AS
AS Paper 3: Biopsychology and Social Influence
The approaches in psychology, the nervous system and the brain, conformity and minority influence, obedience and social change, plus research methods and statistics.
Questions
Question 1 [2 marks]
Research Methods and Statistics
State one strength and one limitation of using a laboratory experiment in psychological research.
Question 2 [3 marks]
Obedience and Social Change
Outline one situational factor that Milgram's research suggested affects obedience to authority, and state the direction of its effect.
Question 3 [4 marks]
Biopsychology: Nervous System and Brain
Outline the structure and function of a neuron, referring to at least one type of neuron.
Question 4 [4 marks]
Conformity and Minority Influence
Outline the procedure of Asch's original study into conformity.
Question 5 [4 marks]
Approaches in Psychology
In Bandura's Bobo doll research, children who watched an adult model behave aggressively towards an inflatable doll and saw the model praised for it later imitated more aggressive acts than children who saw the model punished.
Use your knowledge of social learning theory to explain this finding.
Question 6 [4 marks]
Research Methods and Statistics
Explain the difference between a Type I and a Type II error in hypothesis testing.
Question 7 [4 marks]
Conformity and Minority Influence
Outline two explanations for why people conform, and briefly explain how they differ from each other.
Question 8 [4 marks]
Research Methods and Statistics
A study records the number of hours of sleep for six participants: 5, 6, 6, 8, 9, 4.
Calculate the range of these sleep times, and state what type of measure this is.
Question 9 [4 marks]
Conformity and Minority Influence
In a school council meeting, two students consistently argue for a new recycling scheme over several meetings, but are willing to adapt their proposal slightly when reasonable objections are raised. Eventually the whole council supports the scheme.
Use your knowledge of minority influence to explain why the two students were successful.
Question 10 [4 marks]
Biopsychology: Nervous System and Brain
Explain the role of the endocrine system in responding to stress, with reference to adrenaline.
Question 11 [5 marks]
Research Methods and Statistics
Two independent groups complete a memory test. Group A (with distraction) scores 12, 14, 10, 16, 13. Group B (without distraction) scores 18, 20, 17, 19, 21.
Calculate the mean for each group and the difference between the means.
Question 12 [6 marks]
Conformity and Minority Influence
Discuss similarities and differences between conformity to a majority and conformity to a minority.
Question 13 [6 marks]
Research Methods and Statistics
Discuss ethical issues involved in observational research, and ways researchers can address them.
Question 14 [6 marks]
Conformity and Minority Influence
Discuss how minority influence can lead to social change, with reference to the role of consistency and social cryptomnesia.
Model solutions
| Question 1[2 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| a suitable strength, e.g. high control over extraneous variables allows cause and effect to be established | 1 |
| a suitable limitation, e.g. the artificial setting may reduce ecological validity | 1 |
| Final answer: Strength: high control allows cause and effect to be established. Limitation: the artificial setting can reduce ecological validity. | |
| Question 2[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying a situational factor, e.g. proximity, location or uniform | 1 |
| explaining how that factor was varied in Milgram's research | 1 |
| stating the effect on obedience rates, e.g. obedience fell when the teacher and learner were in the same room | 1 |
| Final answer: Proximity is a suitable example: obedience fell substantially when the teacher and learner were placed in the same room, showing closeness to the victim reduces obedience. | |
| Question 3[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying the cell body (soma), containing the nucleus, as part of a neuron's structure | 1 |
| identifying dendrites as receiving signals from other neurons | 1 |
| identifying the axon as carrying an electrical impulse away from the cell body, often insulated by a myelin sheath | 1 |
| identifying one type of neuron, e.g. sensory, relay or motor, and its general function | 1 |
| Final answer: A neuron has a cell body (with nucleus), dendrites receiving signals and an axon, often myelinated, carrying the impulse onward; sensory, relay and motor neurons perform different roles in the nervous system. | |
| Question 4[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying the use of a line judgment task, where participants judged which of three comparison lines matched a standard line | 1 |
| identifying that each genuine participant was tested with a group of confederates who gave a unanimously wrong answer on certain critical trials | 1 |
| identifying that the genuine participant answered last, or near last, so as to hear the confederates' answers first | 1 |
| identifying that the study measured the extent to which the participant conformed to the confederates' wrong answer on the critical trials | 1 |
| Final answer: In Asch's original study, participants completed a line-judgment task in a group of confederates, who gave a unanimously wrong answer on certain critical trials; the genuine participant answered near last, and conformity was measured by how often they agreed with the wrong majority. | |
| Question 5[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying vicarious reinforcement as the key process, children being more likely to imitate a model who was rewarded than one who was punished | 1 |
| explaining observational learning, children learning behaviour by watching and later reproducing a model's actions | 1 |
| noting the role of mediational processes, e.g. the child must attend to and retain the behaviour before it can be reproduced | 1 |
| noting this shows learning can occur without the child being directly reinforced themselves, unlike a purely operant conditioning account | 1 |
| Final answer: Vicarious reinforcement explains the finding: children were more likely to imitate a rewarded model, through observational learning and mediational processes, without needing to be directly reinforced themselves. | |
| Question 6[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying a Type I error as rejecting a true null hypothesis, concluding there is a significant effect when there is not | 1 |
| identifying a Type II error as accepting a false null hypothesis, concluding there is no significant effect when one actually exists | 1 |
| noting a Type I error becomes more likely if too lenient a significance level is chosen, e.g. p < 0.1 rather than p < 0.05 | 1 |
| noting a Type II error becomes more likely if too strict a significance level is chosen, e.g. p < 0.01, or if the sample size is too small | 1 |
| Final answer: A Type I error wrongly rejects a true null hypothesis (a false positive); a Type II error wrongly accepts a false null hypothesis (a false negative). The choice of significance level affects which is more likely. | |
| Question 7[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying informational social influence (ISI): conforming because we believe others are right, especially in ambiguous situations | 1 |
| identifying normative social influence (NSI): conforming to be liked and accepted, and to avoid rejection | 1 |
| elaboration or a suitable example of either ISI or NSI | 1 |
| a clear point of difference between ISI (wanting to be right) and NSI (wanting to belong) | 1 |
| Final answer: ISI is conforming to be right, especially in ambiguous situations; NSI is conforming to be liked and accepted; they differ in whether the change is driven by accepting information as correct or by wanting social approval. | |
| Question 8[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying the highest value in the data set, 9 | M1 |
| identifying the lowest value in the data set, 4 | M1 |
| calculating the range as 9 - 4 = 5 hours | A1 |
| identifying the range as a measure of dispersion/spread of the data | 1 |
| Final answer: Range = 9 - 4 = 5 hours; the range is a measure of dispersion (spread) of the data. | |
| Question 9[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying the students as a minority using consistency, repeating their argument over several meetings | 1 |
| explaining that this consistency draws attention to their view and makes others reconsider their own position | 1 |
| identifying flexibility as a further factor, since the students adapt their proposal in response to reasonable objections | 1 |
| explaining that this flexibility, rather than rigidly repeating the same demand, makes the minority appear more reasonable and increases their influence | 1 |
| Final answer: The students show consistency (repeating their argument over time), which draws attention to their view, and flexibility (adapting the proposal to reasonable objections), which makes them appear more reasonable; together these increase a minority's influence. | |
| Question 10[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying the endocrine system as a network of glands that communicate using hormones released into the bloodstream | 1 |
| identifying the adrenal glands as releasing adrenaline in response to stress | 1 |
| explaining that adrenaline prepares the body for fight or flight, e.g. increasing heart rate and blood flow to the muscles | 1 |
| noting the endocrine system's effects are slower but longer-lasting than the fast electrical signals of the nervous system | 1 |
| Final answer: The endocrine system uses hormones released into the blood to communicate; the adrenal glands release adrenaline under stress, raising heart rate and blood flow to the muscles for fight or flight, producing slower but longer-lasting effects than the nervous system. | |
| Question 11[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| summing Group A's scores, 12 + 14 + 10 + 16 + 13 = 65 | M1 |
| a Group A mean of 13 (65 / 5) | A1 |
| summing Group B's scores, 18 + 20 + 17 + 19 + 21 = 95 | M1 |
| a Group B mean of 19 (95 / 5) | A1 |
| a difference between the means of 6 (19 - 13) | A1 |
| Final answer: Group A mean = 13, Group B mean = 19, difference between the means = 6. | |
| Question 12[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| outlining that majority influence typically produces compliance, a public change without private acceptance | 1 |
| outlining that minority influence, if successful, more often produces internalisation, a genuine private change of view | 1 |
| identifying a similarity, e.g. both can involve normative and informational processes operating together | 1 |
| identifying a difference in speed/scope, e.g. majority influence tends to produce rapid, direct change, while minority influence produces slower, more indirect change that can spread beyond the original group | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. Moscovici's dual-process model, distinguishing majority from minority influence in this way, is supported by evidence that privately held attitudes shift more under minority influence than majority influence | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. the distinction may be oversimplified, since in real groups majority and minority influence processes often operate on an issue at the same time | 1 |
| Final answer: Majority influence typically produces compliance (public, often superficial change), while minority influence, when successful, more often produces internalisation (a genuine private change) that can spread beyond the group; both can involve normative and informational processes, but differ in speed and scope of change, a distinction supported by Moscovici's dual-process model though it may oversimplify how the two operate together in real groups. | |
| Question 13[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying a lack of informed consent as a key ethical issue, since participants in many observations are unaware they are being observed | 1 |
| identifying privacy as a related issue, particularly when observing people in a space they might reasonably consider private even though it is technically public | 1 |
| identifying a way of addressing consent, e.g. debriefing participants afterwards where practically possible and offering the right to withdraw their data | 1 |
| identifying a way of addressing privacy, e.g. only observing behaviour in fully public spaces where people would expect to be seen by others | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. observation of clearly public behaviour is broadly considered acceptable since there is little reasonable expectation of privacy in most public settings | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. debriefing after a covert observation is not always practically possible, e.g. in a large, anonymous crowd, so the ethical issue cannot always be fully resolved | 1 |
| Final answer: Key issues are lack of informed consent and privacy; these can be partly addressed through debriefing, the right to withdraw and observing only clearly public behaviour, though debriefing is not always practically possible. | |
| Question 14[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| outlining that a consistent minority draws attention to an issue and makes others reconsider their own view | 1 |
| outlining the augmentation principle, where a minority that persists despite personal risk appears more committed and gains influence | 1 |
| outlining social cryptomnesia, where people forget the origin of an idea once the minority's view eventually becomes the majority position | 1 |
| a suitable real-world or research example of a minority view gradually becoming accepted, e.g. attitude change brought about by a persistent campaigning group | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. research support for consistency often comes from artificial tasks, limiting generalisability to real social change movements | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. social change through minority influence is typically slow, which is hard to demonstrate within a single study | 1 |
| Final answer: Should cover consistency and the augmentation principle in gaining attention and credibility, social cryptomnesia in how the idea's origin is forgotten once it succeeds, and evaluation of the artificiality of supporting research against the slow, real-world pace of actual social change. | |