Cognitive and Research

M i k e C a r d w e l l • C a r a Fl a n a g a n
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The Complete Companion Student Book

F O U R T H E D I T I O N for AQA

A
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om

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1
How to get in touch:
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ISBN 978-0-19-833864-2

– T h e Co m p l e t e Co m p a n i o n

Written by leading authors Mike Cardwell and Cara Flanagan, this new edition of the best-selling
Student Book is designed to help turn your understanding of psychology into even better exam performance.

Fully revised to match the AQA AS and A Level specifications for first examination from 2016 (AS) and 2017 (A Level),
it has the features that students value so much from the previous edition plus invaluable enhancements to
organisation, content and exam advice.

Content matches the new AQA AS and A Level specifications first examined from 2016 and 2017

Combines the best that a student textbook can offer with invaluable revision and exam practice features

Full-colour, magazine-style, highly illustrated pages clearly highlight AO1 topic material and AO3
evaluation

Practice exam-style questions throughout closely reflect AQA’s examination questions for the new
specifications

A clearly defined focus on evaluation will help you construct effective answers to extended response questions

Full support for building skills in application of knowledge questions and research methods questions

Diagrammatic summaries and sample examination questions with student answers and examiner
commentaries provide invaluable revision support

Cara Flanagan and Mike Cardwell have many years of experience as senior examiners, teachers and best-selling
authors. They are respected and trusted by teachers who have successfully used their resources for years, and the
thousands of students who have benefitted from their books and seen them at revision conferences across the country.

Cara has many years experience as a senior examiner and is a widely published educational author, conference
organizer and CPD trainer.

Mike is a former Chief Examiner for A Level and a Senior Lecturer at Bath Spa University. He has written
extensively for A Level students.

Check out our blog at www.oxfordschoolblogs.co.uk for up-to-date research and useful psychology links.

Also available:
The Complete Companions: Year 1 and AS Teacher’s Companion for
AQA (Fourth Edition) 978-019-833865-9

The Complete Companions: Year 2 Teacher’s Companion for
AQA (Fourth Edition) 978-019-833869-7

The Complete Companions: Year 2 Student Book for
AQA (Fourth Edition) 978-019-833868-0

The Complete Companions: Year 1 and AS Kerboodle for
AQA 978-019-833866-6

The Complete Companions: Year 1 and AS Kerboodle Book for
AQA 978-019-833867-3

Plus don’t miss
The Research Methods Companion for A Level 2nd Edition
978-019-835613-4

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M i k e C a r d w e l l • C a r a Fl a n a g a n

The Complete Companion Student Book

F O U R T H E D I T I O N
for AQA

1

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Dedication

To Thomas Cardwell, my grandson (MC)

To my cats (CF)

Acknowledgements

Bringing projects such as this to fruition is never easy and
we owe a huge debt of gratitude to Sarah Flynn and the
rest of the OUP family for continuing to believe in what
we are trying to achieve with the Complete Companion
series. We owe our greatest thanks to Rob Bircher,
who has managed the whole thing from start to finish
with cheerful efficiency. Rob has pushed, prodded and
encouraged us (in equal measures), and his comments
are always well-informed and his attention to detail
second to none. As ever, we are thrilled with the way
that Carrie Baker and the team at GreenGate Publishing
Services have made what we have written come alive on
the page.

833864_prelims.indd 2 23/02/2015 13:08

C O N T E N T s

How to use this book 4

The AS examination 6

The A Level examination 7

Types of AS and A Level exam question 8

The way your answers are marked 10

Improving exam performance: A few key pieces of advice 12

Effective revision 13

What is psychology? 14

chapter 1 Social influence 16

chapter 2 Memory 42

chapter 3 Attachment 68

chapter 4 Psychopathology 96

chapter 5 Approaches in psychology 122

chapter 6 Biopsychology 146

chapter 7 Research methods 176

References 232

Glossary/index 240

833864_prelims.indd 3 23/02/2015 13:08

4

1717

Social infl uence
CHAPTER

1 C H A P T E R C O N T E N T S
Types of conformity and explanations

for conformity 18

Variables aff ecting conformity 20

Conformity to social roles 22

Situational variables aff ecting obedience 24

Agentic state and legitimacy of authority 26

The Authoritarian Personality 28

Resistance to social infl uence 30

Minority infl uence 32

Social infl uence processes in social change 34

S U M M A R Y 36

E X A M Q U E S T I O N B A N K 38

E X A M Q U E S T I O N S W I T H S T U D E N T
A N S W E R S   A N D E X A M I N E R C O M M E N T S 40

S P E C I F I C AT I O N C H E C K L I S T
• Types of conformity: internalisation, identifi cation

and compliance. Explanations for conformity:
informational social infl uence and normative
social infl uence, and variables aff ecting conformity
including group size, unanimity and task diffi culty as
investigated by Asch.

• Conformity to social roles as investigated by
Zimbardo.

• Explanations for obedience: agentic state and
legitimacy of authority, and situational variables
aff ecting obedience including proximity, location and
uniform, as investigated by Milgram.

• Dispositional explanation for obedience: the
Authoritarian Personality.

• Explanations of resistance to social infl uence,
including social support and locus of control.

• Minority infl uence including reference to consistency,
commitment and fl exibility.

• The role of social infl uence processes in social
change.

Social proof: the power of infl uence
Thinking of buying a psychology revision book, or choosing a new phone or booking
a holiday (well, maybe after your A Levels)? You would probably consider checking
what other people think about all the diff erent options available. Studies suggest
that over 80% of people read product reviews before making a purchase, and that
reviews from other people are many times more trusted than the descriptions given by
manufacturers, travel companies and so on. Product reviews are an example of what
social psychologist Robert Cialdini calls social proof, one of six principles of infl uence
identifi ed by Cialdini after immersing himself in the dubious world of what he called
‘compliance professionals’ (sales people, fund raisers, etc.).

Social proof is a psychological phenomenon where people accept that the actions
of others indicate the appropriate behaviour in a given situation. It allows us to make
decisions quickly by focusing on the actions of people around us. When we see others,
particularly large groups, doing something, we are likely to come to the conclusion
that maybe we should be doing it too.

This is one of those psychological studies that requires no equipment and can be a lot
of fun. You could carry this out around your school or college campus or in your local
town centre. As with the study described above, just keep increasing the number of
stooges looking up towards the top of a tall building and have a (hidden) observer
estimate the percentage of passers by that also look up. Does the percentage increase
with the number of stooges? When you have thought about the implications of this
fi nding you are ready to turn the page and learn more about conformity.

Milgram et al. (1969) designed a simple way to study the phenomenon of social proof.
They used a busy street corner in New York, and placed a stooge there and told him
to do nothing but stare at a spot high up on a tall building. They then counted how
many passers by stopped and gazed up with the stooge or looked up as they passed
by. They ran this a few times, each time increasing the number of stooges standing on
the corner, noting the number of people who looked up or stopped and gazed with
the stooges.

The data they collected was a clear demonstration of social proofi ng. When there
was just one stooge gazing at the building, only 20% of passers by stopped and
gazed with him or looked up as they passed. However, when there were fi ve stooges
all gazing up, this fi gure increased to 80%. After all, if fi ve people are all looking at
something, there must be something to look at!

T R Y T H I S

How to use this book
The book is called ‘The Complete Companion’ because we have written a book which we hope will be like having a friendly
teacher and examiner by your side, providing you with everything you need to do well at AQA AS and A Level psychology.
The contents of this book are mapped exactly onto the AQA AS and A Level (Year 1) specifications. The book is divided into
seven chapters that map onto the AQA psychology specification. Rather than writing separate AS and A Level (Year 1) books,
we have integrated the two approaches into the same text. The content covered by AS and A Level students is exactly the
same, but A Level students have some additional material that AS students will not need to cover. You will be guided through
the book so you know which material is appropriate for AS and which is only for A Level.

Each chapter begins with an introductory spread where you will find:

The content of each chapter consists of a number of double-page spreads. All the features in these chapters are illustrated
on the two sample spreads on the right. The main text and all the other features together will help turn your psychological
knowledge into effective exam performance. Each chapter ends with some more useful features – an end of chapter
review consisting of:

Suggested answers for questions throughout the book can be fund on our website:
www.oxfordschoolblogs.co.uk/psychcompanion/blog

On each spread is an
introduction to the topic,
at the top left. This explains

what the topic is about
and what some of its main

issues are.

The main descriptive text
(i.e. AO1) for the spread is on
the left-hand page. We have

provided more detail than you
would require for an exam
question for the topic. The

questions on the page (Can
you…?) aim to help you select
appropriate material to prepare

for exam questions, and the
diagrammatic summaries at

the end of each chapter précis
this down to the bare bones of

each topic.

We have also added the
occasional extra bit of
information (XINFO)

that you don’t have to
know, but is interesting

nonetheless.

Sometimes we’ve added
an aside to help enhance

your understanding.

An image to give
you a flavour of

what the chapter is
about.

Chapter contents and a specification
breakdown for these contents so you can

see how each double page spread maps on
to the specification.

A starter activity to
get you thinking
about what is to
come.

A diagrammatic
summary of the

chapter.

Example examination
questions to give you
an idea of how the
chapter’s contents
might be assessed in
an exam.

Sample student
answers to some of
these questions with
examiner’s comments.

6362626262222222262622222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222

End-of-chapter review C H A P T E R S U M M A R Y

F U R T H E R E VA LU AT I O N
• STM not independent of LTM – Ruchkin et al. showed diff erent brain activity for words and pseudo-words.

E VA LU AT I O N
Strengths
• STM/LTM diff erence supported by:

– Lab studies, e.g. Jacobs, Miller, Peterson and
Peterson, Bahrick, Baddeley.

– Brain scans, e.g. Beardsley linked STM to
prefrontal cortex, Squire et al. linked LTM to
hippocampus.

– Case study of HM – linked formation of new
LTMs to hippocampus (Scoville and Milner).

Limitations
• MSM is too simple, STM and LTM are not unitary

stores.
• LTM involves elaborative rather than just

maintenance rehearsal.

We have identifi ed here the key points of this topic on the AQA specifi cation, i.e. the bare minimum that
you need to know. You may want to fi ll in further details to elaborate and personalise this material.

D E S C R I P T I O N
• Sensory register – large capacity, very short duration (milliseconds).
• Attention transfers information from sensory register to STM.
• STM – limited capacity (5 items/chunks) so information decays, limited duration (a few minutes) unless

rehearsed.
• Maintenance rehearsal eventually creates a LTM.
• LTM – potentially unlimited capacity and duration, forgetting may be due to lack of accessibility.
• Retrieval from LTM goes through STM.

T H E M U LT I – S TO R E M O D E L O F M E M O R Y

F U R T H E R E VA LU AT I O N
• Word-length eff ect – longer words can’t be rehearsed (supports phonological loop), articulatory suppression

task cancels out word-length eff ect (supports articulatory process).

E VA LU AT I O N
Strengths
• Hitch and Baddeley – participants slower when

doing dual tasks (CE + CE and articulatory loop).
Demonstrates CE.

• KF – damage to PL, problems with verbal material
(words not sounds) (Shallice and Warrington).

• SC – damage to PL, unable to learn word pairs
presented out loud (Trojano and Grossi).

• LH – damage to spatial system (Farah et al.).

Limitations
• CE doesn’t explain anything and more complex

than currently represented, evidence from EVR
(Eslinger and Damasio).

• Brain damage evidence unreliable because trauma
may cause problems.

D E S C R I P T I O N
• Central executive (CE) acts as ‘attention’, allocates tasks to slave systems, no storage.
• Phonological loop (PL) preserves order of auditory information.

– Phonological store holds the words for the PL, inner ear.
– Articulatory process performs maintenance rehearsal for PL, inner voice.

• Visuo-spatial sketchpad (VSS) for planning and processing visual and/or spatial tasks.
– Visual cache for form and colour.
– Inner scribe for spatial relations.

• Episodic buff er records events (episodes) as they happen, links to LTM.

T H E W O R K I N G M E M O R Y M O D E L

E VA LU AT I O N
• Consonant syllables not meaningful but some

memory activities do involve such stimuli.
• Reitman – auditory tones to avoid displacement, led

to longer duration of STM.
• Nairne et al. – duration for STM 96 seconds.

D U R AT I O N
• Peterson and Peterson – used consonant syllables,

prevented verbal rehearsal. STM lasted 18 seconds.
• Bahrick et al. – after 48 years participants were 70%

accurate in face recognition of classmates and 30%
for names.

E VA LU AT I O N
• In Baddeley’s study LTM was tested by waiting

20 minutes, not really LTM.
• Brandimote et al. – STMs visually coded if verbal

rehearsal prevented.
• Wickens et al. – STM sometimes uses a semantic

code.
• Frost – visual coding in LTM.
• Nelson and Rothbart – acoustic coding in LTM.

CO D I N G
• Baddeley – diffi culty remembering acoustically

similar words in STM but not in LTM, reverse for
semantically similar words.

E VA LU AT I O N
• Cowan – 4 chunks probably the limit. Same for

visual information (Vogel et al.).
• Simon – larger chunks means fewer recalled.
• Jacobs – 19-year-olds have longer digit span than

8-year-olds.

C A PAC I T Y
• Jacobs – digit span 9.3 for digits, 7.3 for letters.
• Miller – people remember about 7 items and 7

chunks.

SHORT AND LONG-TERM MEMORY

F U R T H E R E VA LU AT I O N
• Encoding specifi city is circular – it is not a causal

relationship (Nairne) and cannot be tested (Baddeley).
• Retrieval failure can explain interference eff ects and

thus is the more important explanation of forgetting.

FURTHER EVALUATION
• Real-world application – competing advertisements

reduce their eff ect because of interference, better to
show three in one day (Danaher et al.).

• Individual diff erences – people with greater
working memory span less susceptible to proactive
interference (Kane and Eagle).

E VA LU AT I O N
• High validity – wealth of supporting research

evidence both in lab and natural environments.
• Real-world application – to revising and the cognitive

interview.
• Cues don’t always work – not useful when learning

meaningful material (Smith and Vela).

E VA LU AT I O N
• Artifi cial research – words and nonsense syllables, and

low motivation. Doesn’t represent everyday memory.
• Limited to some situations of forgetting, where two

sets of stimuli are quite similar.
• Ceraso – spontaneous recovery of recognition

memory after interference suggests memories are
available but not accessible.

D E S C R I P T I O N
• Retroactive interference – old interferes with new.
• Müller and Pilzecker – recall was less good if there was

an intervening task (describing paintings).
• Proactive interference – new interferes with old.
• Underwood – analysed many studies, the more lists

learned the lower percentage of recall.
• McGeoch and McDonald – learn list of words + list of

synonyms → 12% recall, learn list of words + list of digits
→ 37% recall. Similarity matters.

• Baddeley and Hitch – rugby players who played fewer
games had better recall of teams played against (less
interference).

D E S C R I P T I O N
• Encoding specifi city principle – material present

at encoding is present at retrieval (Tulving and
Thomson).

• Tulving and Pearlstone – category + word learned.
Free recall was 40%, cued recall was 60%.

• Some cues are not meaningfully linked at encoding
but also act as cues.

• Context-dependent forgetting: Abernethy – recall best
with same instructor in same room.

• Context-dependent forgetting: Baddeley and Godden
– recall best when initial context (land or water)
matched recall environment.

• State-dependent forgetting: Goodwin et al. – recall
best when initial state (drunk or sober) matched state
at recall.

FURTHER E VA LU AT I O N
• Brain damage evidence unreliable because

can’t be certain that causal part of brain
identifi ed.

• Perceptual-representation system may be a
kind of implicit memory related to priming.

E VA LU AT I O N
• Episodic memory associated with temporal lobe

(including hippocampus) plus frontal lobe.
• Semantic memory associated with temporal

lobe.
• Procedural memory associated with cerebellum

and basal ganglia and limbic system.
• HM – new procedural memories could be

formed but not semantic and episodic ones.
• Evidence from amnesia patients – semantic

memories can form independently of episodic
memories.

D E S C R I P T I O N
• Episodic memories – personal memories for

events forming a sequence.
• They include details of context and emotion.
• Semantic memories – knowledge shared by

everyone, abstract and concrete.
• They are acquired via episodic memories.
• Procedural memories – knowing how to do

something.
• They become automatic through repetition and

are disrupted if you think about them.

T Y P E S O F LT M

I N T E R F E R E N C E R E T R I E VA L FA I LU R E

F U R T H E R E VA LU AT I O N
• Comparisons diffi cult – police forces use diff erent

versions of CI.
• Individual diff erences – older adults’ memories

helped more by the CI than younger adults (Mello
and Fisher).

F U R T H E R E VA LU AT I O N
• Individual diff erences – misinformation eff ect in

older people, thus more susceptible to misleading
information..

• Response bias – recalling events in original order
led to recovery of recall so memory not altered
(Bekerian and Bowers).

E VA LU AT I O N
• Köhnken et al. – review of 53 studies, 34% more

information from CI, but lab studies with students.
• Milne and Bull – eff ectiveness may be most due

to ‘report everything’ and ‘mental reinstatement’
components.

• Quality may suff er – 81% increase in correct recall
but 61% false positives (Köhnken et al.).

• Police dislike CI – time consuming, inadequate
training.

E VA LU AT I O N
• Braun et al. – misleading information (Bugs Bunny)

altered participant recall.
• Real-life EWT may be more accurate – lab studies

not taken seriously.
Foster et al. – fi lm of supposed robbery, high accuracy.
Yuille and Cutshall – witnesses to real crime fed

misleading information but still accurate recall.
• Real-world application – mistaken EWT largest factor

in conviction of innocent people (Wells and Olson).

D E S C R I P T I O N
• Leading questions suggest the desired answer.
• Loftus and Palmer – critical question containing hit,

smashed, collided, bumped or contacted, speed
estimates highest with the verb smashed.

• Loftus and Palmer – the verb altered the actual
memory of the event; participants more likely to
report broken glass.

• Post-event discussion may contaminate eyewitness
memory of an event.

• Conformity eff ect – participants’ recollection
infl uenced by discussion with others (Gabbert et al.).

• Repeat interviewing – especially problematic with
child witnesses (LeRooy et al.).

D E S C R I P T I O N
• Based on psychological research:

1. Mental reinstatement of original context –
physical and psychological, cued recall.

2. Report everything – even seemingly insignifi cant
details, may cue recall.

3. Change order – reduces eff ect of schemas.
4. Change perspective – disrupts schemas,

supported by Anderson and Pichert’s study
(burglar and house buyer perspective).

M I S L E A D I N G I N F O R M AT I O N T H E C O G N I T I V E I N T E R V I E W

F U R T H E R E VA LU AT I O N
• Bothwell et al. – neurotic participants become less

accurate with increasing anxiety, opposite true for
emotionally more stable participants.

• Deff enbacher et al. – catastrophe model better than
inverted U.

E VA LU AT I O N
• Pickel – weapon focus eff ect due to surprise not

anxiety.
• Deff enbacher et al. – real-life …