A concise revision checklist for Psychology ATAR Year 12 (Units 3 & 4, syllabus effective 2026): the highest-frequency content across recent ATAR examinations. Items marked HIGH PRIORITY recur across multiple papers — study these first. For full explanations of each concept, see the companion document "Optimised study content with concept explanations."
Unit 3 — Memory and learning
Models of memory HIGH PRIORITY (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025)
- Processes of memory: encoding, storage, retrieval.
- Multi-store model (Atkinson and Shiffrin, 1968): sensory register, short-term, long-term — know duration, capacity, encoding for each.
- LTM types: implicit (procedural); explicit/declarative (semantic, episodic).
- Working memory model (Baddeley and Hitch, 1974; Baddeley, 2000): central executive, phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, episodic buffer.
Memory formation and the brain HIGH PRIORITY
- Hippocampus (explicit memory; Henry Molaison case study); cerebellum (implicit/procedural); amygdala (emotional memory, fear).
- Causes of memory loss: CTE (trauma); Alzheimer's (degenerative); Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome (drug-induced) — two features of each.
Remembering and forgetting HIGH PRIORITY
- Recall, recognition, relearning.
- Levels of processing (Craik and Lockhart, 1972): shallow vs deep; study — Craik and Tulving (1975).
- Rehearsal: maintenance vs elaborative; Ebbinghaus forgetting curve (1885).
- Four types of forgetting: retrieval failure, interference (proactive/retroactive), motivated forgetting, decay.
Theories of learning HIGH PRIORITY (2020, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025)
- Classical conditioning: NS, UCS, UCR, CS, CR; acquisition, generalisation, discrimination, extinction, spontaneous recovery. Studies — Pavlov (1902); Watson and Rayner (1920).
- Operant conditioning: antecedent–behaviour–consequence; reinforcement and punishment (positive/negative); schedules. Studies — Thorndike (1898); Skinner (1938).
- Social learning theory (Bandura, 1977): attention, retention, reproduction, motivation; vicarious reinforcement. Study — Bandura, Ross and Ross (1961).
- Behaviour modification: systematic desensitisation (classical); token economies (operant).
Unit 4 — Motivation, wellbeing and health
Motivation HIGH PRIORITY
- Self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan): amotivation, extrinsic, intrinsic; needs — autonomy, competence, relatedness.
- Maslow's hierarchy (1954): physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem (deficiency), self-actualisation (growth); 1970 expansion — cognitive, aesthetic, transcendence.
Wellbeing HIGH PRIORITY
- Diener's subjective wellbeing (1984): life satisfaction + positive affect + negative affect.
- Ryff's six-factor model (1989): autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations, purpose in life, self-acceptance.
Stress HIGH PRIORITY (also 2023)
- Definition; eustress vs distress (Selye, 1983).
- General Adaptation Syndrome: alarm, resistance, exhaustion.
- Social Readjustment Scale (Holmes and Rahe, 1967); Transactional Theory (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984) — appraisal, problem-/emotion-focused coping.
Sleep
- Purpose: evolutionary, restorative.
- Sleep–wake cycle: circadian rhythm; NREM (×3) and REM (most dreaming); measured by EEG.
- Sleep deprivation: partial vs chronic; causes; acute vs chronic effects. Study — He et al. (2020).
Science inquiry (Units 3 & 4) HIGH PRIORITY (every paper, 2020–2025)
- Ethics — human participants (protection from harm, informed consent, withdrawal, deception, confidentiality, privacy, voluntary participation, debriefing); animals (three Rs); ethics committee.
- Variables: independent, dependent, control, extraneous, confounding.
- Sampling: convenience, snowballing, random, stratified; random allocation.
- Hypothesis (directional/non-directional) vs inquiry question.
- Reliability (test-retest, inter-rater) and how to improve it; validity (internal, external).
- Correlation (Pearson's r): state strength AND direction; correlation ≠ causation.
- Mean and median; data displays (line, scatterplot, column, histogram).
- Data types: objective vs subjective; qualitative vs quantitative.