AQA A LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY PAPER 2

AQA A LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY PAPER 2 Give one reason why schema's are useful? Ans- 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? Ans- 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? Ans- 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) Ans- 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) Ans- 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. Outline the key features of the behaviourist approach. Compare to the biological approach, (operant conditioning) Ans- Skinner suggested behaviour resulted from learning through the consequences of our actions. He conducted research into operant conditioning theory using rats, and found that three types of consequences will affect behaviour: positive reinforcement involves rewarding a behaviour, which increases it being repeated; negative reinforcement involves removing an unpleasant outcome to increase it being repeated; punishment involves adding an unpleasant outcome,reducing the behaviour. Outline the key features of the behaviourist approach. Compare to the biological approach, (similarity to biological) Ans- Both the behaviourist approach and biological approach share a similarity in being determinist. Both ignore the influence that the person can have and whether they have free will and can make their own choices in these decisions. Outline the key features of the behaviourist approach. Compare to the biological approach, (difference) Ans- However, they differ in that the behaviourist approach is environmentally determinist while the biological approach is biologically determinist. Stating that behaviour is the product of internal biological factors (e.g. genes, hormones, neurotransmitters, etc.) while behaviourists argue that behaviour is determined by the environment and is a product of stimulus-response associations Outline the key features of the behaviourist approach. Compare to the biological approach (similarity) Ans- Both approaches take a nomothetic approach when studying human behaviour. Both investigate behaviour to try to create universal laws that apply to all human beings. Biologists argue that this is possible because human beings share similar physiologies, and behaviourists argue that this is possible because all behaviour is the result of learning and stimulus-response associations. Therefore, the aim of generating universal laws that apply to all humans is another similarity between the behaviourist and biological approaches. Outline the key features of the behaviourist approach. Compare to the biological approach (nature + nurture) Ans- the behaviourist approach and biological approach are different in their position on the nature-nurture debate. Behaviourist views rest firmly on the nurture side of the debate, and that human beings are blank slates and that all behaviour is learned. Biological psychologists argue a nature-based view of behaviour. They posit that behaviour is the result of innate biological factors (e.g. genes, hormones, neurotransmitters. etc.) and is, therefore, the product of nature and not nurture. Therefore, despite their similarities in terms of determinism and their approach to investigation, the behaviourist and biological approaches are radically different in terms of their position on the nature-nurture debate. Name a difference between somatic nervous system and autonomic nervous system? Ans- The somatic nervous system facilitates communication between the central nervous system and the outside world, whereas the autonomic nervous system plays an important role in maintaining internal processes like body temperature. Label the picture of the diagram to show which neuron went where Ans- A = Sensory B = Relay C = Motor Explain why neurons travel in one direction during synaptic transmission? Ans- Consequently, the information can only travel in this direction because the neurotransmitters are released from the vesicles at the end of the pre-synaptic neuron and bind to sites at the start of the post-synaptic neuron. This would make it impossible for information to flow in any other direction. relate fight or flight to why it would be unhelpful for someone taking a driving test Ans- When entering a stressful situation, like a driving test, the amydala activates. The amygdala sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus,which then communicates with the body through the sympathetic nervous system. If a short term response is needed the SAM pathway is activated. The SNS stimulates the adrenal medulla which secretes adrenaline into the bloodstream. This causes physiological changes to prepare the body for fight or flight, like increased heart rate, During a driving test this will help them remain calm and follow instructions. Using psychological research and your knowledge on exogenous zeitgebers, discuss how Julia can get her baby to sleep during the night Ans- Exogenous zeitgebers are external environmental stimuli that help train our body clock into a sleep/wake patterns. The largest exogenous zeitgeber is light. As Julia is awake all night her natural sleep pattern. There are receptors in the SCN that are sensitive to light. So to change her sleep wake cycle Julia could ensure the baby is exposed to a good level of daylight during the daytime. Using psychological research and your knowledge on exogenous zeitgebers, discuss how Julia can get her baby to sleep during the night Ans- There has been research support on the influence of light on the sleep wake cycle. For example, Campbell and Murphy found that people's sleep schedules could be distorted by up to 3 hours when light was shone on the back of their knees. Using psychological research and your knowledge on exogenous zeitgebers, discuss how Julia can get her baby to sleep during the night Ans- Social cues are also influencers on the sleep/wake cycle. For example, Infants begin to create a cycle due to schedules imposed by parents. E.G. adult determined mealtimes and bedtimes. calculate the mean hours the baby slept at night to 2 significant figures, show working Ans- 9.0 + 8.0 + 8.5 + 7.0 + 7.5 + 10.5 + 8.0 = 58.5 hours 58.5 / 7 = 8. 2SF = 8.3 hours why was the mean used as the appropriate measure of central tendency for this data Ans- The mean is the most appropriate in this situation as it is considered the most sensitive of all the measures of central tendency as it will take into consideration all values in this dataset. What is a pilot study and one reason why do we use it? Ans- Pilot studies are smaller studies carried out before the full research to see any problems with the methodology and improve this before the actual study. Psychologists may choose to conduct a pilot study to ensure that the participants understand the standardised instructions and that they are testing what they are meant to be testing (face validity) this is so no time, money or effort is wasted if the experiment goes on. Describe what qualitative data is and give one advantage about using qualitative data? Ans- Qualitative data is non-numerical in depth data that can be collected through open ended questions. A strength of this is that it helps to obtain rich detailed data - allowing researchers meaningful insights. What are investigator effects? how can they be reduced? Ans- Investigator effects are where a researcher, consciously or unconsciously, acts in a way to support their research prediction. This can be a particular problem when observing events that can be interpreted in more than one way. Investigator effects can be minimised by not allowing either the participants or the researcher to know the aim of the dream research. This is achieved by using a double-blind experimental technique. In this instance, only the person who originally designed the experiment knows the true aim about whether dream themes differed between males and females. The person carrying out the interview and the interviewee would be blind to the aim of the experiment; this would reduce the opportunity for either party to manipulate responses to support the research aim. Researcher wants to use content analysis, explain how the research could use content analysis for this experiment? Ans- The other researcher would read through the dream interview data, highlighting important points of reference and annotate the margins with comments. Using these comments, the researcher would categorise the data, e.g. evidence of social interaction. This process will be repeated for each interview transcript. Once completed, the categories which emerged through the process of analysing the content are reviewed. With the well-defined (operationalised) categories, the researcher then returns to the original interview data and tallies the occurrence of each 'behaviour' accordingly. The qualitative data has now undergone analysis to produce quantitative data which can undergo further analysis such as statistical testing. Researcher wants to test whether her findings were reliable, suggests how she can do this. Ans- Interrater reliability refers to the extent to which two or more researchers are rating or recording behaviour in a consistent way. This is a particularly useful way of ensuring reliability in situations where there is a risk of subjectivity, such as a content analysis of dreams, to make sure that the categories are being used in the correct manner. Another independent psychologist would observe the same data set from the original interviews, and then their categories and tallies would be correlated to see whether they are suitably similar. If reliability is found to be poor, the categories used in the first content analysis will need to be refined and then re-categorised in order to achieve consistency. Write a brief for consent: include an appropriate format, the aims of the study, ethical issues you may face Ans- Dear participant, You are volunteering to take part in research. In this study you will watch a horror film or a romantic comedy film every night for one week each before going to bed. When you wake up each morning, you will receive a text message from the researcher asking you a question, to which there will be a yes/no response. The study will last for two weeks however you have the right to withdraw your participation from the research study at any time without explanation. You also have the right to ask that any data you have supplied to be withdrawn. You may ask any questions about the procedures before the study begins. The data we collect from you will be treated confidentially. Please sign below to consent that you agree to participate in this study. Create a directional hypothesis for the experiment Ans- Participants who watch a horror movie before bed are more likely to report 'yes' that they have had a nightmare when asked the following morning via text message, compared to participants who watched a romantic comedy film before bed. Explain why repeated measures was used for this experiment? Ans- A repeated measures design was used in this case so that the same participants took part in each condition (horror/romantic comedy). This way, there is less chance of individual differences, such as personality style or film preferences, affecting whether the participants reported a nightmare or not, and any differences found are thought to be the result of the IV affecting that person. Why has the researcher chose to counterbalance? Ans- As the same participants took part in both conditions of the experiment, order effects can occur. To address this issue, the researcher can use counterbalancing which offsets any order effects as half the participants take part in 'Condition A' followed by 'Condition B' while the other half complete the 'Condition B' followed by 'Condition A'. Any order effects experienced by those who started in Condition A should be offset b