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Psychology AQA paper 1 memory
WITH COMPLETE SOLUTIONS
GRADED A+
short-term memory - ✔✔Short duration and disapears if not rehearsed and has a
limited capacity
capacity of short term memory - ✔✔Miller suggests that there is a magic number to the
capacity of short term memory that is 7 + or - 2
duration of short term memory - ✔✔Peterson and Peterson used consonant syllables
and prevented verbal rehearsal and found that short term memory lasted 18 seconds
Limitation of capacity or short term memory - ✔✔Jacobs suggested there is a difference
in capacity depending on age suggesting that 7 +/- 2 (miller) is not applicable to all
Limitation of Peterson and Peterson consonants - ✔✔Consonants are not meaningful so
the study may not be representative of real life.
Coding Baddely - ✔✔Found that words that were acoustically similar were
remembered better in the long term memory. Semantically similar words were
remembered better in the short term memory
Katelyn Whitman© 2025, All Rights Reserved.
, 2|Page
Limitation of baddely's coding study - ✔✔The waiting time for long term memory was
only 20 minutes which may mean he didn't test long term memory
The multi-store model - ✔✔Atkinson et al.
Explanation of memory based on three separate memory stores and how information is
transferred between these stores
See paper diagram
Strengths of the multi-store model - ✔✔Brain scans have linked short term memory to
the prefrontal cortex (Beardsley). Linked long term memory to the hippocampus
(squire)
Studies on capacity, duration and coding support that there are different stores for long
and short term memory
Limitations of the multi-store model - ✔✔Too simple as short and long term memory
are not single stores
Long term memory involves a more complex process than maintenance rehearsal
Katelyn Whitman© 2025, All Rights Reserved.
Psychology AQA paper 1 memory
WITH COMPLETE SOLUTIONS
GRADED A+
short-term memory - ✔✔Short duration and disapears if not rehearsed and has a
limited capacity
capacity of short term memory - ✔✔Miller suggests that there is a magic number to the
capacity of short term memory that is 7 + or - 2
duration of short term memory - ✔✔Peterson and Peterson used consonant syllables
and prevented verbal rehearsal and found that short term memory lasted 18 seconds
Limitation of capacity or short term memory - ✔✔Jacobs suggested there is a difference
in capacity depending on age suggesting that 7 +/- 2 (miller) is not applicable to all
Limitation of Peterson and Peterson consonants - ✔✔Consonants are not meaningful so
the study may not be representative of real life.
Coding Baddely - ✔✔Found that words that were acoustically similar were
remembered better in the long term memory. Semantically similar words were
remembered better in the short term memory
Katelyn Whitman© 2025, All Rights Reserved.
, 2|Page
Limitation of baddely's coding study - ✔✔The waiting time for long term memory was
only 20 minutes which may mean he didn't test long term memory
The multi-store model - ✔✔Atkinson et al.
Explanation of memory based on three separate memory stores and how information is
transferred between these stores
See paper diagram
Strengths of the multi-store model - ✔✔Brain scans have linked short term memory to
the prefrontal cortex (Beardsley). Linked long term memory to the hippocampus
(squire)
Studies on capacity, duration and coding support that there are different stores for long
and short term memory
Limitations of the multi-store model - ✔✔Too simple as short and long term memory
are not single stores
Long term memory involves a more complex process than maintenance rehearsal
Katelyn Whitman© 2025, All Rights Reserved.
