AQA A-Level Psychology
2026 Intelligence
Briefing

Baddeley & Hitch (1974) proposed the Working Memory Model (WMM) as an alternative to Atkinson & Shiffrin's unitary short-term memory store. The WMM proposed a multicomponent system for processing and temporarily storing information. The Central Executive is the primary control mechanism — an attentional system of limited capacity that coordinates the two slave systems and connects to long-term memory; it cannot itself store information. The Phonological Loop stores sound-based information and comprises two sub-components: the phonological store (the "inner ear" — holds speech sounds for 1–2 seconds) and the articulatory rehearsal process (the "inner voice" — refreshes the phonological store through subvocal repetition). The Visuospatial Sketchpad (the "inner eye") stores and manipulates visual and spatial information, with capacity of approximately 3–4 chunks. Baddeley (2000) added the Episodic Buffer — a limited-capacity temporary store that integrates information from the phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, and long-term memory into episodes, and explains how WMM interfaces with long-term memory.

John Bowlby's (1969) monotropic theory of attachment proposed that infants have an innate biological drive to form a strong emotional bond with one primary caregiver — a process he termed monotropy. This primary attachment relationship is qualitatively different from other attachments and acts as a prototype for all subsequent relationships through the development of an internal working model (IWM) — a cognitive schema of the self, others, and relationships that guides future social behaviour. Bowlby proposed a critical period for attachment formation (approximately 6 months to 2.5 years) — if no attachment is formed within this period, the child will suffer permanent developmental harm. He also proposed the continuity hypothesis: the quality of early attachment predicts the quality of later relationships. His 1944 study of 44 juvenile thieves found that those diagnosed as "affectionless psychopaths" were disproportionately likely to have experienced early maternal deprivation — supporting the causal claim that early attachment disruption produces permanent emotional damage.

The behavioural explanation for phobias centres on Mowrer's (1947) two-process model, which combines classical and operant conditioning. In the first process, phobias are acquired through classical conditioning: a neutral stimulus (NS) becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) that naturally produces fear. Following repeated pairing, the NS becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) that produces a conditioned fear response (CR) independently. Watson & Raynor's (1920) "Little Albert" experiment demonstrated this — an 11-month-old infant was conditioned to fear a white rat by pairing it with a loud noise (UCS). In the second process, phobias are maintained through operant conditioning: the phobic individual avoids the feared stimulus, which reduces anxiety (negative reinforcement), thereby strengthening the avoidance behaviour. Treatment follows directly from the explanation: systematic desensitisation (SD) (Wolpe, 1958) pairs relaxation with graduated exposure through a fear hierarchy, using counter-conditioning to replace the fear response with relaxation. Flooding involves immediate intense exposure to the phobic stimulus until anxiety reduces naturally through extinction.

The biological approach assumes that human behaviour, thought, and emotion have physiological causes rooted in genetics, neurochemistry, brain structure, and the evolutionary history of the species. Key assumptions include: (1) genetic inheritance — behaviour is influenced by genes inherited from parents; twin studies are used to estimate heritability; (2) neurochemistry — behaviour is mediated by neurotransmitters (serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline) and hormones (cortisol, testosterone); (3) brain structure and localisation — specific brain regions are associated with specific functions (amygdala → fear, prefrontal cortex → decision-making); and (4) evolutionary psychology — behaviours are adaptive if they contributed to reproductive success in ancestral environments. The biological approach is strongly deterministic — behaviour is caused by factors outside conscious control — and reductionist — complex behaviour is explained by reference to simpler biological mechanisms.

The nature-nurture debate concerns the relative contributions of genetic/biological factors (nature) versus environmental/experiential factors (nurture) to the development of human behaviour, personality, and psychological characteristics. Nature positions include the biological approach (behaviour determined by genes and neurobiology), nativism (some psychological capacities are innate — language acquisition device: Chomsky), and evolutionary psychology (behaviour shaped by natural selection). Nurture positions include behaviourism (all behaviour is learnt through conditioning — Skinner's "blank slate"), social learning theory (learning through observation — Bandura), and the humanistic approach (personal development through experience and self-actualisation). Contemporary psychology largely rejects the polarised dichotomy in favour of interactionist positions: the diathesis-stress model (biological vulnerability activated by environmental stress — relevant to schizophrenia, depression), epigenetics (environmental experience modifies gene expression), and Bandura's reciprocal determinism (person, behaviour, and environment mutually influence each other).

Biological explanations for schizophrenia focus on two primary mechanisms: genetic factors and neurochemical abnormality. Genetic research uses family, twin, and adoption studies to establish heritability. Gottesman (1991) compiled concordance data across 40+ years: MZ twins show approximately 48% concordance, DZ twins approximately 17%, and first-degree relatives approximately 10% — all significantly above the 1% population baseline. The dopamine hypothesis proposes that schizophrenic symptoms result from dopamine dysregulation. The original hypothesis (Crow, 1980) attributed positive symptoms (hallucinations, delusions) to excess dopamine activity in the mesolimbic pathway. The revised dopamine hypothesis (Davis et al., 1991) proposed a more nuanced picture: excess dopamine activity in the mesolimbic pathway underlies positive symptoms, while insufficient dopamine activity in the mesocortical pathway (prefrontal cortex) underlies negative symptoms (poverty of speech, flat affect, avolition). Supporting evidence includes: antipsychotic drugs that block D2 receptors reduce positive symptoms; L-DOPA (increases dopamine) can cause schizophrenia-like symptoms in Parkinson's patients; amphetamine (releases dopamine) produces temporary psychosis in healthy individuals.

Social Learning Theory (SLT), developed by Albert Bandura, proposes that aggression is learnt through observational learning — the process of watching others (models) behave aggressively, encoding that behaviour, and reproducing it when conditions are appropriate. Four key processes mediate between observation and imitation: attention (noticing the model's behaviour), retention (encoding the behaviour in memory), reproduction (having the physical capacity to perform the behaviour), and motivation (anticipating that performing the behaviour will produce similar outcomes to those observed). Vicarious reinforcement is central — if the model is seen to be rewarded for aggression (or unpunished), the observer is more likely to imitate; if punished, less likely. The learner develops self-efficacy beliefs — subjective confidence in their ability to perform the behaviour — which also influence whether observed aggression is translated into action. Bandura et al.'s (1961, 1963) Bobo doll studies provide the foundational evidence: children aged 3–5 who observed an adult model behaving aggressively toward an inflatable Bobo doll subsequently showed significantly more aggressive behaviour toward the doll than children in non-aggressive model or control conditions. Verbal as well as physical aggression was imitated, and filmed models were as effective as live models.