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AQA GCSE Psychology revision notes

Concise notes per spec point, written in plain English with worked examples. AI-generated, admin-verified.

  1. P1Paper 1 — Cognition and Behaviour
  2. P1.DDevelopment
  3. P1.D.1Early brain development: roles of the brain stem, thalamus, cerebellum and cortex; nature and nurture in development
  4. P1.D.2Piaget's stage theory of cognitive development: schemas, assimilation, accommodation, equilibrium and the four stages (sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, formal operational)
  5. P1.D.3Piagetian research: conservation, egocentrism (three mountains task) and class inclusion
  6. P1.D.4The application of Piaget's theory to education: readiness, discovery learning and key issues for the classroom
  7. P1.D.5Dweck's mindset theory: fixed vs growth mindset, praise, effort and persistence
  8. P1.D.6Willingham's learning theory: critique of learning styles and the role of meaning, neuromyths and effective teaching
  9. P1.MMemory
  10. P1.M.1Processes of memory: encoding (acoustic, visual, semantic), storage and retrieval
  11. P1.M.2Structures of memory: sensory register, short-term and long-term memory; capacity, duration and encoding
  12. P1.M.3Memory as an active process: Bartlett's War of the Ghosts study and theory of reconstructive memory
  13. P1.M.4The multi-store model of memory (Atkinson and Shiffrin) and its evaluation
  14. P1.M.5Primacy and recency effects in recall; Murdock's serial position curve study
  15. P1.M.6Interference and context as factors affecting accuracy of memory
  16. P1.PPerception
  17. P1.P.1Sensation versus perception; the role of the visual system
  18. P1.P.2Visual cues and constancies: monocular depth cues (height in plane, relative size, occlusion, linear perspective) and binocular depth cues (retinal disparity, convergence)
  19. P1.P.3Gibson's direct theory of perception, including the role of motion parallax and optic flow
  20. P1.P.4Visual illusions: types (ambiguous, fiction, distortion) with examples (Necker cube, Kanizsa triangle, Ponzo, Müller-Lyer, Rubin's vase)
  21. P1.P.5Gregory's constructivist theory of perception and the role of inference
  22. P1.P.6Factors affecting perception: culture, motivation, emotion and expectation; Gilchrist and Nesberg study; Bruner and Minturn study
  23. P1.RResearch methods
  24. P1.R.1Formulation of testable hypotheses, including null and alternative hypotheses; identifying independent and dependent variables
  25. P1.R.2Sampling methods: random, opportunity, systematic, stratified — strengths, weaknesses and how to apply
  26. P1.R.3Variables and how they are operationalised; control of extraneous variables
  27. P1.R.4Experimental designs: independent groups, repeated measures, matched pairs — strengths and weaknesses
  28. P1.R.5Non-experimental methods: observation (naturalistic, controlled, covert/overt, participant), interviews and questionnaires (open and closed questions), case studies and correlations
  29. P1.R.6Planning research: pilot studies, ethics (BPS code: consent, deception, withdrawal, protection, confidentiality, debriefing) and dealing with ethical issues
  30. P1.R.7Data handling: quantitative vs qualitative, primary vs secondary data; measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode) and dispersion (range)
  31. P1.R.8Presentation of data: tables, bar charts, histograms, scatter diagrams; types of correlation and how to read them
  32. P1.R.9Computation: percentages, fractions, decimals, ratios, significant figures, scientific notation and order of magnitude
  33. P2Paper 2 — Social Context and Behaviour
  34. P2.BBrain and neuropsychology
  35. P2.B.1Structure and function of the nervous system: central and peripheral nervous systems, somatic and autonomic divisions; the fight-or-flight response and the role of adrenaline
  36. P2.B.2Neurons and synapses: structure and function of sensory, relay and motor neurons; synaptic transmission and the role of neurotransmitters
  37. P2.B.3Hebb's theory of learning and neural plasticity; the formation of cell assemblies
  38. P2.B.4Localisation of function in the brain: motor, somatosensory, visual, auditory and language (Broca's and Wernicke's areas) centres; lateralisation
  39. P2.B.5Methods of studying the brain: post-mortem, CT, PET and fMRI scans — strengths and limitations of each
  40. P2.B.6Neurological damage: case studies of cognitive neuroscience (e.g. effects of stroke, Phineas Gage); cognitive neuroscience as a discipline
  41. P2.LLanguage, thought and communication
  42. P2.L.1The relationship between language and thought: Piaget's view (thought precedes language) vs the linguistic relativity hypothesis (Sapir–Whorf)
  43. P2.L.2Variations in recall of events and recognition of colours as linked to language (the Inuit snow vocabulary debate, the Zuñi colour study)
  44. P2.L.3Differences between human and animal communication: Von Frisch's bee study and the limits of animal language
  45. P2.L.4Non-verbal communication: functions of body language, eye contact, facial expression, posture and gesture; personal space (Hall)
  46. P2.L.5Explanations of non-verbal behaviour: the evolutionary view (Darwin, Yuki et al. on cross-cultural facial expressions) versus the learned/cultural view
  47. P2.L.6Application: detecting deception and use of body language in interviews and policing
  48. P2.PSPsychological problems
  49. P2.PS.1How mental health affects individuals and society: increasing challenges and modern lifestyles; stigma
  50. P2.PS.2Characteristics of clinical depression (unipolar) and the ICD criteria (low mood, loss of interest, sleep changes etc.)
  51. P2.PS.3Theories of depression: biological (genetic vulnerability and the role of serotonin) and psychological (negative schemas and attributions; learned helplessness)
  52. P2.PS.4Interventions for depression: antidepressants (SSRIs) and CBT — how they work and effectiveness
  53. P2.PS.5Characteristics of addiction; substance and behavioural addictions; ICD criteria
  54. P2.PS.6Theories of addiction: Kaij's twin studies and the genetic vulnerability hypothesis; Peer Pressure (learning theory) and the role of social influence
  55. P2.PS.7Interventions for addiction: aversion therapy and self-management programmes (e.g. AA), and their evaluation
  56. P2.SSocial influence
  57. P2.S.1Conformity: majority influence; Asch's line study and variations (group size, unanimity, task difficulty); normative and informational social influence
  58. P2.S.2Obedience: Milgram's agency theory; the legitimate authority and agentic state; the role of buffers and proximity
  59. P2.S.3Bickman's study of obedience and the effect of uniform
  60. P2.S.4Dispositional factors in obedience: the authoritarian personality (Adorno) and the F-scale
  61. P2.S.5Prosocial behaviour and bystander intervention: Piliavin's subway study; the cost-reward model and arousal
  62. P2.S.6Crowd and collective behaviour: deindividuation, social loafing and de-individuation effects in real-world settings