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Working memory training is where people repeatedly practise increasingly difficult working memory tasks to attempt to improve their cognitive performance - AQA - A-Level Psychology - Question 1 - 2019 - Paper 3

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Working memory training is where people repeatedly practise increasingly difficult working memory tasks to attempt to improve their cognitive performance. Researcher... show full transcript

Worked Solution & Example Answer:Working memory training is where people repeatedly practise increasingly difficult working memory tasks to attempt to improve their cognitive performance - AQA - A-Level Psychology - Question 1 - 2019 - Paper 3

Step 1

State a fully operationalised directional (one-tailed) experimental hypothesis for the working memory training study.

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Answer

Participants in the working memory training group will recognise more words out of 20 than participants who had no working memory training.

Step 2

State which level of measurement the number of words correctly recognised (out of 20) for each participant would be in the working memory training study.

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Answer

The number of words correctly recognised out of 20 is at the interval/ratio level of measurement.

Step 3

Explain two strengths of using a laboratory experiment for the working memory training study.

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  1. The laboratory setting enhances internal validity since it allows researchers to control extraneous variables that could affect the participants' performance.
  2. A standardised procedure ensures reliability, as all participants receive the same instructions and conditions during the experiment.

Step 4

Explain two conclusions that could be made using the data in Table 1.

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Answer

  1. Working memory training led to a decrease in performance on the recognition task at the end of the study, as indicated by the mean score dropping from 13.3 to 10.7 out of 20.
  2. The control group saw a slight improvement in mean scores, increasing from 11.9 to 12.1, suggesting that the lack of training may have allowed for natural memory development over time.

Step 5

Draw a histogram to display the data in Table 2.

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Answer

A histogram showing the frequency distribution of participants in the working memory training group for recognition of words should have labeled axes for 'Number of words recognised' and 'Frequency', and appropriate bars to represent the given data points.

Step 6

Interpret the histogram you have drawn for (e) (i).

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Answer

The histogram indicates a positive skew, as most participants scored in the range of 6 to 10 words recognised. There are fewer participants in the higher scoring ranges (11-15 and 16-20), indicating that while many improved, the top scores were less frequent.

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