A Level
A Level Psychology Short Paper B
Covers Definitions of Abnormality and Phobias, Depression and OCD, Approaches in Psychology and 3 more.
Questions
Question 1 [3 marks]
Approaches in Psychology
Outline what is meant by 'introspection' in the origins of psychology.
Question 2 [3 marks]
Issues and Debates in Psychology
Outline what is meant by 'cultural relativism' in psychological research.
Question 3 [3 marks]
Definitions of Abnormality and Phobias
Outline the 'deviation from ideal mental health' definition of abnormality, with reference to Jahoda's criteria.
Question 4 [3 marks]
Research Methods and Statistics
A researcher records the number of words recalled by five participants: 12, 15, 9, 18, 16.
Calculate the mean number of words recalled.
Question 5 [4 marks]
Definitions of Abnormality and Phobias
Explain the emotional and cognitive characteristics of a phobia.
Question 6 [4 marks]
Depression and OCD
Outline Ellis's ABC model as a cognitive explanation for depression.
Question 7 [4 marks]
Biopsychology: Nervous System and Brain
Explain the process of synaptic transmission, including the role of neurotransmitters.
Question 8 [4 marks]
Depression and OCD
Explain the genetic explanation for depression, with reference to the diathesis-stress model.
Question 9 [6 marks]
Approaches in Psychology
Discuss the psychodynamic approach, including reference to the structure of personality and defence mechanisms.
Question 10 [6 marks]
Depression and OCD
Discuss Beck's cognitive theory of depression, including the role of negative schemas and cognitive biases.
Model solutions
| Question 1[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying introspection as a method of examining one's own conscious thoughts and sensations | 1 |
| noting it was used by Wundt to try to break down conscious experience into basic structures | 1 |
| identifying this as an early, systematic attempt to study the mind scientifically, marking the start of psychology as a discipline | 1 |
| Final answer: Introspection is systematically examining and reporting one's own conscious mental processes, used by Wundt to found psychology as a science. | |
| Question 2[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying cultural relativism as the idea that behaviour can only be properly understood within the context of the culture in which it occurs | 1 |
| contrasting this with judging behaviour against the norms of one's own culture, an imposed etic | 1 |
| a suitable example of a behaviour that might be judged differently depending on cultural context | 1 |
| Final answer: Cultural relativism is the view that behaviour should be understood within its own cultural context, rather than judged by the norms of a different culture. | |
| Question 3[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying that this definition classes a person as abnormal when they lack characteristics associated with good mental health | 1 |
| reference to one of Jahoda's criteria, e.g. autonomy | 1 |
| reference to a second of Jahoda's criteria, e.g. self-actualisation or an accurate perception of reality | 1 |
| Final answer: This definition sees abnormality as an absence of criteria for good mental health, such as autonomy and an accurate perception of reality, proposed by Jahoda. | |
| Question 4[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| adding the five values, 12 + 15 + 9 + 18 + 16 = 70 | M1 |
| dividing the total by the number of participants, 70 / 5 | M1 |
| a mean of 14 words | A1 |
| Final answer: Mean = 14 words | |
| Question 5[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying an emotional characteristic, e.g. excessive, persistent fear or anxiety in response to the phobic stimulus | 1 |
| elaborating, e.g. the emotional response is disproportionate to the actual danger posed | 1 |
| identifying a cognitive characteristic, e.g. selective attention towards the phobic stimulus | 1 |
| elaborating, e.g. irrational beliefs about the stimulus that the person finds difficult to challenge with rational argument | 1 |
| Final answer: Emotionally, phobias involve excessive, disproportionate fear/anxiety towards the stimulus; cognitively, they involve selective attention to the stimulus and irrational beliefs about it that resist rational argument. | |
| Question 6[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying A as the activating event, a negative situation that occurs | 1 |
| identifying B as the belief, an often irrational interpretation of the activating event | 1 |
| identifying C as the consequence, the emotional/behavioural outcome of holding that belief | 1 |
| elaborating that an irrational belief, rather than the event itself, is what Ellis proposed leads to depression | 1 |
| Final answer: Ellis's ABC model proposes an Activating event is interpreted through an often irrational Belief, producing an emotional/behavioural Consequence; it is the irrational belief, not the event itself, that Ellis argued causes depression. | |
| Question 7[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying that an electrical impulse travels along the presynaptic neuron to the synapse | 1 |
| identifying that this triggers the release of neurotransmitters into the synaptic gap | 1 |
| identifying that neurotransmitters diffuse across the gap and bind to receptors on the postsynaptic neuron | 1 |
| identifying that this converts the signal back into an electrical impulse in the postsynaptic neuron, continuing transmission | 1 |
| Final answer: An electrical impulse reaches the synapse, triggering neurotransmitter release; these cross the gap and bind to postsynaptic receptors, regenerating an electrical signal in the next neuron. | |
| Question 8[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying that depression is proposed to have a genetic component/vulnerability, at least partly inherited from parents | 1 |
| reference to a candidate gene, e.g. a gene affecting serotonin function has been studied as a possible candidate | 1 |
| outlining the diathesis-stress model, that a genetic vulnerability alone is not usually enough and an environmental trigger is also needed | 1 |
| noting the model explains why not everyone with the genetic vulnerability goes on to develop depression | 1 |
| Final answer: A genetic vulnerability, possibly involving genes affecting serotonin function, is proposed to interact with an environmental trigger (diathesis-stress model), explaining why not everyone with the vulnerability becomes depressed. | |
| Question 9[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| outlining the tripartite structure of personality: id, ego and superego | 1 |
| outlining at least one defence mechanism, e.g. repression, pushing distressing thoughts out of conscious awareness | 1 |
| outlining the role of the unconscious mind and/or early childhood (psychosexual stages) in shaping adult personality | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. the approach has had huge influence on later therapy and popular understanding of the mind, e.g. inspiring psychodynamic/psychoanalytic therapy | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. many concepts, e.g. the unconscious or the id, are difficult to operationalise or test scientifically, making the approach unfalsifiable | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. the theory was based on a small number of atypical case studies, questioning generalisability | 1 |
| Final answer: Outline the id/ego/superego structure, a defence mechanism (e.g. repression) and the role of the unconscious/childhood; evaluate with the approach's huge influence on therapy and popular thought, against the difficulty of scientifically testing unconscious concepts and its basis in atypical case studies. | |
| Question 10[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| outlining negative self-schemas, mental frameworks that lead a person to interpret information about themselves negatively | 1 |
| outlining the cognitive triad, negative views of self, world and future, as maintaining depressive thinking | 1 |
| outlining a cognitive bias, e.g. selectively attending to negative aspects of a situation while ignoring positive ones | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. research support finding depressed patients recall more negative self-relevant words than non-depressed participants, consistent with negative schema | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. the theory has practical application, underpinning cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) as an effective treatment | 1 |
| an evaluation point, e.g. the theory may better explain the maintenance of depression than its initial onset, since it does not fully explain why the negative schema developed in the first place | 1 |
| Final answer: Outline negative self-schemas, the cognitive triad and cognitive biases; evaluate with research support for negative recall bias and the theory's practical application to CBT, while noting it explains maintenance of depression better than its original onset. | |