12 marks
Describe one result from Gilchrist and Nesberg’s study into the effects of motivation on perception.
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Factors Affecting Perception (AQA GCSE Psychology): Exam Questions
Exam code: 8182
15 mins5 questions
24 marks
Outline one strength and one weakness of Gilchrist and Nesberg’s study into the effects of motivation on perception.
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32 marks
Read the following article.
In a study investigating perceptual set, 40 participants were asked to place their hand in a bucket of water for 10 seconds whilst listening to music. The temperature of the water was the same for each participant. They were asked to give a number between 1 and 50 to report how warm they thought the water was. A score of 1 meant the water felt extremely cold. A score of 50 meant that the water felt extremely hot. There were two conditions of the experiment. All participants completed both conditions. In Condition A, participants listened to a famous song that is associated with winter and Christmas. In Condition B, participants listened to a famous song that is associated with summer and the sunshine. |
Table 1 shows the frequency of reported temperature scores for Condition A. One of the scores is missing.
Table 1
Reported temperature score | Frequency |
|---|---|
1–5 | 6 |
6–10 | |
11–15 | 16 |
16–20 | 1 |
21–25 | 2 |
26–30 | 0 |
31–35 | 2 |
36–40 | 1 |
41–45 | 0 |
46–50 | 1 |
The researcher found that participants in Condition B reported the water felt warmer than participants in Condition A.
Using your knowledge of ‘perceptual set’, outline one conclusion that the researcher could make from these findings.
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44 marks
Bruner and Minturn investigated the effect of expectation on perception.
Describe Bruner and Minturn’s study.
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53 marks
Read the item and then answer the questions that follow.
 A researcher conducted a study into perception. In condition A, participants were shown a series of letters. Then they were asked to identify the image shown in Figure 4. In condition B, participants were shown a series of numbers. Then they were also asked to identify the image shown in Figure 4. The researcher recorded whether the image was identified as a number or a letter. |
Table 1: The percentage of participants who identified the image as a number or a letter
Condition A | Condition B | |
|---|---|---|
Image identified as a number | 27% | 82% |
Image identified as a letter | 73% | 18% |
Use your knowledge of factors affecting perception to draw a conclusion from the results shown in Table 1.
Explain your answer.
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