Exam Booklet for Students

7/30/2019 Exam Booklet for Students

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So youve attended every lesson, you revised so hard you know every

study, theory and research method inside out and can evaluate to yourhearts content and...You get a D in the exam. Why?? Its hard (you need50% for a D) and you have not read your Bible!

Essentially the exam is all about technique; reading thequestion correctly and ensuring your answer is tailoredto it and detailed enough to get the marks. Hopefullythis booklet will help you turn that D into an A.

This booklet contains multiple choice questions and every question fromthe sample paper and the June and January 2009 Social and Cognitive

exam group into categories. The aim is to give you a flavour of the typeof questions you could be asked. In addition to this there is guidanceabout how to answer the questions and also some sample answers (goodand bad). Your teacher will go through this and also show sampleanswers in class. This booklet is to be mainly be used at home to helpwith homework and preparation for the exams, however, do bring it tolessons as your teacher may refer to it from time to time.

Below is a table to show the grade distribution for your first exam notethe exam is out of 60, but it is converted to a uniform mark, which

represents a %. 40% for an E, 50% for a D and so on.

6PS01 Max.Mark

A B C D E

Uniformboundary mark

80 64 56 48 40 32

Rawboundary mark

60 43 38 34 30 26

Some General Advice from the Exam Board:

The main distinction between more and less able candidates always hasbeen the ability to elaborate. Higher scoring answers could back up apoint with general and specific examples of research. Others find itdifficult to provide relevant psychological research and instead rely onanecdotal information which is not creditworthy. Candidates need to bereminded to read the short stimulus material given for certain questions.A firm understanding of the stimulus will make questions more accessible.

There seem to be too many examples of unnecessary errors on the part ofthe candidate from simply glossing over the stimulus material and not

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reading it properly. The stimulus is designed to help candidates, nothinder them.

The answers to the multiple choice questions can befound on the Learning Platform in the exam materialssection on the Social Approach page just look for therelevant mark scheme. Use this for revision and markit yourself. If you do not understand any of the questions make sure youask! In the exam do these first as they are the easiest questions.

Sample Assessment Material

1. An independent variable (IV) is

AThe variable that is manipulated in an experimentBThe variable that cannot be controlled in an experimentCThe variable that is measured in an experimentDThe variable the researcher is not interested in(1)

2. A researcher designs a survey using a structured interview toinvestigate opinions about

social groups. She recruits some interviewers to conduct the survey. Shemust ensure that

A interviewers are able to ask whatever they likeB participants are interviewed in their own surroundingsC interviewers are only able to ask the questions she has setD participants are only able to answer in writing

(1)

3. Which of the following statements is true of a volunteer sample?

A Researchers select their friends and family to do a memory experimentfor them.B Researchers select ten men and ten women from each of four agegroups to be tested.C Researchers use a random number generator to identify who to testfrom a workforce.D Researchers advertise in a local newspaper for participants.

(1)

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4. Laboratory Experiments involve

A Manipulating the independent variable (IV) in the participants naturalsettingB Manipulating the independent variable (IV) in a controlled environmentC Manipulating the dependent variable (DV) in a controlled environmentD Manipulating the dependent variable (DV) in the participants naturalsetting

(1)

5. A non-directional (two tailed) experimental hypothesis will make astatement about thereBeing

A more effect of one condition than of the otherB a difference between the conditionsC less effect of one condition than of the otherD no difference between conditions other than those that occur by chance

(1)

6. A researcher is interested in whether obedience to pedestrian lightsdiffers between men and women pedestrians. In order to be as objectiveas possible, which of the following options would be the best way tocollect data?

A Record the number of times that men and women disobey thepedestrian lights.B Ask a large sample of men and women how they behave at pedestrian

crossings.C Rate crossings by men and women separately on a scale for level ofobedience.D Give each crossing made a score from 1 to 5 depending on level ofobedience.

(1)

7. Cue dependency theory states that there are two types of cues thatcould affect memory.

These cues are called

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A Internal and externalB Primacy and recencyC State and contextD Encoding and recall

(1)

8. Ali was very late for his psychology lesson because he had stayedbehind in the common room to tidy it up. He explained to his teacher thathe was just doing what he was told. Using knowledge from of the SocialApproach, which of the following statements best describes hisobedience?

A He was going along with what the head of year insisted he must do tohelp.B He was going along with what the head of year asked him to do to helpout.C He was going along with what his friends asked him to do as theyneeded his help.D He was going along with what his friends were doing as, if he helped, itwould be quicker.

(1)109. Which of the following is an illustration of the processing of informationfrom input through to output as explained by the Cognitive Approach?

A David forgot to take his football kit to school as he did not usually playon Tuesdays.B Emily read the instructions for assembling her new wardrobe then put ittogether.C Moheed remembered every detail about his first drive in a racing car,

even five years later.D Suki improvised the moves in her gymnastics routine which she had notlearned.

(1)

10. Identify two of the following five statements to show which are trueabout prejudice.

A Prejudice is an attitude involving stereotyping

B Prejudice involves disobeying an authority figureC Prejudice refers to correctly recalling events as an eye witness

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D Prejudice can lead to discrimination of minority groupsE Prejudice is always a form of obedience

(2)

TOTAL FOR SECTION A: 11 MARKS

Jan 2009

SECTION AFor questions 15 choose ONE answer from A, B, C or D.

1The measurement obtained by adding up all the scores and dividing bythe number of scores is known as the

A meanB medianC modeD range

(Total for Question 1 = 1 mark)2 Counterbalancing is used with the _________ __________ design to helpovercome order effects.

A independent groupsB repeated measures

C matched pairsD unrelated groups

(Total for Question 2 = 1 mark)

3 Which of the following terms refers to the consistency of a test a testthat produces the same results on different occasions?

A ValidityB Counterbalancing

C ReliabilityD Objectivity

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(Total for Question 3 = 1 mark4 In which one of the following examples would you be using anindependent groups design?

AYou compare 20 boys with 20 girls on a reading test.B You test 10 participants on two different IQ tests and compare theresults.C You investigate whether there is a link between a students days offfromcollege and their achievement in exams.D You give 20 A level students a personality test and then re-test themthefollowing week.


5 You are conducting an experiment testing memory but some of yourparticipants have to cope with more noise than others. These

____________variables may affect your results.

A participantB dependentC situationalD experimenter


For question 6 choose TWO answers from A, B, C, D and E.

6 Which two of the following five statements would be examples of non-directional (two-tailed) hypotheses?A Older people are more forgetful than younger people.B People will treat members of their in-group differently from members ofan out-group.C Boys are more aggressive than girls.D There will be a difference in levels of obedience between men and

women.E Recall of a list of words will improve if the list of words is rehearsed.

(Total for Question 6 = 2 marks)

For question 7 choose ONE answer from A, B or C.7 According to levels of processing theory, which one of the followingtypes of processing should students use when revising?

A Phonetic

B SemanticC Structural

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For questions 810 choose ONE answer from A, B, C or D.

8 Discrimination is most accurately defined as

A pre-judging someone before finding anything out about them.B behaving differently towards someone from another group.C believing that a member of another group is not as good as you.D stereotyping others based only on their appearance.


9 Which of the following is an illustration of moral strain?

A Ali often forgets his homework and always gives his teacher a poorexcusebecause he does not care.BJackie goes out with her friends because she thinks she deserves a nightout after working hard all week.C Asmara helps an old man across the road because he is partially sightedand cannot see the traffic lights changing.

D Kazim has been asked to do something he believes to be wrong butdoesnot want to disobey his father.


10 A study investigating the role of context cues in remembering wascarried out byA HoflingB Godden and Baddeley

CTajfelD Craik and Lockhart(Total for Question 10 = 1 mark)

TOTAL FOR SECTION A = 11 MARKS

June 2009

1 Which of the following is an example of social comparison?

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A Khuram wears the shirt of the local cricket team he supports.B Rosie is a basketball supporter and goes to more away games than herfriends.C Max tells his friend that all the other football teams cheat more than his

team.D Shakira adopts the identity of her rugby team.


2 In Hoflings study on obedience it was found that _______ out of 22nurses obeyedthe doctors instructions.

A 18B 20C 21D 22

(Total for Question 2 = 1 mark)3 Godden and Baddeleys study on context dependent memory found that

A words were remembered better when recalled in the same environmentB words were remembered better when recalled in a differentenvironmentC there was no difference in words remembered regardless of

environmentD words were remembered better underwater than on land in allconditions


For question 4 choose TWO answers from A, B, C, D and E.4Your teacher is demonstrating levels of processing theory and asks youa number of questions. The following questions would result in differentlevels of recall. Which two would result in the lowest level of recall?

A Does it rhyme with lot?B Has it got 6 letters in it?C Is it an item of clothing?D Is it in small letters?E Is it a type of fruit?

(Total for Question 4 = 2 marks)

For questions 510 choose ONE answer from A, B, C or D.5The measurement that has as many scores above it as below it is known

as the

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A meanB modeC medianD range


6 Practice and _______ effects are examples of order effects.A demandB fatigueC experimenterD interviewer


7 Structured interviews involve

A fixed, predetermined questionsB no fixed questions or ways of answeringC open-ended questions with phrasing and timing left up to the

interviewerD the interviewers next question depending upon the interviewees lastanswer


8 A weakness of the volunteer sampling method is that

A it is biased as every fifth person is chosenB it can be very time consuming and expensiveC it can be unrepresentative through choosing only friends and family

D it is biased as participants tend to be more motivated and performbetter


9 When you are writing a hypothesis for a study your teacher asks you todefine your variables so they can be precisely measured. What is thisprocess known as?

A Experimenter effects

B RandomisationC Operationalisation

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D Order effects


10 In ______ _______ designs the same participants are used in bothconditions.

A cross-sectionalB independent groupsC matched pairsD repeated measures

(Total for Question 10 = 1 mark)TOTAL FOR SECTION A = 11 MARKS

These should be among the easiest on the exam paper. To do well ensure

you revise carefully the key terms in your revision guide and ensure you

look at how many marks are allocated and tailor your answer

appropriately 2 marks = 2 points.

1. What did Milgram mean by the agentic state? (2)

Be careful with this question! It is for two marks therefore you need togive a definition of the agentic state and then elaborate by giving anappropriate example!

2. Social identity theory includes the concept of socialcomparison. What is meant bysocial comparison? (2)

See the comment above

3. (a) Complete the table below. For each of the followingstatements, write either10


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prejudice or discrimination in the appropriate box. (2)

Statement Prejudice orDiscrimination

A doorman refuses entry to a group of

teenagers into a nightclub because themales are not wearing ties.Nick believes all women drivers are rubbishandshould not be allowed on the road.Edith applies for a job but does not get itbecause the manager wants a youngerperson.Beth is rejected from Claires socialnetworking site

because of her taste in music.

This question is asking you to apply your know it is more difficult than itappears at first glance. You need to read the scenarios and say whetherthis is an example of prejudice or discrimination there is a differencebetween the two! Prejudice is the stereotyped belief held about a group(the second scenario) the rest are discrimination.

See the next page for a table telling you how to describe a study

1. Outline one of Milgrams variation studies of obedience. (3)

2. You will have learned about one of the following studies indetail from theCognitive Approach:Peterson and Peterson (1959) study of the role of interferenceCraik and Tulving (1975) study of levels of processingRamponi et al (2004) study of age and levels of processingDescribe one study from the list. (5)

From the exam board candidates where spending too much timeoutlining the aims and procedures (max 3) and running out of time/spaceto give results and conclusions. If a question asks you to describe a

study you must cover the NAMRC. Also be careful with this question some candidates described Godden and Baddeleys study which, although

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is part of the Cognitive Approach, is not on this list so could not becredited.

3. Outline the procedure used by Hofling et al (1966) in theirstudy testing obedience. (3)

Questions 3, 4 and 6 are just asking you to focus upon specific parts of astudy therefore you will not be credited for mentioning other parts of thestudy. You must ensure you know each key study in detail to do well.

4. Outline the findings (results and/or conclusions) of Hofling etals (1966) study (3)

5. You will have studied two of the following studies in detailfrom the Social Approach.Hofling et al (1966)Sherif (1961/1988)

Tajfel et al (1970/1971)Reicher and Haslam (2003/2006)Choose one study from the list.Name of study:

Outline the aim of your chosen study. (2)

Theories are more difficult to describe than studies as there is not a set

way of describing them. To do well you must ensure you know the theory

inside out. Some of the theories can be quite complex so do not be afraid

to ask your teacher to go over it again if you are unsure.

1. Describe social identity theory as an explanation of prejudice.

(4)

Cover in-group favouritism, social identification, social categorisation and

social comparison.

2. (a) Identify one model or theory of memory. (1)(b) Describe the model or theory of memory that you identified

in (a). (4)

Be careful! Cue-dependency theory and Trace Decay are not models of

memory they are theories of forgetting. Only the Multi-store model or

Levels of processing where credited here.

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These can be the most difficult questions on the exam make sure you

are comparing by looking at similarities and differences between the

things you are asked to compare. Each sentence should refer to both

things. E.g.

Meeus and Raaijmakers study looked at whether people would obey

instructions to commit psychological violence whereas Milgram was

interested to see whether his participants would follow orders to commit

physical violence. Both studies are highlighted the use of the word

whereas clearly pointing out that there is a difference.

1. For your course you will have studied another study in detail aswell as Hofling et al (1966). Studies can be compared in terms ofthe methodology, ethics, results (findings and/or conclusions) aswell as in other ways. Compare Hofling et al (1966) with your

chosen other study. (3)

See the Evaluation guide on the next page

If it says evaluate you must evaluate!!! According to the exam board;every year candidates simply describe the topicinstead of weighing up the strengths andweaknesses. Also if it asks for strengths you mustjust give strengths and vice versa. Too manyresponses over-relied on terminology withoutexplanation. It was high in ecological validitybecause it was a field experiment etc. There waslots of usage of mnemonics such as GRAVE to helpcandidates evaluate (see revision guide but do not rely on this) and in themain these tended to work well. Ethical and methodological points pickedup the most marks, although better candidates did go beyond just theseand could demonstrate an array of practical applications in detail.

1. Evaluate Milgrams Agency Theory. (4)

According to the exam board Candidates who scored highly usedevidence from real life situations such as the soldiers in WWII acting onHitlers behalf and were thus in an agentic state. Where marks were lost,it was typically because candidates made the relevant point i.e. it hasreal life application without expanding. Others had prepared evaluativecomments which were very weak (i.e. just naming studies without furtherelaboration of how they supported the theory). This is proof that to dowell in the exam you must PEE (point, followed by evidence orelaboration).

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2.Outline one strength and one weakness of the study you described in(4)

Do what the question says but be careful about the number of marksallocated you must state your strength, explain this and then elaborate

upon this or give an example. The same applies for weaknesses. Theexam board said where methodological strengths and weaknesses wereoffered, they really needed to be explicitly related to the studies to becredible. Too many generic points were given which could have been saidabout any psychological study. In other words, do not simply say thestudy lacked ecological validity because it was a laboratory this couldbe said about any lab experiment. Instead say the study lackedecological validity as the lab experiment involved participants memorisinglists of words which is not a task people have to do in real life.

3. Evaluate social identity theory as an explanation of prejudice. (4)

4. In social psychology, there are many ethical issues to be consideredwhen involving human participants in research. Briefly evaluate Milgrams(1963) study of obedience in terms ofone ethical issue. (2)

Again, make your point and then elaborate further.

5. You will have studied one of the following studies in detail from theCognitive approach:Peterson and Peterson (1959)

Craik and Tulving (1975)Ramponi et al (2004)

Choose one study from the list and evaluate this study (5)

5 marks!! You must learn those evaluation points!

6 (a) Identify one model or theory of memory other than the Levels ofProcessingmodel of memory. (1)

(b) Outline one strength and one weakness of the model or theory youidentified in (a). (4)

Make sure you have revised your research methods booklet thoroughly.

The course introduces research methods gradually and you must

remember what you learn for the whole course not just the exam youare studying for at the time. You must also ensure that you take an active

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part in the practicals you have to carry out and also revise these as you

could be asked about this is the exam (see below).

1. As part of the course requirements for the Social Approach you willhave conducted a survey (interview/questionnaire). Outline the alternative

hypothesis of your survey and state whether it is directional (one-tailed)or non-directional (two-tailed). (3)

According to the exam board very few hypotheses were fullyoperationalised and many were phrased as research questions ratherthan predictions. Better candidates did not get aims mixed up withhypotheses and clearly knew the difference between one and two tailedtypes. In this respect they easily scored at least two marks. So to getthree out of three your hypothesis must make a prediction, the variablesmust be fully operationalised and you must state whether it is one or twotailed.

2. Outline one problem you came across when planning and/or carryingout the survey (interview/questionnaire). (2)

From the exam board The problems offered in part (b) weredisappointing often suggestive of lack of effort and application rather thangenuine methodological issues I didnt have time and some of thesolutions indicated a lack of regard for methodological rigour I had toomany males than females so I removed their results to balance it outweak problems were to do with the sample not enough participants as

we didnt have enough time One candidate wrote One problem was thefact that the results had to be analysed. I hope to God it was notsomeone from Pensby! Candidates who did well on this question wereclearly outlining actual problems they had encountered such asambiguous wording which was picked up in a pilot study or in analysis ofthe results themselves.

This answer got two marks as the problem given was appropriate andrelevant to the study and the point made was elaborated upon (you cansee where the examiner has awarded two marks).

3. Explain how you might have addressed (or did address) this problem

when planning and/or carrying out the survey (interview/questionnaire).(2)

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You must be prepared to answer questions such as this about everypractical you do.The answer below is from the same candidate above:

This question shows that the candidate clearly knows the advantages ofusing closed rather than open questions

4. Explain why in psychology it might be preferable to use a researchmethod that produces qualitative rather than quantitative data. (4)

Considering that this topic is quite complex it was refreshing to see bettercandidates appear to recognise the need for qualitative methods inpsychology and cite its relevant strengths. These candidates madeexplicit links with why this type of data might be preferred in psychology,i.e. making reference to the complexity of human behaviour and thedifficulty of reducing this to numbers. Essentially this question is askingwhy psychologists would use qualitative data.

5. The graph below portrays the results of a typical study testing theLevels of Processing theory of memory. From your knowledge of levels ofprocessing and from the information on the graph answer the followingquestions.

The Graph is a bar chart showing the results of the Levels of Processingstudy with the Semantic mean being 15, the Phonetic 9 and the Structural6.

(a) Identify the dependent variable (DV) in this study. (1)

(b) Give a suitable experimental/alternative hypothesis for this study. (1)

Only one mark but I would still be careful to operationalise my variablesas you need to get into the habit of doing this.

(c) This study was conducted using a repeated measures design. Outlineone strength of this design. (2)

(d) What is the mean recall score for the phonetic condition? (1)

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This question just asked for candidates to interpret a simple bar chart butamazingly some candidates got this wrong.

6. As part of the course requirements for social psychology you conducted

an interview/ questionnaire by which you gathered qualitative data.Describe the steps you took in order to gather and analyse the data. (5)

7. A field experiment was carried out to see if environmental cues can aidrecall. A student ice hockey team learned a list of 20 unrelated words inan ice rink. Half the group were then taken to a library (control group)whilst the other half (experimental group) stayed in the ice rink. Bothgroups then had to recall as many of the 20 words as possible. The resultsare shown in the table below:

Control group(Library)

Experimental group(Ice rink)

Mean number ofwordsrecalled (out of 20)

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(a) Which design is being used in this study? (1)

(b) Explain why this design is appropriate for this study. (2)

(c)Which measure of central tendency is being used in the table above?(1)

A surprising number of candidates were not familiar with the term centraltendency in part (c) and were unable to answer this question correctly.Remember measures of central tendency are your mean, median andmode!

(d) Would this study have high or low validity? Explain your answer.(2)

Remember not to confuse validity with reliability (see research methods

guide).

(e) The researchers would have followed ethical guidelines. Withreference to this study, explain two ethical guidelines they would have toconsider. (4)

Too many candidates scored badly on this question because they did notread the question properly and discussed ethical guidelines in general you need to refer to ethical problems related to the study.

(f) Outline one weakness of field experiments in general. (2)

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1. In your course you would have studied a key issue in the socialapproach. Imagineyou are a social psychologist and are being interviewed by a journalistabout the issue you studied. Apply concepts and ideas on socialpsychology to explain the issue. (3)

As you are being interviewed by a journalist you have to explain the issueand theory in laymens terms so that ordinary people can understand it.

2. Young people are getting a bad press coverage for hanging aroundtowns ingroups and wearing hoodies.

Using social identity theory, explain why teenagers might be gettingnegative media coverage. (3)

According to the exam board this was probably the most poorly answeredquestion on the (June 2009) paper and it involved a visual stimulus to helpcue candidates. Many candidates just did not use Social Identity Theoryto answer the question. Instead they reverted to story telling about gangculture.

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An example of a student story-telling an answer and not referring toPsychology.

Good clear points made which all refer explicitly to the three componentparts of S.I.T. The first point about out groups is straight off the markscheme and followed up by good descriptions of social identification andcomparison. Full marks are therefore given here.

3. You are sitting in a lesson and suddenly hear a loud explosion outside.You run to the window with all your classmates and see a large cloud ofsmoke and people running around. You are questioned the next day bythe police about what happened. Using concepts, theories and/or researchfrom the Cognitive Approach explain why your recall of the event mightdiffer from others who saw the same incident. (5)

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1 Good start directly answering the question and bringing in lack ofrehearsal from the MSM.2- Interference is used well as an explanation and elaborated upon with asolid example. The fact that the type of interference is not mentioned

does not detract from the mark given.3- A third mark is given here for reconstruction and confabulation which isput well and makes good reference to schemas and past experienceinfluencing recall.4-5 The final two marks are given for the explanation of lack of cueswhich is well expressed and elaborated upon (both types of cue arementioned).

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For a guide to writing essays see the last page. Make sure you answer

this question! If I was doing the exam I would do the multiple choice first

and then spend 15-20 minutes on the essay question before tackling the

shorter answer questions in the rest of the exam.

1. Describe and evaluate the cue dependent theory of forgetting.Your evaluation should include: comparison with one other theory of forgetting strengths and/or weaknesses of the cue dependent theory. (12)

A good introduction clearly defining how the theory explains forgetting

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Good definitions of both types of cues followed up by relevant researchexamples which demonstrates clear understanding

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Excellent comparison point with another theory, put really well. Thiscandidate got 11/12, showing that an essay does not have to be perfect toscore high marks.

2. Describe and evaluate one theory of forgetting (12)

3. Describe and evaluate one study of obedience from a country otherthan Milgrams (USA). (12)

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This is the correct way to use a study to support thetheory. No long description of the whole Duka study,candidate has been concise in describing how thefindings support the theory.


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1 Very limited description with brief statements given about theprocedure only.2- Six separate evaluation points are made in this whole paragraph (whichare all relevant criticisms) not one of which is in enough detail orelaborated. This puts this answer into the top of the first band.

The End!

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