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Flashcards · 9685 · AS Topic 1
Unit 1 – Introductory Topics in Psychology (AS Level) flashcards
19 cards on AS Topic 1, subtopics 3.1.1 to 3.1.3. Pick a subtopic or study them all.
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3.1.1 Memory
- What are the stores of the multi-store model, and how does information move between them?
- Sensory register → (attention) → short-term memory → (rehearsal) → long-term memory. STM holds about 5–9 items for about 18–30 seconds; LTM has unlimited capacity and can last a lifetime.
- How is information coded in STM and LTM?
- STM codes mainly acoustically (by sound). LTM codes mainly semantically (by meaning).
- What are the four components of the working memory model?
- The central executive (directs attention, no storage), the phonological loop (sound and speech), the visuo-spatial sketchpad (visual and spatial information) and the episodic buffer (integrates the others and links to LTM).
- What can the working memory model explain that the multi-store model cannot?
- Dual-task performance: two tasks using different components can be done at once, but two using the same component interfere.
- Episodic vs semantic vs procedural memory
- Episodic: personal events. Semantic: facts and meanings. Procedural: skills. Amnesia patients who keep learned skills despite severe episodic loss support the distinction.
- How do leading questions and post-event discussion affect eyewitness testimony?
- Leading questions suggest an answer and can change what is recalled. Post-event discussion with other witnesses can cause memory conformity, as witnesses blend others' accounts into their own.
- What are the four techniques of the cognitive interview?
- Report everything, reinstate the context, reverse the order and change perspective. It increases correct recall without a proportional rise in errors.
3.1.2 Social Psychology
- Compliance vs internalisation
- Compliance: public agreement only, while the group is present. Internalisation: public and private acceptance that lasts.
- Normative vs informational social influence
- NSI: conforming from the need to be liked, giving compliance. ISI: conforming from the need to be right, giving internalisation, so the change persists.
- How did group size, unanimity and task difficulty affect conformity in Asch's research?
- Conformity rose with group size up to about three, fell sharply when one confederate dissented (loss of unanimity), and rose when the task was more difficult.
- How did proximity and location affect obedience in Milgram's research?
- Baseline obedience to 450 V was 65%. It fell when the teacher was closer to the learner (proximity) and when the study moved from Yale to a run-down office (location).
- Agentic state vs legitimacy of authority
- Agentic state: acting as an instrument of an authority figure and not feeling responsible. Legitimacy of authority: obeying people whose position we accept as giving them the right to command.
- How do social support and locus of control explain resistance?
- A dissenting ally gives social support that makes resisting the group or authority easier. People with an internal locus of control believe they control their own actions, so are more likely to resist.
3.1.3 Psychopathology
- Name the four definitions of abnormality
- Deviation from social norms, failure to function adequately, statistical infrequency and deviation from ideal mental health. Each has a limitation alone, e.g. norms vary between cultures and eras.
- What are the defining characteristics of phobias?
- A persistent, excessive fear of a specific object or situation, avoidance of it, and a response out of proportion to the actual danger.
- What are the defining characteristics of depression?
- Persistent low mood, loss of interest or pleasure in usual activities, and disturbed sleep, appetite or energy.
- How does the two-process model explain phobias?
- Classical conditioning acquires the phobia (a neutral stimulus is paired with fear). Operant conditioning maintains it, because avoidance reduces anxiety and so is negatively reinforced.
- Systematic desensitisation vs flooding
- Systematic desensitisation: relaxation training plus a hierarchy of feared situations, worked through gradually. Flooding: immediate, prolonged exposure to the most feared situation until the anxiety falls.
- Beck's negative triad vs Ellis's ABC model
- Beck: negative views of the self, the world and the future cause depression. Ellis: an Activating event leads to emotional Consequences through irrational Beliefs. CBT challenges irrational thoughts.