Edexcel A Level Psychology Paper 3 June 2019 question paper 9PS0/03

Working memory training

Working memory training is where people repeatedly practise increasingly difficult working memory tasks to attempt to improve their cognitive performance.

Researchers wanted to see how working memory training affected recognition performance of a list of words. They recruited 100 participants who were allocated to either the working memory training group (Condition 1) or the control group (Condition 2).

At the beginning of the study, all participants in Condition 1 and Condition 2 were read 20 target words. The participants then had to try and recognise the 20 target words from a list of 60 words, where 40 were new words. All participants were given two minutes to recognise as many of the target words as they could.

During the next three weeks:

• Condition 1 (working memory training group) completed a session of working memory training for 90 minutes, once a week.

• Condition 2 (control group) did no working memory training.

After the three-week period, the participants then performed another memory recognition task. As before, they had to learn a list of 20 words from a list of 60 words, where 40 were new words.

(Source: adapted from Matzen et al. (2016))

State a fully operationalised directional (one-tailed) experimental hypothesis for the working memory training study.

The number of words correctly recognised (out of 20) by participants was recorded as a measure of memory performance by the researchers.

State which level of measurement the number of words correctly recognised (out of 20) for each participant would be in the working memory training study.

The working memory training study used a laboratory experiment to assess the memory of the participants.

Explain two strengths of using a laboratory experiment for the working memory training study.

The mean results of the working memory training study are shown in Table 1.

Explain two conclusions that could be made using the data in Table 1.

Conclusion 1

Conclusion 2

The results of the working memory training group at the end of the study are shown in Table 2.

Draw a histogram to display the data in Table 2.

Title

Interpret the histogram you have drawn for (e) (i).

Job interview

Researchers wanted to investigate how long it took interviewers to make a decision to hire an employee through a job interview. The researchers wanted to see whether interviewers made an almost instant decision (in under a minute) to hire an employee, as suggested by previous research findings.

They collected data from 160 unstructured job interviews where students were hired for a job at a university careers fair. The researchers asked the interviewers to estimate how long it took them, in minutes, to make their hiring decision.

The estimated time that it took the interviewers to make a hiring decision was split into four categories:

• Under 1 minute

• 1 to 5 minutes

• 5 to 15 minutes

• More than 15 minutes.

The interviewers were fully informed about the aim of the study beforehand and gave their permission for their data to be used in a published research study.

(Source: adapted from Frieder et al. (2015))

The results of the job interview study are shown in Table 3.

Calculate the ratio of those interviewers who reported making their decision in under 1 minute to those interviewers who reported making their decision in more than 15 minutes.

You must express the ratio to the lowest whole numbers.

The researchers also asked the interviewers who made a quick hiring decision to give some information about the factors that helped them make a quick decision.

The common themes given by the interviewers are shown in Table 4.

Analyse the data in Table 4 to explain one conclusion that the researchers might draw from these results.

Explain two ways that subjectivity could have influenced the job interview study.

Explain one way the researchers could have made sure the job interview study was reliable.

Monkeying around

Researchers wanted to investigate the role of reward in the behaviour of monkeys.

They gave monkeys a task where they had to learn a sequence of three coloured buttons.

The monkeys experienced one of the following conditions:

• Condition 1: For pressing the correct sequence of buttons five times in a row, a food treat was provided

• Condition 2: For pressing the correct sequence of buttons between two and four times in a row (the amount changed each time), a food treat was provided

• Condition 3: A food treat was provided every 60 seconds, provided the correct sequence of buttons was pressed at least once during this time period

• Condition 4: For pressing an incorrect sequence of buttons, a mild electric shock was given.

The number of attempted button presses (in 10 minutes) and the number of correct button sequences (in 10 minutes) were recorded by the researchers.

The mean results of the monkeying around study are shown in Table 5.

Explain one ethical consideration that the researchers of the monkeying around study would have had to consider when conducting their investigation.

Using research evidence, explain how operant conditioning could support the findings of the monkeying around study.

Evaluate the classic studies by Baddeley (1966b) and Watson and Rayner (1920) in terms of reductionism.

Aaondi is a country that has had the same president for 20 years. The president orders the citizens to grow specific vegetables in their gardens, reduce water consumption and minimise their disposal of non-recyclable waste. The president’s orders are clearly displayed on billboards and are reinforced on television and radio every day. Aaondians have to pay a fine every time they do not follow the president’s orders.

Evaluate how useful agency theory would be in explaining human behaviour such as that of the citizens of Aaondi. You must make reference to the context in your answer.

Assess the role of both nature and nurture in psychology.