AQA A Level Psychology Approaches
(Latest 2025/ 2026 Update) Questions
and 100% Correct Verified Answers
[Grade A] – University of California,
Berkeley
Who was Wundt and what did he do -correct answer He is known as the
father of Psychology opening the first institute for experimental psychology
in Germany in 1879. He separated psychology from philosophy and focused
on studying the mind. He took a very reductionist approach where he
simplified everything down to cause and effect.
Outline introspection and problems with it -correct answer Introspection is
a psychological method to analyse someones thoughts and feelings
internally, this was done as there were no brain scans or computers at the
time and thus they used this technique of presenting a stimuli and asking
how they felt after seeing it.
Problems with it include how it does not explain how the mind works it
simply relies on peoples subjective thoughts. Secondly it doesn't provide
data that can be used with certain reliability.
What are the 5 factors that need to be looked at when deciding whether
psychology is a science -correct answer Objectivity
Control
Predictability
Hypothesis Testing
Replication
, AQA A Level Psychology Approaches
(Latest 2025/ 2026 Update) Questions
and 100% Correct Verified Answers
[Grade A] – University of California,
Berkeley
Evaluate the strengths and limitations to a scientific approach in psychology
-correct answer :) - Due to its reliance on objectivity and scientific methods
knowledge acquired is more than just the passive acceptance of facts
:) - Because scientific methods believe in determinism they are able to
establish the causes of behaviour through the use of methods that are
replicable
:) - If scientific methods no longer fit the facts then they can easily be refined
or abandoned meaning that scientific knowledge is self corrective
:( - Be focusing on objectivity and control in experiments they tend to be too
unrealistic and we lack an insight into natural behaviour
:( - A lot of psychological behaviour is unobservable and thus cannot be
measured with much accuracy meaning that the gap between actual data
and theories put forward is quite large
:( - Not all psychologists believe that human behaviour can be viewed
scientifically as it is not subject to laws and regularities that science implies
The first worldwide accepted approach was behaviourism, outline this -
correct answer Behaviourism, also known as learning theory, started in the
early 1900's by Watson who believed that psychological research before this
wasn't scientific enough.
There are three assumptions behaviourism makes:
1) All behaviour is learnt (exception of inborn reflexes)
2) Animals and humans learn in the same way
, AQA A Level Psychology Approaches
(Latest 2025/ 2026 Update) Questions
and 100% Correct Verified Answers
[Grade A] – University of California,
Berkeley
3) The minds is irrelevant
Outline Pavlov's classical conditioning -correct answer Pavlov was studying
dogs salivation however during his studies he found that dogs would end up
salivating before there was any food, the direction of his studies changed
and outlined classical conditioning.
He eventually ended up ringing a bell before giving the dogs food and then
he would ring a bell and give no food, the dogs still salivated. The food is the
UCS and salivation is the UCR. The bell had become the CS and salivation the
CR.
This process of learning can be applied to human development.
Comfort for the baby is an UCS that produces happiness, the UCR. The
babies mother will talk to it while she feeds it and changes its nappies etc.
and thus the baby hears its mothers voice every time it is made happy. The
sound of the mothers voice is matched with the UCS and therefore becomes
a CS, eventually the sound of the mothers voice alone will make the baby
happy. The CS now causes the CR.
Outline the several principles of classical conditioning -correct answer
Generalisation - stimuli similar to CS produces the CR
Discrimination - when stimuli similar to CS does not produce the CR
Extinction - when the CR isn't produced after the CS
Spontaneous recovery - when a previously extinct CR is produced in
response to the CS
(Latest 2025/ 2026 Update) Questions
and 100% Correct Verified Answers
[Grade A] – University of California,
Berkeley
Who was Wundt and what did he do -correct answer He is known as the
father of Psychology opening the first institute for experimental psychology
in Germany in 1879. He separated psychology from philosophy and focused
on studying the mind. He took a very reductionist approach where he
simplified everything down to cause and effect.
Outline introspection and problems with it -correct answer Introspection is
a psychological method to analyse someones thoughts and feelings
internally, this was done as there were no brain scans or computers at the
time and thus they used this technique of presenting a stimuli and asking
how they felt after seeing it.
Problems with it include how it does not explain how the mind works it
simply relies on peoples subjective thoughts. Secondly it doesn't provide
data that can be used with certain reliability.
What are the 5 factors that need to be looked at when deciding whether
psychology is a science -correct answer Objectivity
Control
Predictability
Hypothesis Testing
Replication
, AQA A Level Psychology Approaches
(Latest 2025/ 2026 Update) Questions
and 100% Correct Verified Answers
[Grade A] – University of California,
Berkeley
Evaluate the strengths and limitations to a scientific approach in psychology
-correct answer :) - Due to its reliance on objectivity and scientific methods
knowledge acquired is more than just the passive acceptance of facts
:) - Because scientific methods believe in determinism they are able to
establish the causes of behaviour through the use of methods that are
replicable
:) - If scientific methods no longer fit the facts then they can easily be refined
or abandoned meaning that scientific knowledge is self corrective
:( - Be focusing on objectivity and control in experiments they tend to be too
unrealistic and we lack an insight into natural behaviour
:( - A lot of psychological behaviour is unobservable and thus cannot be
measured with much accuracy meaning that the gap between actual data
and theories put forward is quite large
:( - Not all psychologists believe that human behaviour can be viewed
scientifically as it is not subject to laws and regularities that science implies
The first worldwide accepted approach was behaviourism, outline this -
correct answer Behaviourism, also known as learning theory, started in the
early 1900's by Watson who believed that psychological research before this
wasn't scientific enough.
There are three assumptions behaviourism makes:
1) All behaviour is learnt (exception of inborn reflexes)
2) Animals and humans learn in the same way
, AQA A Level Psychology Approaches
(Latest 2025/ 2026 Update) Questions
and 100% Correct Verified Answers
[Grade A] – University of California,
Berkeley
3) The minds is irrelevant
Outline Pavlov's classical conditioning -correct answer Pavlov was studying
dogs salivation however during his studies he found that dogs would end up
salivating before there was any food, the direction of his studies changed
and outlined classical conditioning.
He eventually ended up ringing a bell before giving the dogs food and then
he would ring a bell and give no food, the dogs still salivated. The food is the
UCS and salivation is the UCR. The bell had become the CS and salivation the
CR.
This process of learning can be applied to human development.
Comfort for the baby is an UCS that produces happiness, the UCR. The
babies mother will talk to it while she feeds it and changes its nappies etc.
and thus the baby hears its mothers voice every time it is made happy. The
sound of the mothers voice is matched with the UCS and therefore becomes
a CS, eventually the sound of the mothers voice alone will make the baby
happy. The CS now causes the CR.
Outline the several principles of classical conditioning -correct answer
Generalisation - stimuli similar to CS produces the CR
Discrimination - when stimuli similar to CS does not produce the CR
Extinction - when the CR isn't produced after the CS
Spontaneous recovery - when a previously extinct CR is produced in
response to the CS
