Summary IB Psychology Paper 1 sample answers for All
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Course
IB Psychology Paper 1
Institution
Sixth Year / 12th Grade
Contains sample SAQ answers for all topics in the Cognitive, Biological, and Sociocultural Approach, as well as sample ERQ answers for the Cognitive Approach.
Schemas are mental representations that are derived from prior knowledge and
experiences. They organize our knowledge, assist recall, and guide our behaviour
to understand current experiences and to predict what will happen based on what
has happened before. The schema theory was first proposed by Frederic Bartlett
and suggests that humans process incoming information, integrate it with
existing knowledge, and recall and use this information when needed, based on
the assumption that humans are active information processors. If information is
missing, it is filled in with existing schemas, and hence we are prone to memory
distortion and errors in decision-making.
Evaluation of schema theory: Schema theory is testable. This is seen in the
studies by Bartlett and by Brewer & Treyens. There is also biological research to
support the way in which the brain categorizes input. For example, Mahon et al
(2009) found that from the visual cortex, information about living and non-living
objects is shuttled to different parts of the brain - even in blind participants.
These findings suggest that our brains automatically sort information and classify
it, in the same manner which schema theory predicts. Schema theory has been
applied to help us understand how memory works. It also helps us to understand
memory distortion. Schema theory has also been applied to abnormal
psychology, relationships, and in health psychology. It is a robust theory that has
many applications across many fields of psychology. Cohen (1993) argued that
the concept of schema is too vague and hypothetical to be useful. Schema cannot
be observed. Schema theory is applied across cultures. There is no apparent bias
in the research, although most of the early research was done in the West. The
theory helps to predict behaviour. We can predict, for example, what types of
information will be best recalled when given a list of words. Trends, such as
omitting information that is not of high relevance to the individual, are
commonly seen in individuals recalling a news story. However, we cannot predict
exactly what an individual will recall.
Studies:
1. Frederic Bartlett - War of Ghosts (1932):
The aim of the study was to identify how memory of a story is affected by prior
knowledge and how cultural background and unfamiliarity with a text would lead
to distortion of memory when the story was recalled. Bartlett told the participants
a Native American story called ‘The War of Ghosts’. The participants in the study
,were British and were allocated to 2 conditions, either serial reproduction,
wherein they would have to reproduce the study to another participant who
reproduces it to another participant and so forth, or repeated reproduction,
wherein the participant reproduces the story after a short time, and then
repeatedly over a period of days, weeks, months, or years. The results showed
that participants changed the story as they recalled the story due to distortion of
3 forms - assimilation, where the story was changed to fit the cultural context of
the participants, leveling, where the story was shortened and unimportant details
were omitted, and sharpening, where the order of the story was changed using
more familiar terms. The overall themes of the story remained coherent, although
unfamiliar elements were changed to match the cultural context of the
participants. Bartletts study showed that memory is reconstructive, and that
people store and retrieve information according to expectations formed by
cultural schemas, resulting in distortion of memory.
Strengths - The results have ecological validity despite the experiment being
conducted in an artificial situation as remembering and repeating what you have
read is a natural activity observed in daily life. The theory explains real-life
situations of 2 people being at the same event and remembering different things.
Limitations - Few controls in the study even though it is an experiment. The
details of the exact methodology is also unclear and makes it hard to replicate the
experiment.
2. Brewer and Treyens - Office experiment (1981):
The aim of the study was to study the role of schemas in encoding and retrieval of
memory by seeing how well people could recall items in the office. 86 university
students were asked to sit in a room resembling an office for 35 seconds. The
room contained items typical of an office such as paper and a typewriter, as well
as items atypical of an office such as a skull and toy top. The participants were
then taken into another room and were asked to write down the whatever they
would recall. They were split into 3 different conditions - the recall condition,
wherein they wrote a description of as many objects they remembered, the
drawing condition, where they were given an outline of the room and asked to
draw items they remembered, and the verbal condition, where they were read a
list of items and asked if they were in the room or not. When participants were
asked to recall by writing or drawing, they were likely to remember items that
were congruent to their schemas, while items that were incongruent were
forgotten. Participants in the verbal condition were more likely to identify
unexpected items and items from their schema that were not in the room. This
supports schema and reconstructive theory as it shows that schematic objects
that were present and not present were more likely to be remembered as new
,memory is connected to prior knowledge and information, which led to memory
distortion when recalling.
Strengths - Participants were debriefed about the deception used at the end of the
experiment and were not subject to undue stress or harm. The experiment also
supports schema theory and reconstructive theory of memory.
Weaknesses - The study has low ecological validity as it is a laboratory
experiment. There is also sampling bias as university students were used and
hence the results cannot be generalized to a larger population.
Critical thinking: While schema theory provides robust explanations for other
cognitive theories, there is no biological support for this as schemas are not
observable through scans and cannot be studied based on their structure. They
also have no predictive value as they operate at the internal cognitive level and we
do not have access to the schemas of others. Also, schema theory does not explain
why we are able to study new, unfamiliar schema-incongruent information
sometimes. Much of the research conducted into schema theory has been in
Western countries, potentially limiting its applicability. Nevertheless, schema
theory has a lot of empirical support that validates it and the research generated
from the application of this theory has helped understand behavior and other
cognitive processes. The theory seems quite useful for understanding how people
categorize information, interpret information and make inferences. Schema
theory has contributed to our understanding of memory distortions and false
memories.
Overall, schemas provide a mental framework for understanding and interpreting
information and the world around us. Schema theory shows how the encoding,
storage, and retrieval of memories are susceptible to distortion and errors due to
the influence of existing schemas and cultural context. Thus, the knowledge we
learn is based on what we know because of the existence of schemas.
Models of memory: Multi-store model of memory:
One model of memory is the multi-store model proposed by Atkinson and
Shiffrin in 1968, based on the idea that humans are information processors. The
model suggests that memory can be sorted into sensory, short-term, and long-
term. Sensory information from the environment enters sensory memory, which
is modality specific. Only a small amount of information then continues into the
short-term memory store. If the information is paid attention to or rehearsed, it
passes into the long-term store which has unlimited capacity, otherwise it will be
permanently forgotten. The information moves from long-term memory back
into short-term memory so that it can be used when recalled.
, Evaluation: There is significant research to support the theory of separate
memory stores (example: case studies of patients with brain damage). Mode is
over-simplified (assumes each store works as an independent unit). The model
does not explain memory distortion or why some things may be learned with a
minimal amount of rehearsal. Several times that we rehearse a lot to remember
material, but it is not transferred to long-term memory.
Studies:
1. Glanzer and Cunitz (1966):
The aim of the study was to investigate primacy and recency effect in free recall.
They presented 2 groups of participants with lists of 15 words one at a time and
had them recall the words under one of the 2 conditions - recall with no delay and
recall with a 30-second delay. The participants in the group with a 30 second
delay has to count backwards in threes in order to prevent rehearsal. Both groups
could free recall the words in any order. The results showed that in the group
with no delay, the first 5 and last 3 words were recalled best, but in the group
with a 30-second delay, only a few words from the start of the list were recalled.
The results suggest that words from the start of the list were rehearsed and sent
into long-term memory known as the primacy effect, and hence the participants
were able to recall those words best. The participants with no delay were able to
recall the last few words as they were still in the short-term memory which
contains information for 6-12 seconds, known as the recency effect. The study
shows that unless the information is rehearsed, it will not transfer into the long-
term memory and it will be forgotten, and more recent words remain in short-
term memory, showing that there are different memory stores.
Strengths - The primacy and recency effect support Atkinson and Shiffrin's multi-
store memory model by suggesting two separate stores for STM and LTM.
Limitations - The participants were all adult males and hence the results cannot
be generalized to a huge population.
Models of memory: Working memory model:
One model of memory is the working model of memory proposed by Baddeley
and Hitch in 1974. It focuses on the short-term memory store and develops on
the multi-store model by suggesting that the short-term memory store is complex
and can be broken down into several components. The model proposes that as
long as we are using different short-term memory stores, multi-tasking should be
possible, however, when conducting 2 different tasks using the same memory
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