory does not predict how
The ordering of the story was also changed. experiences or emotions can affect memories but simply gives
principles of how reconstruction may work.
 Effort After Meaning False memories
Bartlett’s war of the ghosts story demonstrated that memory was not an Research has shown that false memories can affect recollection.
accurate recording of what was happening. False memories are when we remember something that hasn’t actually
He believed that memory was an active process that involved “effort after happened.
meaning” which means people try to make sense of something they are One research study saw participants questioned about their childhood using
unfamiliar with after it has happened into things we already know and information from their parents to describe a true event that occurred as well as
understand about how the world works. a false event.
Due to this process, Bartlett believed we often change our memories into The false event was them getting lost in a shopping centre when young.
versions that are more sensible to us and this involves us making The results found 25% of participants believed the false memory thinking they had
assumptions or guesses on what has or should have happened. This may actually become lost and recalled details about what had happened to them
result in us mistakenly remembering things that are not true or create false while lost.
memories because they make sense within the situation. Research by psychologist Elizabeth Loftus and eyewitness testimony has
also shown that false memories can easily be planted into people.

How interference affects memory

There are two types of interference that can occur which can affect memory.
Context
One way in which memory can be affected is through proactive Context is believed to be another factor that affects the accuracy of memory.
interference. The other way memory can be altered is through retroactive For example, you find yourself at the top of the stairs only to forget why you
interference. have decided to come up.
Proactive interference is when an old memory interferes with something a You may also enter a room only to forget why you were there in the first
person is trying to remember now. place.
Things we already know can cause problems for us as we try to take on This explanation proposes that returning to the context i.e. the place where
new information. you originally had the idea can help rekindle the memory for why you were
A good example of this is knowing your old postcode but struggling to going there.
remember your new one. Researchers believe that when we encode information we may also encode
Retroactive interference is when a new memory interferes with old the things around us as part of the memory itself such as the sights, sounds,
memories. smells and textures etc.
New things we learn can cause problems for us when we try to recall Each encoded memory is then associated with different elements of context
information that we had learnt before. and when we are put back in that context, those associations are recreated
For example, you may be able to remember your new postcode but you and they stimulate different elements of the memory aiding in recall.
struggle to remember your old one.
 Test Yourself With This Memory Quiz
Name the 3 different types of memory: (3) Name the 3 different types of encoding (3)

1. 1.

2. 2.

3. 3.

Define what each type of memory is believed to do Define/explain/Outline features of these 3 memory stores

1. 1.

2. 2.

3. 3.
 Explain 4 strengths of the Multi-store memory model Explain 4 weaknesses of the Multi-store memory model

1. 1.

2. 2.

3. 3.

4. 4.

What is the Primacy Effect? What is the Recency Effect?

 Define/explain each type of retrieval and how it works. Outline Murdock’s Serial Position Curve Study

1.

2.
Evaluate Strengths for Murdock’s Serial Position Study

3.
Evaluate Weaknesses for Murdock’s Serial Position Study
Outline Bartlett’s Theory of Reconstructive Memory Evaluate Strengths for Bartlett’s Theory of Reconstructive Memory

Outline Bartlett’s War of The Ghost’s Study Evaluate Weaknesses for Bartlett’s Theory of Reconstructive Memory
 What does ‘effort after meaning’ refer to? Describe/Explain how the two types of interference occur

1.

2.

What are the two types of interference that can occur?

1.

2.

What are false memories? How does context affect accuracy of recall?

How can they affect memory? How can someone use context to improve recall?
May 2019 Memory Exam Questions
The boring bit.. Why its definitely worth subscribing to Learndojo

Misc.
We hope this resource proves useful for your studies or aid in teaching if
you are a teacher.

All content in this workbook is subject to copyright and only subscribers of

• Only paid or qualifying schools learndojo.org on a premium plan (or qualifying school that links learndojo’s
can distribute this resource among
relevant subject page) is able to use this resource or distribute it amongst their
their classroom only.
classroom.
• This resource is subject to
copyright and terms of use; it is If you are a teacher who finds this or any of our resources helpful, we would be
under no circumstances allowed to really grateful if you would ask for your schools website to link to us from the
be distributed online publicly in any subjects page or a relevant revision page - this helps make our website more
format. It is only to be visible and helps students and parents get help too! You get free
distributed to students for their
resources, students win, parents win and we can reach more people!
classroom learning only by those
Teamwork makes the dream work!
with premium accounts on
Learndojo.
A membership gets you constant updates in line with the latest specification
changes as they occur, new revision resources that are released, workbooks,
Learndojo.org ©
access to any exclusive revision videos and free distribution for all for all
Never Forget.. your students of our content.

As Learndojo grows, we have a host of cool stuff planned to help teachers and
It was keyworkers like teachers
students so stay tuned! - Learndojo Team
(among others) that answered the
call during COVID-19 and put their
lives at risk during a time of need -
This country owes a debt of eternal
gratitude to them all.