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5.2 Theories/Explanations

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Question 42

Nia is taking part in a cookery lesson. Her teacher records the following observations.

EventWhat happened
The teacher read out ten equipment words once.Nia immediately recalled six of the words.
One of the words was "pan".During the same immediate recall, Nia also said "fan" instead of "pan".
The teacher gave Nia an instruction and then asked her to weigh flour for 25 seconds without repeating the instruction.Nia could no longer remember the instruction.
Nia was asked why yeast is added to bread dough.She explained the reason correctly, having learnt it at primary school seven years earlier.

Another pupil, Sam, makes these statements about the observations:

  1. Remembering one fact for seven years proves that Nia's long-term memory has unlimited capacity.
  2. Forgetting the instruction after 25 seconds means that short-term memory always lasts exactly 25 seconds.
  3. Saying "fan" instead of "pan" shows that short-term memory encodes information mainly by meaning.
  4. Recalling six words means that Nia's short-term memory capacity is fixed at exactly six items.
a.

State the usual capacity and duration of short-term memory.

[2]
b.

Using the multi-store model, explain why Sam's interpretation of each observation is not justified.

[4]
Markscheme

5.2 Theories/Explanations Questions

  1. GCSE
  2. /Psychology
  3. /5.2 Theories/Explanations

84 exam-style questions on OCR GCSE Psychology 5.2 Theories/Explanations, covering 5.2.1 Multi-store Model structure, 5.2.2 Differences between memory stores; criticisms, 5.2.3 Multi-store Model research study: Wilson et al. (2008), 5.2.4 Reconstructive memory: schemas, experience and expectation, 5.2.5 Reconstructive memory: confabulation and leading questions; criticisms, and 5.2.6 Reconstructive Memory research study: Braun, Ellis and Loftus (2002). Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.

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