AQA GCSE

PSYCHOLOGY KEY
THEORIES
Memory - The Theory of
Reconstructive Memory
A01 - knowledge
• People remember overall meaning of events and, when retrieving
information, they rebuild.
• Memory is inaccurate, we do not have exact recall. We record small pieces
of information in long-term memory. During recall we recombine them to tell
the whole story. Each time, the elements are combined slightly differently.
• The way that information is stored and recalled is affected by social and
cultural expectations.
• Effort after meaning - We focus on the meaning of events and make an effort
to understand the meaning to make sense of the parts of the story.

A03 – evaluation

• P - A strength of the research is that it reflects how we use memory in our

everyday lives.
• EX - The research doesn’t use word lists or nonsense syllables but instead
uses a story.
• EL - This makes the results more relevant to real-life memory processes.

• P - A weakness is that not all memories are reconstructed.

• EX - For example, in the study participants often recalled ‘something black
came out of his mouth’ because it was quite a distinctive phrase.
• EL - This shows that some memories are accurate.

• P - A strength is that reconstructive memory explains problems with

eyewitness testimony (EWT).
• EX - Bartlett’s research showed memory is affected by expectations so shows
that people do not always recall accurately.
• EL - Therefore, EWT is no longer solely relied on as evidence in criminal
investigations.
Perception - Gibson’s Direct
Theory of Perception
A01 - knowledge
• Sensation and perception are the same thing. The eyes detect everything we
need to judge depth, distance and movement. We don’t need past
experiences.
• Optic flow patterns - When moving, the point we are moving towards stays
stationary and everything else rushes away from it. This tells the brain the
speed and direction that we are travelling in.
• Motion parallax - When we are moving, objects closer in our visual field
appear to move faster than objects further away. This tells the brain the
speed we are moving.
• Our ability to perceive is innate – we don’t need to learn it. (nature)

A03 – evaluation

• P - A strength of Gibson’s theory is that it has real-world meaning.

• EX – The theory was based on real-wordld research with WW2 pilots.
• EL - This makes it more relevant to explain how we perceive the world on a
daily basis.

• P - A weakness of Gibson’s theory is that it struggles to explain visual illusions.

• EX - Gibson proposed that we will always perceive accurately whereas
illusions trick the brain into misperception.
• EL - This suggests there is more to perception than his theory suggested.

• P - A strength of Gibson’s theory comes from Gibson and Walk’s study.

• EX - They found that very few infants would crawl off a ‘visual cliff’.
• EL - This suggests that infants are born with an ability to perceive depth, which
shows that some perception is innate.
Perception - Gregory’s Constructivist
Theory of Perception
A01 - knowledge
• The brain uses incoming information from our eyes as well as using past
experience to make sense of the world around us. Perception is therefore a
construction.
• Inference - The brain uses sensory information that is available (from eyes &
past experiences) and then fills in the gaps. Past experiences means we can
infer what should be there and can draw a conclusion about what is being seen.
• When making inferences, features of the environment (visual cues) give the
brain information about depth, distance, etc. Visual illusions occur because
the brain has drawn the wrong conclusion from these cues.
• Past experience links to the role of nurture. Perception depends on experience
which is learned. The more we interact with the world, the more sophisticated
our perception becomes.

A03 – evaluation

• P - One strength is that Gregory’s theory has good support from studies that show
cultural differences in perception.
• EX - Research in different parts of the world has found that people interpret visual
cues differently.
• EL - This means that their different experiences have affected their perception.

• P - One weakness relates to Gregory’s use of visual illusions to support his theory.
• EX - They are artificial two-dimensional (2D) images that are deliberately designed
to fool us.
• EL - As a consequence, his theory may not tell us much about how perception
works in the real world.

• P - Another weakness is that Gregory’s theory cannot explain how perception gets
started in the first place.
• EX - Research has shown that babies have some perceptual abilities at birth,
such as they prefer human faces to random patterns.
• EL - This suggests not all perception is the result of our experience.
Development – Piaget’s stage
theory of cognitive theory
A01 - knowledge
• Children’s brains develop in stages and at each stage different kinds of
thinking occur (sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete and formal
operational).
• As children develop they create mental structure containing knowledge of the
world which are stored in the form of schemas. Schemas become more
numerous and more complex through assimilation and accommodation.
• Assimilation - when we understand a new experience through adding new
information to an existing schema.
• Accommodation- when we acquire new information that changes our
understanding so we need to form new schema(s).

A03 – evaluation
• P - A strength of Piaget’s theory is that it has led many studies to be carried
out.
• EX - These have helped test the claims of his theory.
• EL - This is an important part of any theory – if we can’t test it we don’t know if it
is right or wrong.

• P - A strength of Piaget’s theory is that it has helped change classroom

teaching for the better.
• EX - It has led to teachers carrying out more activity-based learning.
• EL - This has helped children learn in a more effective way.

• P - A weakness of Piaget’s theory is that research was carried out on middle-

class Swiss children.
• EX - These children were from families where academic studies were more
important than making things.
• EL - Therefore his theory may not be universal.
Development – Dweck’s Mindset
Theory of Learning
A01 - knowledge
• The difference between people who are successful and not successful is their
mindset.
• Fixed mindset - Abilities are fixed in the genes. Effort won’t help if you are
failing because success is talent-based. Focused on performance and feel
good when performing well. Failure is due to lack of talent so no point trying
harder.
• Growth mindset - You can always improve yourself with effort. Enjoy a
challenge rather than focus on success. Focus on learning goals and feel good
when working hard. Failure is an opportunity to learn more and put in more
effort.
• People are not simply one or the other but a mixture, on a continuum
stretching from fixed- to growth-oriented. Where you are on the continuum
depends on the situation.

A03 – evaluation
• P - One strength is evidence that a growth mindset leads to better grades.
• EX - Dweck found that school children taught a growth mindset had better
grades and motivation than a different group of school children who were just
taught about memory.
• EL - This suggests that this approach can improve performance.

• P - A weakness is that any sort of praise may be bad.

• EX - The idea of praising people’s effort still leads to them doing things for
approval from others rather than doing it for themselves.
• EL - Growth mindset can therefore discourage the type of independent
behaviour it is trying to promote.

• P - A strength is good real-world application.

• EX - Mindset has been used to improve performance in areas such as schools,
businesses, sport and relationships.
• EL - Teaching people to see failure as a lack of effort rather than lack of talent
motivates future effort.
Development – Willingham’s
learning theory
A01 - knowledge
• Willingham criticises the theory of learning styles because of a lack of scientific
evidence.
• Scientific research results from cognitive psychology and neuroscience can be
used to improve learning.
• Praising effort should be unexpected. If performance depends on praise, a person
works to get the praise rather than to feel good.
• People should practise retrieving information from memory. As memory research
has found that forgetting often occurs because of a lack of the right cues.
• Self-regulation is being able to control your behaviour: your emotions, attention
and cognitive processes. Research found that young children who have the ability
to delay gratification(satisfaction) perform higher on tests.
• We can use neuroscience to identify issues within the brain and help individuals
with their learning. Brain waves in children and adults with dyslexia are different
from those in people without dyslexia. If a specific pattern is associated with
dyslexia they could receive help earlier, which will benefit progress.

A03 – evaluation
• P - A strength is that the theory is based on scientific evidence.
• EX - The studies supporting the theory were well-designed, objective
investigations.
• EL - This gives the claims of his theory greater validity.

• P - A strength of the theory is that it has real-world applicability.

• EX – The research used to support the theory has clear relevance to education
and has a better basis than learning styles.
• EL – This is good because the theory offers a better explanation of what you learn
(rather than how you learn).

• P - An issue with Willingham’s research is that dyslexia cannot just be diagnosed

by observing people’s brain waves.
• EX - There would be a number of other causes that would need to be investigated.
• EL - This makes it unlikely that brain waves would be used for diagnosis in this
way.
Brain and Neuropsychology - The
James-Lange Theory of Emotion
A01 - knowledge
• Physiological arousal comes first and emotion after.
• An event causes physiological (bodily) arousal in the following process:
1) Hypothalamus arouses the sympathetic division of the ANS.
2) Adrenaline is released and creates physiological arousal (heart rate
increased, etc., i.e. fight or flight response).
• Brain interprets the physiological activity and this causes emotions, e.g. fear,
excitement, love.
o For example, seeing a bear in a forest activates the sympathetic division.
The muscles tense and the heart pounds. These physiological changes
interpreted as fear. Person runs away.
• No physical changes = no emotion
o For example, if you stood in front of your class and your heart rate didn’t
increase, then you do not feel scared because there were no
physiological changes.

A03 – evaluation

• P - A strength of the theory is real-life examples.

• EX - A fear of public situations (phobia) can develop as a result of the anxiety
(emotion) created from falling down in public.
• EL - This shows that emotional responses such as fear are a result of
physiological arousal like increased heart rate.

• P - A weakness is that the theory is challenged by the Cannon–Bard theory.

• EX - We experience some emotions (e.g. embarrassment) at the same time as
physiological arousal and not one after the other.
• EL - Therefore this theory can explain emotional situations that the James–Lange
theory cannot.

• P - A weakness is that the theory is challenged by the two-factor theory.

• EX – This theory says we need arousal plus social cues to correctly label the
emotion we are feeling.
• EL - Therefore the James–Lange theory does not explain how a person ‘decides’
what emotion they are experiencing.
Brain and Neuropsychology –
Hebb’s theory of neuronal growth
A01 - knowledge
• The brain is plastic - The brain is just like a muscle, the more we use it the
more it grows and becomes stronger.
• The brain adapts - The brain changes structure and connections in response
to new experiences (= learning). Any learning – at any age – will do this.
Neuronal growth - when we learn we either form new synaptic connections,
or the connections between neurons become stronger.
• Learning produces an engram - Learning leaves a trace (engram). This can
be made permanent if we practise and rehearse what we are learning.
• Cell assemblies and neuronal growth - Cell assemblies are groups of
neurons that fire together. The more they fire, the more the synaptic
connections grow and strengthen. Neuronal growth occurs as the cell
assemblies rewire to manage new learning.

A03 – evaluation

• P - A strength of Hebb’s theory is that it is scientific.

• EX - Hebb explained learning in terms of brain function which provided an
objective basis for understanding behaviour.
• EL - This shows that learning can be studied through brain processes.

• P - A strength of Hebb’s theory is it can be applied to education.

• EX - He found that rats raised in stimulating settings were better able to find
their way through mazes as adults.
• EL - This could be applied to education by creating more stimulating
environments to encourage learning.

• P - A weakness with Hebb’s theory is that it reduces learning to a neuronal

level.
• EX - This means that other levels of understanding are ignored, such as
Piaget’s ideas about how accommodation moves learning forwards.
• EL - This is an issue as a more complete account of learning would discuss
non-biological factors as well.
Language – Piaget’s theory:
Language depends on thought
A01 - knowledge
• We learn by developing schemas about the world.
• Language depends on thought - Thought and understanding comes first,
language develops after.
• Children develop language by matching the correct word to their knowledge.
• Children only understand words when they have reached the correct stage of
development and are ready. They can have language without understanding
but will not be able to use it effectively.
• The development of language:
• Sensorimotor stage: Children speak towards the end of their first year.
• Pre-operational stage: From 2 years they talk about things not present.
• Concrete operational stage: By 7 children’s language becomes mature and
logical as they question things and create their own ideas.
• Formal operational stage: talk about more abstract and theoretical ideas
such as the views of others. They begin to question, criticise and come up
with ideas of their own.

A03 – evaluation
• P - A strength is that early language is not random.
• EX – Early language is usually about how objects relate to each other, e.g. two-
word phrases like ‘Mummy sock’.
• EL - This suggests that children only start to use language when they have
some understanding of it.

• P - A weakness is the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis challenges Piaget.

• EX - It states that language comes before thought as people need a word or
phrase for an object in order to think about it.
• EL - This suggests that Piaget may have been wrong.

• P - Another weakness is that schema cannot be scientifically measured.

• EX - It is very difficult to know if schema exist as we cannot directly measure
them.
• EL - This shows that Piaget’s theory of language and thought is not based on
solid scientific evidence.
 Language – The Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis: thinking depends on
language
A01 - knowledge
• Language comes first and thought afterwards.
• There are two versions of the hypothesis:
• The strong version: language determines thought If there are no words for a
thought, object or idea then you can’t think about it. (This is why it is difficult to
translate ideas from one language to another.)
• The weak version: Language influences the way in which people think about
things, but it does not completely determine what they think.
• The weaker version preferred globally, which the understanding that if the words we
have for a concept or idea are limited, our ability to notice or recall that idea will be
limited.

A03 – evaluation
• P - A weakness is that differences between cultures may have been exaggerated by
research.
• EX - There are really only two words for snow in Inuit culture and actually English has
other words for different types of snow.
• EL - This shows that the differences aren’t that great and challenges the conclusion
that language may determine thought.

• P - Another weakness is that having more words for snow doesn’t mean the words
came first.
• EX - The Inuit language may have more words for snow because there is always lots
of snow.
• EL - This suggests that language develops because of the way we perceive our
environment, which supports Piaget’s view that thinking influences language.

• P - A strength is that the hypothesis explains the link between language and
intelligence.
• EX - Research suggested that working-class children will always fall behind in
school because their use of the restricted code will have a negative effect on their
ability to think.
• EL - This shows that language influences a particular type of thinking (intelligence).
Language – Darwin’s Evolutionary
Theory of Non-Verbal Communication

A01 - knowledge
• Darwin and evolution - natural selection: the genes for any behaviour that
improves an animal’s chances of survival and reproduction are more likely to
be passed to the next generation.
• Non-verbal communication as evolved and adaptive (it helps protect survival
of species). It has evolved in animals as a way to express emotion. E.g. Baring
teeth in a fight causes an animal to get scared and leave, and therefore both
animals in the fight are more likely to survive.
• Serviceable habits - Behaviours that were adaptive to our distant ancestors
(such as wrinkling the nose and baring teeth). These behaviours continue to be
in use to show how we feel but may not serve the original adaptive purpose.
These can be seen in both animals and humans.

A03 – evaluation
• P - A strength is that the theory is supported by research.
• EX – Research identified 6 primary emotions: surprise, fear, disgust, anger,
happiness and sadness that are found in all people.
• EL - If a behaviour is universal this suggests that it is in our genes and therefore
Ekman’s evidence supports Darwin’s evolutionary theory.

• P - Another strength is that there is further support from studies of newborn

babies.
• EL - Babies are born with the ability to smile or maintain eye contact which
suggests that, because these behaviours are present at birth, they are innate.
• EX - If these behaviours are innate this supports the idea that they have been
selected by evolution to help the child’s survival.

• P - A weakness is that Darwin’s theory struggles to explain cultural differences

in non-verbal communication.
• EX - Personal space and gestures are expressed in different ways in different
cultures which suggests we are not biologically the same.
• EL - This suggests the theory doesn’t explain all non-verbal communication.
Social influence – Milgram’s
agency theory of obedience
A01 - knowledge
• Obedience can be explained in terms of social factors.
• Agency:
• Agentic state: Person acts as an agent for an authority figure and have no
personal responsibility for their actions.
• Autonomous state: Person makes their own free choices and feels
responsible for their own actions.
• Agentic shift - the change from autonomous to an agentic state. The shift
occurs when a person see someone else as a figure of authority.
• Culture – the social hierarchy. Societies have a hierarchy with some people having
more authority than others. This hierarchy is agreed on by society. The culture we
live in socialises us to respect the social hierarchy.
• Proximity (distance between person and authority figure) - In Milgram’s additional
studies, if the authority figure gave instructions over the phone obedience fell to
20% compared to 65% if they were in the same room.

A03 – evaluation
• P - One strength is that there is research support.
• EX – researchers showed a film of Milgram’s study to students and asked who was
to blame. Students blamed the 'experimenter' rather than the ‘teacher’
(participant) for the harm to the learner.
• EL - Therefore the students recognised the legitimate authority of the
experimenter as the cause of obedience.

• P - One weakness is that agency theory can’t explain why there isn’t 100%
obedience.
• EX - In Milgram’s study 35% of the participants didn’t go up to the maximum shock
of 450 volts.
• EL - This means that social factors cannot fully explain obedience.

• P - One weakness is that agency theory gives people an excuse for ‘blind’
obedience.
• EX – the theory allows people to displace blame for negative actions onto others.
• EL – This is bad because this means that agency theory is potentially dangerous
as it excuses harmful behaviours.
Social influence – Adorno’s theory
of the Authoritarian Personality
A01 - knowledge
• Obedience can be explained in terms of disposition (personality).
• The authoritarian personality qualities:
• An exaggerated respect for authority.
• More likely to obey orders and look down on people of inferior status.
• ‘Black and white’, rigid style of thinking.
• They believe in stereotypes and do not like change.
• Originates from overly strict parenting and receiving only conditional love
from parents.
• Child identifies with parents’ moral values but also feels hostility towards
parents which cannot be directly expressed for fear of reprisals. People
who have hostility displace this onto others who are socially inferior in a
process called scapegoating.

A03 – evaluation

• P - One weakness is that the theory was based on a flawed questionnaire.

• EX - The F-scale used had a response bias as anyone who answered yes would
end up with a higher authoritarian score.
• EL - This challenges the validity of the theory because it is based on poor
evidence.

• P - One weakness is that the evidence is based on correlational data.

• EX - We cannot claim that an authoritarian personality causes greater
obedience levels as there may be extraneous variables involved.
• EL – This questions the validity of the data supporting the theory.

• P - The authoritarian personality cannot explain all cases of obedience.

• EX - Millions of Germans displayed highly obedient and prejudiced behaviour
but didn’t have the same upbringing and same personality.
• EL - This means that there are probably social factors that affect obedience as
well as dispositional ones.