AQA A-LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY PAPER 2 EXAM QUESTIONS WITH VERIFIED ANSWERS GRADE A+

AQA A-LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY PAPER 2 EXAM QUESTIONS WITH VERIFIED ANSWERS GRADE A+ "Skinner's research - CORRECT ANSWER He suggested that learning is an active process whereby humans and animals operate on their environment eg, the skinner box" "Positive reinforcement - CORRECT ANSWER Rewards when a certain desirable behaviour is performed" "Negative reinforcement - CORRECT ANSWER When an animal or human avoids something unpleasant" "Punishment - CORRECT ANSWER An unpleasant consequence of behaviour" "Behaviourist approach - limit - CORRECT ANSWER Doesn't take into account any biological aspects and so is deterministic" "Behaviourist approach - application - CORRECT ANSWER Treatment to phobias through systematic desensitisation through classical conditioning" "Behaviourist approach - research support - CORRECT ANSWER Influential in the development of psychology as a scientific discipline" "Social learning theory - CORRECT ANSWER A way of explaining behaviour that includes both direct and indirect reinforcement" "Imitation - CORRECT ANSWER Copying the behaviour of others" "Identification - CORRECT ANSWER When as observer associates themselves with a role model and wants to be like the role model" "Modelling - CORRECT ANSWER Imitating the behaviour of a role model" "Vicarious reinforcement - CORRECT ANSWER Reinforcement that is not directly experienced but occurs through observing someone else being reinforced for a behaviour" "Mediational processes - CORRECT ANSWER Cognitive factors that influence learning and come between stimulus and response" "Assumptions of social learning theory - CORRECT ANSWER - learning occurs through observation and imitation of others in a social context - learning occurs directly and indirectly" "Theoretical models - CORRECT ANSWER Information processing approach - where information flows through the cognitive system (multi-store model)" "Computer models - CORRECT ANSWER Mind compared to a computer - similarities in the way information is coded and use in artificial intelligence" "Application of cognitive neuroscience - CORRECT ANSWER Used in computer-generated models that are designed to 'read' the brain- brain fingerprinting" "Assumptions of Biological approach - CORRECT ANSWER - everything physiological is at first biological - the mind lives in the brain - CONTRASTS TO COGNITIVE APPROACH" "Genetic basis of behaviour - CORRECT ANSWER MZ twins have 100% concordance rate whilst DZ twins have a 50% concordance rate (same as ordinary siblings)" "Biological approach - limit - CORRECT ANSWER Deterministic view of behaviour - sees human behaviour as innate, implications on the legal system" "Psychosexual stage ANAL (1-3 years) - CORRECT ANSWER Focus of pleasure is the anus, child gains pleasure from withholding and expelling faeces - leads to perfection/obsession or thoughtlessness/mess" "Psychosexual stage PHALLIC (3-5 years) - CORRECT ANSWER Focus of pleasure is the genital area (oedipus and Electra complex) - leads to recklessness and possibly homosexual" "Psychosexual stage LATENCY - CORRECT ANSWER Earlier conflicts are repressed" "Humanistic approach - holistic - CORRECT ANSWER Not reductionist as it considers the whole person and so has increased validity" "Humanistic approach - cultural bias - CORRECT ANSWER Many of the concepts are associated with indicualist cultures as opposed to collectivist cultures" "Humanistic approach - limited application - CORRECT ANSWER Although has contributed to counselling techniques it has limited impact - may be due to a lack in sound evidence (loose set of abstract concepts)" "Nervous system - CORRECT ANSWER Consists of the CNS and the PNS" "CNS - CORRECT ANSWER Consists of the brain and the spinal cord and is the origin of all complex commands and decisions" "PNS - CORRECT ANSWER Sends information to the CNS and muscles from the outside world" "Somatic nervous system - CORRECT ANSWER Transmits information from RECEPTOR cells to CNS" "Autonomic nervous system (ANS) - CORRECT ANSWER Transmits information to and from internal bodily organs automatically. It subdivisions are parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system" "Endocrine system - CORRECT ANSWER One of the body's major information systems that instructs glands to release hormones directly into the bloodstream" "Gland - CORRECT ANSWER An organ in the body that synthesises substances such as hormones" "Hormones - CORRECT ANSWER Chemical substances that circulate in the bloodstream and often affect target organs" "Fight or flight response - CORRECT ANSWER The way an animal responds when stressed" "Adrenaline - CORRECT ANSWER A hormone produced by the adrenal glands which is part of the humans immediate stress response system" "Thyroid gland - CORRECT ANSWER Produces thyroxine - affects cells in the heart and body" "Pituitary gland - CORRECT ANSWER Called the 'master gland' located in the brain - releases hormones from all the other endocrine glands" "Nodes of ranvier - CORRECT ANSWER Gaps in the myelin sheath which speed up transmission" "Terminal buttons - CORRECT ANSWER The branched end of the axon that contains neurotransmitters. Next to the synapse" "Synaptic transmission - CORRECT ANSWER The process by which neighbouring neurons communicate with each other by sending chemical messages across the gap" "Neurotransmitter - CORRECT ANSWER Brain chemicals released from synaptic vesicles that relay signals across the synapse from one neuron to another" "Localisation of function - plasticity - CORRECT ANSWER When the brain is damaged, the remaining parts of the brain is able to reorganise itself is cope with the load of the damaged areas - LAW OF EQUIPOTENTIALITY" "Plasticity - CORRECT ANSWER the brain's ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganising after damage or by building new pathways based on experience and new learning" "Split-brain research - CORRECT ANSWER A series of studies which began in the 1960s involving epileptic patients who had experienced a surgical separation of the hemispheres of the brain. This allowed researchers to investigate the extent to which brain function is lateralised." "Electroencephalogram (EEG) - CORRECT ANSWER A record of tiny electrical impulses produced by the brains activity" "Event-related potential (ERP) - CORRECT ANSWER The brains electrophysical response to a specific sensory, cognitive or motor event can be isolated through statistical analysis of EEG data" "Post-mortem examinations - CORRECT ANSWER The brain is analysed after death to determine whether certain observed behaviours during the patient's lifetime can be linked to abnormalities in the brain." "Strengths of fMRI - CORRECT ANSWER Doesn't rely on radiation Virtually risk free, non-invasive High spatial resolution (to mm)" "Weaknesses of fMRI - CORRECT ANSWER Expensive Only useful if patient is still Poor temporal resolution (time lag) Can only measure blood flow" "Strengths of EEG - CORRECT ANSWER Invaluable when diagnosing conditions like epilepsy Helped with understanding of ultradian rhythms High temporal resolution" "Weaknesses of EEG - CORRECT ANSWER Generalised information (thousands of neurons) Hard to pinpoint source" "Strengths of ERP - CORRECT ANSWER Measured much more specifically than EEG Excellent temporal resolution" "Weaknesses of ERP - CORRECT ANSWER Lack of standardisation Extraneous variable must be removed" "Strengths of post-mortem - CORRECT ANSWER Provides early understanding of key processes Improves medical knowledge" "Weaknesses of post-mortem - CORRECT ANSWER Issues with causation Ethical issues" "Biological rhythms - CORRECT ANSWER Distinct patterns of changes in body activity that conform to cyclical time periods. Biological rhythms are influenced by internal body clocks (endogenous pacemakers) as well as external changes to the environment (exogenous zeitgebers)." "Circadian rhythm - CORRECT ANSWER A type of biological rhythm, on a 24 HOUR CYCLE - sleep/wake cycle" "Infradian rhythms research study - CORRECT ANSWER McClintock studies 29 women with irregular periods. Samples of pheromones gathered from 9 women at different stages of the cycle from a cotton pad on their armpit. Pads then rubbed on upper lip of other participants. 68% of women's cycle became closer to the 'odour donor'" "Biological rhythms - evolution of menstrual cycle - CORRECT ANSWER McClintock's study shows evolutionary basis as ancestors may find it more useful to sink up cycles and get pregnant at similar times - new horns cared for collectively" "Biological rhythms - methodological limitations - CORRECT ANSWER Too many confounding variables affecting the synchronisation studies - patterns no more expected than to occur by chance" "Biological rhythms - stages of sleep - CORRECT ANSWER Dement and Kleitman studied 9 adult participants in a sleep lab. Brain waves recorded on EEG. REM activity was highly correlated to dreaming. Participants woken during REM had accurate recall of dreams" "Endogenous pacemakers - CORRECT ANSWER Internal body clocks that regulate many of our biological rhythms" "Exogenous zeitgebers - CORRECT ANSWER External cues that may affect or entrain our biological rhythms" "Sleep/wake cycle - CORRECT ANSWER A daily, naturally occurring 24-hour circadian rhythm of sleep and wake" "Suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) - CORRECT ANSWER Bundle of nerves located in the hypothalamus. A primary endogenous pacemaker connected to the optic chiasm which detects light information" "Animal studies and SCN - CORRECT ANSWER DeCoursey destroyed SCN connections in the brain of 30 chipmunks who returned to natural habitat and were observed for 80 days. Sleep/wake cycle disappeared and many were killed" "Pineal gland - CORRECT ANSWER Receives information about day light and length allowing it to produce melatonin accordingly" "Light as an exogenous zeitgeber - CORRECT ANSWER One of the most dominant EZs; resets body's pacemaker through SCN. May explain why Campell and Murphy found that shining lights on knees caused a shift in circadian rhythm" "Exogenous zeitgeber as a social cue - CORRECT ANSWER Infants circadian rhythms are fully entrained by 16 weeks - easier to adapt to environment rather than responding to internal cues (hunger)" "Thematic analysis - CORRECT ANSWER An inductive and qualitative approach to analysis that involves identifying implicit or explicit ideas within the data. Themes will often emerge once the data has been coded" "Strengths of case studies - CORRECT ANSWER In depth Rich data Studies unique cases Contribute to 'normal function' Generate hypotheses for future study" "Weaknesses of case studies - CORRECT ANSWER Not a generalisable sample Researchers have very little control over variables Difficult to establish causal relationships" "Improving reliability of observations - CORRECT ANSWER Use operationalised behavioural categories Don't overlap categories and all behaviours should be covered" "Validity - CORRECT ANSWER The ability of a test to measure what it is intended to measure" "Face validity - CORRECT ANSWER Measures whether a test looks like it tests what it is supposed to test." "Concurrent validity - CORRECT ANSWER Extent to which a psychological measure relates to an existing similar measure" "Ecological validity - CORRECT ANSWER the extent to which the findings of a research study are able to be generalised to real-life settings" "Temporal validity - CORRECT ANSWER the extent to which results observed in a study will generalise across time and at different points in time (Freud's lack)" "Internal validity - CORRECT ANSWER If the effects observed are due to manipulations of the IV and not other factors" "External validity - CORRECT ANSWER extent to which we can generalise findings to real-world settings" "Improving validity in experimental research - CORRECT ANSWER Use a control group Standardise procedures Single blind and double blind" "Improving validity in questionnaires - CORRECT ANSWER Use a lie scale and anonymity to reduce social desirability" "Improving validity in observations - CORRECT ANSWER Findings may be more authentic in covert observations Clear behavioural categories" "Improving validity in qualitative methods - CORRECT ANSWER Record depth and detail Triangulation - multiple sources" "Significance - CORRECT ANSWER A statistical term that tells us how sure we are that a difference or correlation exists. A 'significant' result means that the researcher can reject the null hypothesis." "Type I error - CORRECT ANSWER the incorrect rejection of a true null hypothesis (a "false positive")" "Type II error - CORRECT ANSWER The failure to reject a false null hypothesis (a false negative)" "Abstract - CORRECT ANSWER The key details of the research report" "Introduction - CORRECT ANSWER A look at past research on a similar topic. Includes the ims and hypothesis." "Method - CORRECT ANSWER A description of what the researcher did, including design, sample, apparatus/materials, procedure, ethics" "Results - CORRECT ANSWER a description of what the researcher(s) found, including descriptive and inferential statistics" "Discussion - CORRECT ANSWER A consideration of what the results of a research study tell us in terms of psychological theory." "References - CORRECT ANSWER List of sources that are listed or referred to in the article" "Paradigm - CORRECT ANSWER A set of shared assumptions and agreed methods within a scientific discipline" "Paradigm shift - CORRECT ANSWER The result is a scientific revolution: a significant change in the dominant unifying theory within a scientific discipline" "Objectivity - CORRECT ANSWER When all sources of personal bias are minimised so as not to distort or influence the research process" "The empirical method - CORRECT ANSWER Scientific approaches that are based on the gathering of evidence through direct observation and experience" "Replicability - CORRECT ANSWER The extent to which scientific procedures and findings can be repeated by other researchers." "Falsifiability - CORRECT ANSWER the principle that a good scientific idea or theory should be capable of being shown to be false when tested using scientific methods" "Aim - CORRECT ANSWER A general statement of what the researcher intends to investigate; the purpose of the study." "Hypothesis - CORRECT ANSWER A statement of what the researcher believes to be true" "Opportunity sample - CORRECT ANSWER People who are most available" "Volunteer sample - CORRECT ANSWER Participants select themselves to be part of the sample" "Random sample - CORRECT ANSWER a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion" "Systematic sample - CORRECT ANSWER obtained by selecting every nth individual from the population using a sampling frame" "Stratified sample - CORRECT ANSWER the population is divided into strata and a random sample is taken from each stratum" "Informed consent - CORRECT ANSWER A written agreement to participate in a study made by an adult who has been informed of all the risks that participation may entail." "Deception - CORRECT ANSWER misleading participants about the true purpose of a study or the events that will actually transpire" "Protection from harm - CORRECT ANSWER Participants should not be put through anything they wouldn't normally be expected to." "Right to privacy/confidentiality - CORRECT ANSWER Participants should not have any personal details shared" "Observational techniques - CORRECT ANSWER methods of collecting data by observing people, most typically in their natural settings" "Naturalistic observation - CORRECT ANSWER watching behavior in real-world settings without trying to manipulate the situation" "Controlled observation - CORRECT ANSWER Watching and recording behaviour within a structured environment" "Covert observation - CORRECT ANSWER Participants' behaviour is watched and recorded without their knowledge or consent." "Overt observation - CORRECT ANSWER Participants know they are being observed" "Behavioural categories - CORRECT ANSWER When a target behaviour is broken up into components that are observable and measurable" "Time sampling - CORRECT ANSWER The procedure of observing and recording behavior during intervals" "Event sampling - CORRECT ANSWER A target behaviour or event is first established then the researcher records this event every time it occurs" "Mean - CORRECT ANSWER Arithmetic average" "Median - CORRECT ANSWER Middle number" "Mode - CORRECT ANSWER most frequently occurring score" "Range - CORRECT ANSWER the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution" "Standard deviation - CORRECT ANSWER a measure of how much scores vary around the mean score" "Normal distribution - CORRECT ANSWER describes a symmetrical, bell shaped curve that shows the distribution of data" "Skewed disribution - CORRECT ANSWER a representation of scores that lack symmetry around their average value" "Table - CORRECT ANSWER Raw scores displayed in columns and rows" "Bar chart - CORRECT ANSWER Categories, discrete data" "Histogram - CORRECT ANSWER Bars touch each other, data is continuous" "Line graph - CORRECT ANSWER A graph that uses line segments to show changes that occur over time" "Scattergram - CORRECT ANSWER graphic representation of a correlation" "Critical value of a sign test - CORRECT ANSWER If S is less than or equal to the critical value then S is significant" "Action potential 1 - CORRECT ANSWER Neuron is at resting potential (negatively charged compared to the outside)" "Action potential 2 - CORRECT ANSWER When a neuron is activated, the inside of the cell becomes positively charged for a split second causing action potential to occur" "Action potential 3 - CORRECT ANSWER This creates an electrical impulse that travels down the axon towards the end of the neuron" "Chi-squared - CORRECT ANSWER Used to determine if there are differences/correlation in the distribution of two data sets. NOMINAL DATA, UNRELATED" "Mann-Whitney - CORRECT ANSWER a test for a significant difference between two sets of scores. Data should be at least ordinal level using an unrelated design (repeated measures)" "Wilcoxon - CORRECT ANSWER a test for significant difference between two sets of scores. Data should be at least ordinal level using a related design (repeated measures)" "Spearman's rho - CORRECT ANSWER A test for correlation where data is at least ordinal level" "Pearson's r - CORRECT ANSWER A parametric test for correlation when data is at interval level" "Related t-test - CORRECT ANSWER a parametric test for difference between two sets of scores. Data must be interval with a related design ie: repeated measures or matched pairs" "Unrelated t-test - CORRECT ANSWER A parametric test for difference between two sets of scores. Data must be interval with an unrelated design, i.e. independent groups." "Interval data - CORRECT ANSWER Data measured on a scale where the difference between each value is the same BEST METHOD" "Ordinal data - CORRECT ANSWER a type of data that refers solely to a ranking of some kind" "Nominal data - CORRECT ANSWER Data which consists of names, labels, or categories. LEAST ACCURATE" “Psychology - CORRECT ANSWER the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes" "Science - CORRECT ANSWER The means of acquiring knowledge through systematic and objective investigation" "Introspection by Wundt - CORRECT ANSWER A systematic method used to study the mind by breaking up conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images and sensations" "Emergence of psychology - CORRECT ANSWER Watson questioned the subjectiveness of introspection - variety between person to person made it hard to establish general principles" "Behaviourist approach - CORRECT ANSWER A way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in terms of learning" "Classical conditioning - CORRECT ANSWER Learning by association" "Operant conditioning - CORRECT ANSWER Learning where behaviour is shaped and maintained by consequences" "Reinforcement - CORRECT ANSWER A consequence of behaviour that increases the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated" "Assumptions of behaviourist approach - CORRECT ANSWER - assumes everything about human behaviour is learnt through experience (classical or operant conditioning) - relies on lab experiments - animals have same basic processes that govern learning and so can be replaced as experimental subjects" "Pavlov's research - CORRECT ANSWER Pavlov presented a bell (NS) with food (UCS), which caused the dog to salivate (UCR). Eventually, the dog associated the sound of the bell and food so the sound of the bell (CS) would cause the dog to salivate (CR) - demonatrating the learning of innate reflex behaviours in animals" "Role of mediational processes identified by Bandura - CORRECT ANSWER 1. Attention 2. Retention 3. Motor reproduction 4. Motivation" "Social learning theory - limit - CORRECT ANSWER Underestimates the influence of biological factors - boys were found to be more aggressive" "Social learning theory - application - CORRECT ANSWER Applied to token economy systems in prison - help to rehabilitate prisoners to lower recidivism" "Social learning theory - research support - CORRECT ANSWER Bandura's bobo doll experiment - adult hit doll with hammer" "Cognitive approach - CORRECT ANSWER How mental processes affect behaviour" "Internal mental processes - CORRECT ANSWER 'Private' operations of the mind such as perception and attention that mediate between stimulus and response" "Schema - CORRECT ANSWER A mental framework of beliefs and expectations that influence cognitive processing - developed from experience" "Inference - CORRECT ANSWER Process whereby cognitive psychologists draw conclusions about the way mental processes operate on the basis of observed behaviour" "Cognitive neuroscience - CORRECT ANSWER The scientific study of biological structures that underpin cognitive processes" "Assumptions of the cognitive approach - CORRECT ANSWER - internal mental processes should be studies scientifically" "Cognitive approach - limit - CORRECT ANSWER Machine reductionism - ignores the influence of human and motivation eg. memory may be affected by anxiety in an EWT" "Cognitive approach - application - CORRECT ANSWER Applied to CBT when treating when treating depression" "Cognitive approach - scientific basis - CORRECT ANSWER The experimental methods used by the approach are considered scientific and are therefore objective" "Biological approach - CORRECT ANSWER A perspective that emphasises the importance of physical processes in the body such as genetic inheritance and neural function" "Genes - CORRECT ANSWER They make up chromosomes and consist of DNA" "Biological structure - CORRECT ANSWER An arrangement or organisation of parts to form an organ, system or living thing" "Neurochemistry - CORRECT ANSWER Relating to chemicals in the brain that regulate physiological functioning" "Genotype - CORRECT ANSWER genetic makeup of an person" "Phenotype - CORRECT ANSWER Characteristics of a person from both genes and environmental factors" "Evolution - CORRECT ANSWER The changes in inherited characteristics in a biological population over successive generations" "Biological approach - application - CORRECT ANSWER Used to treat depression using psychoactive drugs (SSRI'S) and therefore live a relatively normal life" "Biological approach - research support - CORRECT ANSWER Study of depression, MZ twins had 49% concordance rate, DZ twins had 17% concordance rate, ordinary siblings had 9% concordance rate" "Psychodynamic approach - CORRECT ANSWER A perspective that describes the different forces, most of which are unconscious, that operate on the mind and direct human behaviour and experience." "The unconscious - CORRECT ANSWER The part of the mind that we are unaware of but still directs much of our behaviour" "Id - CORRECT ANSWER Entirely unconscious, made up of selfish aggressive instincts that demand immediate gratification" "Ego - CORRECT ANSWER The 'reality check' that balances the conflicting demands of the id and the superego" "Superego - CORRECT ANSWER The moralistic part that represents how we ought to be" "Defence mechanism - CORRECT ANSWER Unconscious strategies that the ego uses to manage the conflict between the id and the superego" "Psychosexual stages - CORRECT ANSWER According to Freud, five developmental stages that all children pass through" "Psychosexual stage ORAL (0-1 year) - CORRECT ANSWER Focus of pleasure is the mouth, mothers breast if th object of desire - leads to oral fixation eg. Smoking" "Psychosexual stage GENITAL - CORRECT ANSWER Sexual desires become conscious alongside the onset of puberty - leads to lack of forming relationships" "Psychodynamic approach - explanatory power - CORRECT ANSWER Had a huge influence in modern day psychology by drawing attention to the connection between childhood experiences eg. parental relationships and later development" "Psychodynamic approach - limit - CORRECT ANSWER Uses case study's and can be highly subjective, it uses individuals who were often in therapy and so can be limited" "Psychodynamic approach - application - CORRECT ANSWER Introduced psychoanalysis - access the unconscious eg. Hypnosis" "Humanistic approach - CORRECT ANSWER An approach to understanding behaviour that emphasises the importance of subjective experience and each persons capacity for self determination" "Free will - CORRECT ANSWER The notion that humans can make choices and are not determined by biological or external factors" "Self actualisation - CORRECT ANSWER The desire to grow psychologically and fulfil ones full potential - becoming what you are capable of" "Hierarchy of needs - CORRECT ANSWER A five levelled hierarchical sequence in which basic needs must be satisfied before higher psychological needs can be achieved" "Self - CORRECT ANSWER The ideas and values that characterise I and ME and includes perception and valuing of WHAT I AM and WHAT I CAN DO" "Congruence - CORRECT ANSWER The aim of Rogerian therapy; when the self concept and ideal self are seen to broadly acckrd or match" "Conditions of worth - CORRECT ANSWER When a parent places limits or boundaries on their love of their children eg. I will only love you if ..." "Parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) - CORRECT ANSWER After the threat has passed. Decreases heart rate & breathing rate, constructs pupils" "Sympathetic nervous system (SNS) - CORRECT ANSWER Works in response to a threat. Inhibits saliva production and digestion, increases heart rate" "Neuron - CORRECT ANSWER a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system" "Sensory neurons - CORRECT ANSWER Carry messages from the PNS to CNS. They have long dendrites and short axons" "Relay neurons - CORRECT ANSWER Connect sensory neurons to motor or other relay neurons. They have short dendrites and short axons." "Motor neurons - CORRECT ANSWER Connect CNS to effectors such as muscles and glands. They have short dendrites and long axons." "Cell body - CORRECT ANSWER Largest part of a typical neuron; contains the nucleus and carry nerve impulses towards the cell body" "Axon - CORRECT ANSWER the extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands. Covered in MYELIN SHEATH that protects the axons and speeds up transmission" "Excitation - CORRECT ANSWER When a neurotransmitter eg. Adrenaline, increases the positive charge - increasing the likelihood that the neuron will fire and pass the electrical impulse on" "Inhibition - CORRECT ANSWER When a neurotransmitter eg. Serotonin, increases the negative charge, decreasing the likelihood that the neuron will fire" "Localisation of function - CORRECT ANSWER The theory that different areas of the brain are responsible for different behaviours, processes or activities" "Motor area - CORRECT ANSWER A region of the frontal lobe involved in regulating movement" "Somatosensory area - CORRECT ANSWER An area of the parietal lobe that processes sensory information such as touch" "Visual area - CORRECT ANSWER A part of the occipital lobe that receives and processes visual information" "Auditory area - CORRECT ANSWER Located in the temporal lobe and concerned with the analysis of speech-based information" "Broca's area - CORRECT ANSWER An area of the frontal lobe in the left hemisphere responsible for speech production" "Wernicke's area - CORRECT ANSWER An area of the temporal lobe in the left hemisphere responsible for language comprehension" "Localisation of function - research support - CORRECT ANSWER Tulving's LTM study found different parts for semantic and episodic memories in the frontal cortex" "Localisation of function - case study evidence - CORRECT ANSWER Phineas Gage suffered brain damage when a tamping iron went through his skull - he became aggressive and quick tempered. Suggests the frontal lobe is responsible for mood" "Functional recovery - CORRECT ANSWER A form of plasticity. Following damage through trauma, the brain's ability to redistribute or transfer functions usually performed by a damaged area to other, undamaged areas." "What happens in the brain during recovery? - CORRECT ANSWER - axonal sprouting: the growth of new nerve endings which connect with other undamaged nerve cells to form new neuronal pathways - reformation of blood vessels - recruitment of homologous areas on the opposite side of the brain to perform specific tasks" "Synaptic pruning - CORRECT ANSWER Where rarely used synaptic connections are deleted and frequently used connections are strengthened from infancy" "Research unto plasticity - CORRECT ANSWER Maguire studied London taxi drivers and found a large volume of 'grey matter' in the hippocampus. They take 'the knowledge' to assess their knowledge of London streets. The longer they had been in the job, the more pronounced the structural difference (positive correlation)" "Plasticity and functional recovery - application - CORRECT ANSWER Contributes to neurorehabiliation after injury or trauma - does require further intervention to be fully successful" "Plasticity and functional recovery - negative plasticity - CORRECT ANSWER Can have maladaptive behavioural consequences - Medina found 60-80% of amputees suffer phantom limb syndrome" "Plasticity and functional recovery - support from animal studies - CORRECT ANSWER Hubel and Wiesel sewed a kittens eye shut and analysed their brains cortical responses. The area of visual cortex was not idle but continued to process information from the open eye" "Hemispheric lateralisation - CORRECT ANSWER The idea that the two halves of the brain are functionally different and that certain mental processes and behaviours are mainly controlled by one hemisphere rather than the other." "Split-brain studies - CORRECT ANSWER Sperry studied patients who had a severed corpus callosum to stop severe epilepsy to determine the extent that the hemispheres were specialised for certain functions" "Sperry's split-brain procedure - CORRECT ANSWER An image or word projected to a patients RVF or LVF to see the extent both hemispheres communicate" "Sperry's split-brain findings - CORRECT ANSWER DESCRIBE WHAT YOU SEE - only in RVF RECOGNITION BY TOUCH - better in LVF COMPOSITE WORDS - write what is shown to LVF and say what is shown to RVF MATCHING FACES - LVF dominant" "Split-brain research - issues with generalisation - CORRECT ANSWER Limited sample size as only 11 people took part and all had severe epilepsy" "Split-brain research - strengths with the methodology - CORRECT ANSWER Used highly specialised and standardised procedures, few extraneous variables as image shown for 1/10 of a second" "Split-brain research - shows lateralisation - CORRECT ANSWER Demonstrated LH is geared towards analytic and verbal tasks and RH is geared towards spatial and musical tasks" "Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) - CORRECT ANSWER A method used to measure brain activity while a person is performing a task that uses MRI technology - detect regions with lots of oxygen and therefore active" "Siffre's cave study - CORRECT ANSWER After spending 2 months in a cave in the alps and Texas, deprived of exposure to natural light and sound, biological rhythms went to 25 hours" "Circadian rhythms - application to shift work - CORRECT ANSWER Shows researchers the effects of night shift workers (experience reduced concentration at about 6am) - also more likely to develop heart disease may be due to stress" "Circadian rhythms - application to drugs - CORRECT ANSWER Shows most effective times to take drugs to treat illnesses - helping with timings and dosage of drugs" "Circadian rhythms - small sample - CORRECT ANSWER Involves small groups of participants which may not be representative of the wider population, may be down to individual differences" "Infradian rhythms - CORRECT ANSWER A type of biological rhythm with a frequency of LESS THAN ONE CYCLE IN 24 HOURS" "Ultradian rhythms - CORRECT ANSWER A type of biological rhythm with a frequency of MORE THAN ONE CYCLE IN 24 HOURS, such as the stages of sleep." "Ultradian rhythms - stages of sleep - CORRECT ANSWER Stage 1&2 - alpha waves -> theta waves as sleep gets deeper Stage 3&4 - delta waves (deep sleep) Stage 5 - REM paralysis whilst dreaming" "Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) - CORRECT ANSWER a mood disorder caused by the body's reaction to low levels of sunlight in the winter months, it's a particular type of infradian rhythms but is classed as a circadian rhythm as it's due to the sleep/wake cycle" "The menstrual cycle - CORRECT ANSWER Infradian rhythm that occurs on a monthly basis (usually 28 days)" "Endogenous Pacemakers and Exogenous Zeitgebers - ethics - CORRECT ANSWER Issues with ethics in animal studies, can be hard to generalise but also exposed to considerable risk" "Endogenous Pacemakers and Exogenous Zeitgebers - overstated influence - CORRECT ANSWER Overstated influence of exogenous zeitgebers - Miles showed a young man who was blind from birth with a circadian rhythm of 24.9 hours and could not be influenced by social cues" "Endogenous Pacemakers and Exogenous Zeitgebers - methodological issues - CORRECT ANSWER Campbell and Murphy study - possible that light was still exposed to participants - a major confounding variable" "Research methods - CORRECT ANSWER The processes by which information or data is collected for the purpose of testing s hypothesis and/or theory" "Correlation - CORRECT ANSWER A meathematical technique in which a researcher investigates an association between two variables (co-variables)" "Correlation coefficient - CORRECT ANSWER A number between -1 and 1 that represents the direction and strength of a relationship between co-variables" "Case studies - CORRECT ANSWER An in-depth investigation of an individual subject." "Content analysis - CORRECT ANSWER A research technique that enables the indirect study of behaviour by examining communications that people produce" "Coding - CORRECT ANSWER the stage of a content analysis in which the communication to be studied is analysed by identifying each instance of the chosen categories (which may be words, sentences, phrases etc)" "Strengths of content analysis - CORRECT ANSWER Good for summarizing large quantities of mediated information Unobtrusive - Does not require interaction with participants Systematically study historical events/media Flexible as it produces a variety of data" "Weaknesses of content analysis - CORRECT ANSWER Information produced is analysed out of context Can be subjective" "Reliability - CORRECT ANSWER How consistent findings are" "Test-retest reliability - CORRECT ANSWER Method of assessing reliability of a test by assessing the same person on two separate occasions" "Inter-observer reliability - CORRECT ANSWER Extent to which there is agreement between two or more observers involved in observation of behaviour (total number of agreements / total number of observations > 0.8 then its reliable)" "Improving reliability in questionnaires - CORRECT ANSWER Use test-retest Reword ambiguous questions to closed questions" "Improving reliability in interviews - CORRECT ANSWER Use same interviewer Use structured interviews" "Improving validity in experiments - CORRECT ANSWER Use lab experiments - for precise replication" "Experimental method - CORRECT ANSWER A method of investigation used to demonstrate cause-and-effect relationships by purposely manipulating the IV , thought to produce change in THE DV" "Extraneous variables - CORRECT ANSWER any variables other than the independent variable that seem likely to influence the dependent variable in a specific study" "Confounding variables - CORRECT ANSWER factors that cause differences between the experimental group and the control group other than the independent variable" "Demand characteristics - CORRECT ANSWER cues in an experiment that tell the participant what behavior is expected" "Investigator effects - CORRECT ANSWER These result from the effects of a researcher's behaviour and characteristics on an investigation." "Lab experiment - CORRECT ANSWER A controlled environment when extraneous and confounding variables can be regulated. IV is manipulated and effect on DV is recorded" "Field experiment - CORRECT ANSWER A natural setting" "Natural experiment - CORRECT ANSWER experiment where the researchers have no control over the variables" "Quasi experiment - CORRECT ANSWER An experiment in which investigators make use of control and experimental groups that already exist in the world at large. Also called a mixed design." "Questionnaire - CORRECT ANSWER a written set of questions to be answered by a research participant" "Structured interview - CORRECT ANSWER A selection interview that consists of a predetermined set of questions for the interviewer to ask" "Unstructured interview - CORRECT ANSWER An interview in which the question-answer sequence is spontaneous, open-ended, and flexible." "Semi-structured interviews - CORRECT ANSWER There is a set of core questions or topics that the interviewer will follow, but the interviewer may prompt for more information, ask follow-up questions, or clarify questions as the interviewer deems necessary" "Pilot study - CORRECT ANSWER a study completed before (or sometimes after) the study of primary interest, usually to test the effectiveness or characteristics of the manipulations" "Quantitative data - CORRECT ANSWER numerical data" "Qualitative data - CORRECT ANSWER descriptive data" "Primary data - CORRECT ANSWER facts and figures that are newly collected for the investigation" "Secondary data - CORRECT ANSWER information that already exists somewhere, having been collected for another purpose" "Meta-analysis - CORRECT ANSWER A type of secondary data the involves combining data from a large number of studies" “Which of the following statements is correct according to the psychodynamic approach? Shade ONE circle only A) The ego is present at birth B) The id is based on the mortality principle C) The id is part of the unconscious mind D) The superego mediates between the demands of the id and ego - CORRECT ANSWER C) The id is part of the unconscious mind" "State one assumption of the cognitive approach [1 marks] - CORRECT ANSWER The mind actively processes information from our senses (touch, taste etc.)." "Steph and Georgie are both working mothers. Steph enjoys being challenged at work. Steph's daughter listens to her mother's colleagues praising and admiring Steph's work and sees the awards she has been presented with in recognition of her effort. Steph's daughter is an enthusiastic student who is keen to be challenged at school. Geordie hates her job. Her daughter has heard her boss shout at her down the phone for missing deadlines and sees how tired Geordie is after staying up late working. Geordie's daughter feels anxious when she is given difficult work and does not want to go to school. How might vicarious reinforcement explain the different attitudes of Steph's and Geordie's daughters to their schoolwork? [4 marks] - CORRECT ANSWER - Steph's daughter has observed her mother receiving praise and awards for her work. (positive reinforcement) Steph's daughter feels enthusiastic about doing more school work as she has indirectly experienced positive reinforcement her mother experiences for doing work - Geordies daughter has heard her mother being shouted at for missing deadlines (punishment) Geordie's daughter feels anxious about doing difficult work at school as she has indirectly experienced the punishment of which her mother experiences." "Steph and Georgie are both working mothers. Steph enjoys being challenged at work. Steph's daughter listens to her mother's colleagues praising and admiring Steph's work and sees the awards she has been presented with in recognition of her effort. Steph's daughter is an enthusiastic student who is keen to be challenged at school. Geordie hates her job. Her daughter has heard her boss shout at her down the phone for missing deadlines and sees how tired Geordie is after staying up late working. Geordie's daughter feels anxious when she is given difficult work and does not want to go to school. Explain one strength and one limitation of using social learning theory to explain the different attitudes of Steph's and Geordie's daughters [6 marks] - CORRECT ANSWER - Social learning theory is an evidence based approach. Research evidence is Bandura who demonstrates that children are able to learn behaviour through observing the behaviour of an adult, therefore there is research evidence to suggest that Steph and Geordie's daughters could have learned their behaviour by observing the different attitude's of their mothers Limitations: - SLT focuses of nurture (behaviour influenced by external factors) which may put blame to role models, suggesting Geordie's attitudes may have influenced her daughters behaviour which may put guilt on Geordie" "Steph and Georgie are both working mothers. Steph enjoys being challenged at work. Steph's daughter listens to her mother's colleagues praising and admiring Steph's work and sees the awards she has been presented with in recognition of her effort. Steph's daughter is an enthusiastic student who is keen to be challenged at school. Geordie hates her job. Her daughter has heard her boss shout at her down the phone for missing deadlines and sees how tired Geordie is after staying up late working. Geordie's daughter feels anxious when she is given difficult work and does not want to go to school. In what ways might the biological approach explain the different attitudes of Steph's and Geordie's daughters to their schoolwork? [4 marks] - CORRECT ANSWER - Steph's and Geordie's daughters different responses to their school work may be due to the difference in their biological structures. - Steph's daughter may have inherited genes from her mother which makes her more resistant to challenging school work" "Outline and briefly discuss cognitive neuroscience (just content, not evaluation) [8 marks] - CORRECT ANSWER - Cognitive neuroscience has become prominent with improvements in technology such as fMRI and PET scans - Some research within cognitive neuroscience is Tulving et al. (1994) showed that the different types of long-term memory may be located on opposite sides of the prefrontal cortex" "Outline and briefly discuss cognitive neuroscience (just evaluation) [8 marks] - CORRECT ANSWER Evaluation of cognitive neuroscience: - Cognitive neuroscience has real-world applications e.g. in medicine, health, education - It uses objective (controlled) scientific methods e.g. MRI scans which increase reliability - Technology such as MRI scans are not 100% reliable due to user-error in calibration, temperature and noise interference" "Biological rhythms are influenced by endogenous pacemakers and exogenous zeitgebers. Outline the difference between endogenous pacemakers and exogenous zeitgebers. Use examples in your answer. [2 marks] - CORRECT ANSWER - Endogenous pacemakers are internal and exogenous zeitgebers are external - Exogenous zeitgebers are cues that coordinate our biological clocks e.g lights" "Xavier was cycling home from school when he fell of his bike into the road. A teacher saw a car swerve, narrowly missing Xavier. The teacher checked if Xavier was safe and asked him what had happened. Xavier could hardly speak; his heart was pounding, and his mouth was dry. He felt sick and his hands were shaking. It took Xavier 20 minutes to feel calm again. Outline the fight or flight response and use this to explain what Xavier was experiencing. [6 marks] - CORRECT ANSWER - Adrenaline is released in a fight or flight response. Typical effects of adrenaline is increased breathing rate which is what Xavier was experiencing. - Adrenaline increases muscle tension. This could explain why Xavier was experiencing shaky hands. - adrenaline inhibits/restrains saliva production, which may explain Xavier's dry mouth - Xavier felt sick which may be because digestion is inhibited during sympathetic nervous system (SNS) arousal" "Xavier was not wearing a helmet. The teacher told him how lucky he was not to have suffered brain damage. She told him about a man who had been cycling without a helmet. He had fallen off his bicycle and now found it difficult to produce speech. Xavier laughed and said, "I am young. If i had an accident, my brain would be recover on its own and get me back to normal." Discuss research into plasticity and functional recovery of the brain after the trauma. Refer to the views of the teacher and Xavier in your answer. (just content and application) [16 marks] - CORRECT ANSWER - Brain plasticity is the brain's ability to change and adapt because of experience. Functional recovery is where the brain recovers its abilities lost due to brain damage. - Research supports Xavier's belief that young brains are more plastic. Elbert et al concluded that neural reorganisation is much greater in children than in adults, meaning that neural regeneration is less effective in older brains. Therefore, we must consider individual differences when assessing the likelihood of functional recovery in the brain after trauma. -Although Xavier states "the brain would recover and go back to normal" but full recovery depends on the severity of brain damage. - (the man riding without a helmet) difficulty of producing speech could be due to damage to the Broca's area." "Xavier was not wearing a helmet. The teacher told him how lucky he was not to have suffered brain damage. She told him about a man who had been cycling without a helmet. He had fallen off his bicycle and now found it difficult to produce speech. Xavier laughed and said, "I am young. If i had an accident, my brain would be recover on its own and get me back to normal." Discuss research into plasticity and functional recovery of the brain after the trauma. Refer to the views of the teacher and Xavier in your answer. (just evaluation) [16 marks] - CORRECT ANSWER - Mathias (2015), stated that education level and IQ will effect how well the brain copes and changes with trauma - Also physiotherapy and learning new skills can be used to enhance plasticity and functional recovery." "Which of the following types of hypothesis is not appropriate for the psychologist to use in their study? [1 mark] Shade one circle only. A) Directional hypothesis B) Non-directional hypothesis C) Null hypothesis D) One-tailed hypothesis - CORRECT ANSWER B) Non-directional hypothesis" "Explain why a repeated measures design was more appropriate than an independent groups design in this study. [2 marks] - CORRECT ANSWER A repeated measures design would control individual differences e.g fitness levels of students." "To improve the validity of the findings, the psychologist counterbalanced the students across the experimental conditions. Describe how the psychologist could have counterbalanced the students across the experimental conditions. [3 marks] - CORRECT ANSWER They could divide the 20 students into two groups of 10 to remove to reduce order effects" "Students self-reported their stress levels on a scale of 1-10. Explain how this might have affected the validity of the data collected. [4 marks] - CORRECT ANSWER Students may not give truthful ratings of their stress levels due to social desirability bias and if students aren't truthful, it will decrease the validity of the results collected Students may produce more valid data from self-reporting because they know their stress levels. Because it is very hard to assess stress levels from an observation." "Explain one strength and one limitation of collecting quantitative data in this study. [4 marks] - CORRECT ANSWER Quantitative data is easy to analyse, so the link between a 2km breaktime run and stress levels can be easily assessed Quantitative data is hard to assess stress levels as the context of stress is not given on a 1-10 scale, thus decreasing the validity of the results." "What do the median and range values presented in table 1 suggest about the students' stress ratings after each condition? Justify your answer. [4 marks] - CORRECT ANSWER Students are less stressed after the 2km breaktime run (condition A), as the median stress ratings are lower in condition A Range suggests the spread of stress rates. The stress rates are more consistent in condition B than condition A, as the range is smaller in condition B." "Explain one limitation of using the range to represent the spread of stress ratings. [4 marks] - CORRECT ANSWER The range values only take into account the two extreme stress ratings (affected by outliers) The range is a simplistic measure and does not use all the scores in the data set" "A Wilcoxon test was used to determine whether differences in stress ratings were significant. The psychologist used a 0.01 level of significance. Explain what it would mean if the results in the above study were significant at the 0.01 level. [2 marks] - CORRECT ANSWER there's only a 1% possibility that the differences in stress ratings between the two conditions is due to chance and not due to the breaktime 2km run" "The psychologist found that the difference was not significant at the 0.01 level. The psychologist was concerned that there might have been a type II error. Explain what is meant by a type II error in the context of this study [2 marks] - CORRECT ANSWER A false negative - there was no significant difference in stress levels between running 2km and not running" "Suggest one way the psychologist could reduce the chance of a type II error. [1 mark] - CORRECT ANSWER They could increase the sample size" "Your psychologist teacher has read about the beneficial effects of exercise. She asks you to design a study to see if there is a correlation between time spent swimming and anxiety levels in A-Level psychology students. You need to select a sample of 20 participants using random or stratified sampling. Explain how a sample of 20 participants could be selected for your study using either random or stratified sampling. Outline one strength of the sampling method you have selected. [4 marks] - CORRECT ANSWER Put all students names in a hat and use the first 20 students picked to participate. This can reduce researcher bias (where researchers may unconsciously or consciously select participants who fit their preconceived ideas or hypotheses)" "Your teacher tells you not to use self-report to measure anxiety levels and tells you to use a different way of measuring anxiety. Suggest how you could measure the co-variables, time spent swimming and anxiety levels, for your study. [4 marks] - CORRECT ANSWER Time spent swimming = Students could be observed to measure how long students swam for Anxiety levels = Students could use blood pressure monitors to measure their anxiety levels." "Suggest an appropriate statistical test that could be used to analyse the data in your study and explain two reasons for your choice in the context of your study. [5 marks] - CORRECT ANSWER Some of the data is ordinal and so should use Spearman's Rho and as the psychologist is measuring an association." "Briefly explain one reason why research should be peer reviewed [2 marks] - CORRECT ANSWER peer review acts as a filter to ensure that only high quality research is published by determining the validity and originality of the study" "Identify two ethical issues in the design and conduct of psychological research. In each case, explain how the issues you have identified could be dealt with. [6 marks] - CORRECT ANSWER One ethical issue is privacy of data collected. They must protect any personal details collected where only designated research staff can view the collected data They should insure to fully debrief participants at the end of the study and make sure they are fully aware of the aims of the study, and participants should have the right to withdraw their data from the study."