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EnglandPsychology

Topic 2: Memory

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

What are the different types of memory and what happens when memory is damaged?

Features of short-term and long-term memory and types of amnesia: retrograde and anterograde amnesia, and what they show about memory.
A focused answer to Edexcel GCSE Psychology Topic 2, covering the features of short-term and long-term memory and the two types of amnesia (retrograde and anterograde) and what they reveal about memory.
9 min answer →

What did Bartlett and Peterson and Peterson discover about memory?

Core studies: Bartlett (1932) War of the Ghosts and Peterson and Peterson (1959) on short-term memory duration, including their aims, methods, results, conclusions and evaluation, and the reductionism-holism debate.
A focused answer to the Edexcel GCSE Psychology Topic 2 core studies: Bartlett (1932) War of the Ghosts and Peterson and Peterson (1959) on short-term memory, with aim, method, results, conclusion, evaluation and the reductionism-holism debate.
11 min answer →

How does the multi-store model explain the flow of information through memory?

The multi-store model of memory (Atkinson and Shiffrin): the sensory register, short-term and long-term memory, the roles of attention and rehearsal, and an evaluation of the model.
A focused answer to Edexcel GCSE Psychology Topic 2, covering the multi-store model of memory (Atkinson and Shiffrin): the sensory register, short-term and long-term memory, attention and rehearsal, and an evaluation.
10 min answer →

Why is memory not always an accurate recording of events?

The theory of reconstructive memory (Bartlett): schemas, the active reconstruction of memory, and how this leads to distortion of recall.
A focused answer to Edexcel GCSE Psychology Topic 2, covering Bartlett's theory of reconstructive memory: schemas, the active reconstruction of memories and how recall becomes distorted.
9 min answer →

What are the basic structures and processes of human memory?

The structure and process of memory: encoding, storage and retrieval, and the features of short-term and long-term memory (capacity, duration and encoding).
A focused answer to Edexcel GCSE Psychology Topic 2, covering the structure and process of memory (encoding, storage and retrieval) and the capacity, duration and encoding of short-term and long-term memory.
9 min answer →