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Psychology Revision Guides
A-Level Revise Aid: This resource is designed to support your revision and may contain errors. If you find a discrepancy with your class teaching, your teacher is correct -- please let us know at alevelrevise@scott.scottrix.co.uk.

Memory and Cognitive Psychology

Year 1 / ASYear 2 / A-Level All Boards (AQA, Edexcel, OCR, WJEC, CCEA) AQA

A-Level Psychology revision: Memory and Cognitive Psychology. Learning objectives, key points, worked examples and practice questions across AQA, Edexcel, OCR, WJEC and CCEA.

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📌 Key Points

Key Fact: MSM: Sensory (iconic/echoic, <1s) -> attention -> STM (acoustic, 7+/-2, 18-30s) -> rehearsal -> LTM (semantic, unlimited); WMM: CE (attention), PL (speech), VSSP (visual), EB (integration); LTM: episodic (events), semantic (facts), procedural (skills)
Key Fact: Encoding: acoustic (STM), semantic (LTM); Storage: consolidation; Retrieval: recall, recognition, relearning
Key Fact: Forgetting: Proactive (old->new), Retroactive (new->old), Retrieval failure (cue-dependent), Decay (trace fades), Motivated (repression)
Key Fact: EWT: Loftus & Palmer (leading questions), anxiety (weapon focus), Cognitive interview (context reinstatement, report everything, reverse order, change perspective)
Key Fact: Piaget: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete, formal; schemas, assimilation, accommodation; Vygotsky: ZPD, scaffolding, social interaction

🎯 Learning Objectives

  • Explain and evaluate the Multi-Store Model (Atkinson-Shiffrin): sensory, STM, LTM
  • Understand Working Memory Model (Baddeley-Hitch): central executive, phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, episodic buffer
  • Explain LTM types: episodic, semantic, procedural; encoding, storage, retrieval
  • Analyse forgetting: interference (proactive/retroactive), retrieval failure, decay, motivated forgetting
  • Evaluate eyewitness testimony: misleading information, anxiety, cognitive interview
  • Understand cognitive development: Piaget (stages), Vygotsky (ZPD, scaffolding)

💡 Worked Example

Exam-Style Question

Question: Explain how the Working Memory Model accounts for dual-task performance better than the Multi-Store Model

Model Answer:

MSM: single STM store -> two verbal tasks interfere. WMM: separate stores (PL for verbal, VSSP for visual) -> can do verbal + visual simultaneously. Evidence: Baddeley (verbal reasoning + tracking). PL overload impairs both if both verbal

❓ Practice Questions

Questions:

  • Compare MSM vs WMM
  • Explain retrieval failure with example
  • Evaluate cognitive interview
  • Apply Piaget to conservation task
  • Evaluate Loftus & Palmer methodology

🎬 Video Resources

📄 Past Papers & Exam Resources

🔗 Further Reading & Resources