AQA A LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY PAPER 2 Quesstions & Answers

Give one reason why schema's are useful? - answer-When we're in unknown situations schemas help us know how to behave. So when we do not know what to do our schema fills in the gaps for us and allow us to process situations better. Give one reason why schema's are not useful? - answer-schemas may exclude information which doesn't conform to our prior expectations. As a result, we may form stereotypes which are difficult to shift, even if new,disputing information is presented. This means we may not be processing the world around us accurately and may misjudge or represent a person or situation. Discuss the defense mechanism shown by Jed? - answer-Displacement is when we redirect our hostile feelings onto something else because it is not appropriate to express their feeling towards the person or object in question. Jed can't take his frustration out on his teacher, who issued the detention and he displaced his feelings by kicking the locker. Outline the key features of the behaviourist approach. Compare to the biological approach, (A01 Behaviourist) - answer-The behaviourist approach suggests that the basic processes that govern learning in all species are the same. We learn through two concepts: operant conditioning and classical conditioning. Outline the key features of the behaviourist approach. Compare to the biological approach, (classical conditioning) - answer-The idea of classical conditioning was developed by Pavlov who found that we learn through association. He found that it was possible to condition dogs to associate the sound of a bell with food. This resulted in the dogs producing a salivation response at the sound of a bell even when no food was present. Pavlov demonstrated that repeated exposure to an event leads to a learned and uncontrollable behaviour.