A Level
A Level Psychology Short Paper A
Covers Conformity and Minority Influence, Obedience and Social Change, Memory Models and Multi-Store Memory and 3 more.
Questions
Question 1 [2 marks]
Conformity and Minority Influence
Define informational social influence (ISI) as an explanation for conformity.
Give one example of a situation where ISI might lead someone to conform.
Question 2 [3 marks]
Explanations of Attachment and Cultural Variations
Outline the 'critical period' as proposed by Bowlby's theory of attachment.
Question 3 [3 marks]
Conformity and Minority Influence
Ben joins a debate society where every member confidently argues that the school day should start later.
Ben has never thought about this issue before, but after a few meetings he starts to agree.
Using Ben's example, explain how compliance might account for his change in opinion.
Question 4 [4 marks]
Caregiver-Infant Interactions and Attachment Types
State two features of insecure-resistant attachment as identified in the Strange Situation.
Question 5 [4 marks]
Memory Models and Multi-Store Memory
Explain the role of the visuo-spatial sketchpad and the episodic buffer in the working memory model.
Question 6 [4 marks]
Eyewitness Testimony and Forgetting
Tariq revised for his exam while listening to a particular playlist of music, and struggles to recall some answers when sitting the exam in silence, but later remembers those same answers easily as soon as he plays the same playlist again at home.
Use your knowledge of cue-dependent forgetting to explain Tariq's experience.
Question 7 [4 marks]
Obedience and Social Change
Explain how legitimacy of authority can account for obedience, using an example to support your answer.
Question 8 [4 marks]
Caregiver-Infant Interactions and Attachment Types
Explain two features of a securely attached infant, as identified in Ainsworth's Strange Situation.
Question 9 [6 marks]
Obedience and Social Change
Discuss the agentic state and legitimacy of authority as explanations of obedience, considering how well they work together as a fuller account.
Question 10 [6 marks]
Caregiver-Infant Interactions and Attachment Types
Discuss research into the role of the father in attachment.
Model solutions
| Question 1[2 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying ISI as conforming because we believe others have more knowledge/information and are more likely to be right, especially in an ambiguous or novel situation | 1 |
| a suitable example, e.g. following the crowd out of a building when an alarm sounds because you assume they know there is a real emergency | 1 |
| Final answer: ISI is conforming because we believe others have better information and are more likely to be right, e.g. following others out of a building during an alarm because you assume they know it is a real emergency. | |
| Question 2[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying the critical period as a specific, limited window of time in early development | 1 |
| stating that attachment must form within this period, around the first two and a half years, or it may not form/be more difficult | 1 |
| noting the idea has since been softened to a 'sensitive period', where attachment is merely more likely rather than only possible in this window | 1 |
| Final answer: Bowlby proposed a critical, later softened to sensitive, period of around the first two and a half years, in which attachment must, or is most likely to, form. | |
| Question 3[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying compliance as a public, temporary change in behaviour/opinion without private acceptance | 1 |
| applying this to Ben, who goes along with the group's view to fit in and avoid standing out | 1 |
| noting the change is likely to be superficial and may not persist once Ben leaves the group | 1 |
| Final answer: Compliance is public agreement without private belief change; Ben may just go along with the group to avoid disapproval, and could revert once away from them. | |
| Question 4[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying high stranger anxiety as a feature of insecure-resistant attachment | 1 |
| elaborating that the infant is highly distressed by the presence of a stranger | 1 |
| identifying that insecure-resistant infants both seek and resist comfort from the caregiver at reunion | 1 |
| elaborating that the infant may remain difficult to soothe/settle even once comforted | 1 |
| Final answer: Insecure-resistant attachment shows high stranger anxiety and, at reunion, the infant both seeks and resists comfort from the caregiver, often remaining difficult to settle. | |
| Question 5[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying the visuo-spatial sketchpad as a component that processes visual and spatial information | 1 |
| a suitable example, e.g. picturing a route around a familiar building | 1 |
| identifying the episodic buffer as a later-added component that integrates information from the other components | 1 |
| elaborating that the episodic buffer also links working memory to long-term memory | 1 |
| Final answer: The visuo-spatial sketchpad processes visual/spatial information, e.g. picturing a route; the episodic buffer, added later to the model, integrates information from the other components and links working memory to long-term memory. | |
| Question 6[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying that the silent exam environment lacks the external context cue, the playlist, present when Tariq revised | 1 |
| explaining that this mismatch between learning and recall context produces context-dependent forgetting during the exam | 1 |
| identifying that playing the same playlist again reinstates the original context cue | 1 |
| explaining that this reinstated cue then allows successful retrieval, since the information was available all along but temporarily inaccessible | 1 |
| Final answer: The silent exam lacks the playlist context cue present during revision, producing context-dependent forgetting; playing the same playlist again later reinstates that cue, allowing Tariq to retrieve the information, which shows it was available but temporarily inaccessible rather than lost. | |
| Question 7[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying legitimacy of authority: some people are seen as having the right to give orders because of their position in a social hierarchy | 1 |
| elaborating that this is often linked to the perceived power to punish | 1 |
| giving a suitable example, e.g. a police officer, teacher or employer whose instructions are followed because of their role | 1 |
| linking obedience being greatest when the authority figure's legitimacy is clear and consistent with the setting | 1 |
| Final answer: Legitimacy of authority means obedience is given because a person's social position grants them the right to direct behaviour, e.g. obeying a police officer's instruction because of their institutional role. | |
| Question 8[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying moderate stranger anxiety as a feature of secure attachment | 1 |
| elaborating that the infant is wary of the stranger but not extremely distressed | 1 |
| identifying that securely attached infants are easily comforted at reunion | 1 |
| elaborating that they seek proximity to the caregiver on return and settle quickly | 1 |
| Final answer: Secure attachment shows moderate stranger anxiety and is easily comforted at reunion, quickly settling once the caregiver returns. | |
| Question 9[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| outlining the agentic state as acting as an agent for another, with responsibility shifted onto the authority figure | 1 |
| outlining legitimacy of authority as obedience arising because a figure is seen as having the right to direct behaviour due to their social position | 1 |
| explaining how the two work together, e.g. a legitimate authority figure is what triggers the shift into an agentic state in the first place | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. research support for the agentic shift, since Milgram's participants often showed signs of distress consistent with a loss of personal responsibility | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. legitimacy of authority can explain cross-cultural variation in obedience, since respect for authority differs between societies | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. neither explanation fully accounts for individual differences, since not everyone obeys even a legitimate authority figure in an agentic-inducing setting | 1 |
| Final answer: Legitimacy of authority explains why an agentic shift is triggered by a particular figure; together they give a fuller account than either alone, supported by evidence of distress in Milgram-type obedience and cross-cultural variation in respect for authority, though neither fully explains individual differences in resistance. | |
| Question 10[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| outlining that fathers are less likely than mothers to be a primary attachment figure, but can and do form strong attachments | 1 |
| outlining Schaffer and Emerson's finding that most infants formed a secondary attachment to their father within months of the primary attachment | 1 |
| outlining a distinctive role sometimes proposed for fathers, e.g. a more physically playful, stimulating style of interaction | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. research findings are inconsistent about whether fathers have a distinct role, or the same role as mothers when they are the primary caregiver | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. socially sensitive implications, since findings could be used to make judgements about working mothers or single-father families | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. much research relies on correlational or observational methods, making it difficult to establish causal conclusions about the father's specific influence | 1 |
| Final answer: Outline fathers as capable secondary, and sometimes primary, attachment figures, with a possible distinctive, more playful role; evaluate with inconsistent findings across studies, socially sensitive implications, and the correlational nature of most supporting evidence. | |