AQA Psychology A Level prep exam questions and answers

AQA Psychology A Level prep exam questions and answers Explain what is meant by "inference" in relation to this study? - ANSWERS Inference is when the researcher goes on beyond this study to infer about results. OUtline what is meant by Congurance. Explain one way in which Dominic might achieve congurence. - ANSWERS Congurence is when there's a match between how you percieve yourself and the way you see your ideal self. Dominic needs to close the gap between how he see's himself and his ideal self. By thinking of himself in a better way, he may view his ideal self as being more realistic. Discuss the contribution of behavourist psychologists such as Pavlov and skinner to our understanding of human behaviour. - ANSWERS Pavlov used dogs, shows classical conditioning, explain what that showed. This study showed how behaviour is learnt through association, it started with theories which lead to further classical + operant conditioning theories. Similarly for Skinner, rats conditioned to associate the lever with reward of food- shows using positive reinforcement. Other behaviourist psychologists include Bandura, who did research using a BoBo doll to see if children acted violently if they were exposed too aggressive behaviour. Results showed the children who were exposed to the violent Bobo doll getting praised were violent when playing. This shows that imitation is more likely to occur when the model is positively reinforced, demonstrating the importance of vicarious reinforcement. Studies used scientific methods and was highly controlled showed psychology as a science, as they were replicable gave psychology more credibility, especially as a science. It lead to further, more scientific research. The results of the study was implemented in aspects of human behaviour as it has been used in therapy. Positive reinforcement is a common method used particularly in schools. However it is hard to generalise to human as the studies were done on animals. It can also raise ethical issues as it was done on animals for the benefit of humans. It only focuses on behaviour of humans, ignoring the humanistic approach which believes to fully look at humans as a whole. Social learning theorists refer to the role of mediational processes in learning. Referring to Bradley's experiences, explain the role of mediational processes in learning. - ANSWERS Cognitive processes occur between a stimulus which is Bradleys wanting to observe and a response which is bradley copying the behaviour. Bradley is motivated as he wants to play well. Because he wants to play well he watches and puts his attention on the actions of his partner. Bradley tries to remember the actions that are taking place that his partner did so he can do the same. He assesses his own ability to perform the difficult shot and whether he would be able to do it. Describe Wundt's role in the development of psychology. - ANSWERS Wundt is known as "the father of psychology" because he was the first psychologist to set up a lab, in Liepzig in 1870's. Wundt discovered introspection as a way of studying mental processes. Introspection is analysis of one's own conscious experience of a stimulus. An experience was analysed in terms of it's components parts eg sensations, emotions. His work paved the way for later controlled research and study of mental processes. Briefly explain one strength and one weakness of the cognitive approach in psychology. - ANSWERS One strength is that it is easy to control and observe in research as it believes cognitive and internal processes should be studied scientifically. One weakness is that it fails to take individual differences into account, it assumes that every single human is the same. Outline the psychodynamic approach in psychology. Discuss one or more differences between the psychodynamic approach and the humanistic approach. - ANSWERS The psychodynamic approach is that there are three levels of consiousness: councios, pre councious and unconcious, these were established by freud. The psychodynamic approach involves the Id ,ego and superego as the tripartite structure of personality. The humanistic approach looks as people as a whole, it suggests people use their free will to allow the to reach their fullest potential. This was developed by Maslow. Freud poses a more negative outlook compared to humanistic psychology that has a positive outlook. In the psychodynamic app