Liam is investigating whether children can be given false memories of a game they had played, such as winning a game that they actually lost. He plans to play and win the game with each child and tell them he is writing about it in his diary. Later he will pretend to read from his diary, telling each child a false story in which they won the game. He will then ask each child to write about the game they played.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2019). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [1] (a) Count the number of events correctly/incorrectly recalled.
2. [1] (a) Count the number of words in the story and then subtract the number of false details.
3. [1] (a) Record whether the children said they won or not.
4. [1] (b)(i) A condition where there is no reading from Liam's diary (false story not introduced).
5. [1] (b)(i) A condition where Liam's diary is read, but it contains only true information about the game.
6. [1] (b)(ii) To judge whether children would forget or get muddled anyway without the false information (identification).
7. [1] (b)(ii) To ensure that any errors or false memories observed are directly due to the false information provided from his diary (detail).
8. [1] (c) Play the game in the same way or for the same amount of time with each child (suggestion).
9. [1] (c) For example, making a winning move the same number of times (detail – how).
10. [1] (c) Read the story from the diary in the same tone and manner to all children (suggestion).
11. [1] (c) This ensures false parts are not stressed, potentially making them easier to spot (detail – why).
12. [1] (c) Leave the same time gap between playing the game and reading the diary, and between diary reading and memory recall (suggestion).
13. [1] (c) This ensures all children have an equal amount of time to potentially forget details (detail – how).