Approaches exam practice Paper 2: Specimen 2 & 3

STRUCTURE OF PAPERS PAPER 1: 2 hours (4th June) Social Influence Memory Attachment Psychopathology 24 marks for each section Mix of multiple choice, short and long answer questions Approaches (24) Biopsychology (24) Research Methods (48) RM is double-weighted Research Methods worth 102 marks overall plus additional 30 marks of Maths (35% of final A Level grade) STRUCTURE OF PAPERS

Specimen 3: 30 minutes Pages 2-5 Approaches Specimen 3: 30 minutes Pages 2-5

1 mark for B Question 1

1 mark for B Question 2

Question 3 1 mark each for outlining denial and displacement 1 mark each for application in the form of a brief relevant suggestion Denial – refusing to acknowledge reality Displacement – taking out your emotions on a substitute object Tim refuses to believe his business is gone and still spends all day in his office (denial) Tim takes out his anger at the bank by arguing with his family (displacement) Question 3

Question 4 Evaluation ONLY No description Choice: one point in detail or 2 in less detail Marked on: relevance, explanation, focus, specialist terminology Answer must be linked to defence mechanisms No credit for general evaluation of psychodynamic theory Question 4

Question 4 Possible evaluation points: Lack of testability/falsifiability since defence mechanisms are unconscious processes they cannot be studied directly Defence mechanisms can only be inferred from behaviour or from reported thoughts or experiences Intuitive appeal – most people can appreciate the idea of denial, repression, displacement Use of evidence to support or contradict the existence of defence mechanisms e.g. case studies of people who are unable to recall upsetting events Question 4

Question 4 How many marks? One of the problems with defence mechanisms is that they are at an unconscious level and this means they cannot be tested empirically. For example, a key defence mechanism according to Freud is repression, which is a type of unconscious forgetting. If there is something we cannot deal with at present then to prevent it overwhelming us it will be pushed to an unconscious level where it is not accessible. Because it is inaccessible it cannot be investigated scientifically and therefore may or may not exist! An example of something that might be repressed is childhood abuse which was very upsetting at the time. There is some evidence from a study by Williams that women who had been abused as children failed to report this later when interviewed (even though it was on hospital records). This is evidence for the defence mechanism of repression. Question 4

Question 5 2 parts to the question Must answer BOTH: outline (2 marks); ONE application (4 marks) Marked according to levels: looking for focus, terminology, coherence Question 5

Question 5 Possible content: Scientific study of brain/neurological structures, mechanisms, processes, chemistry that are responsible for cognitive/mental/thinking processes Possible applications: Use of scanning/imaging techniques e.g. to locate different types of memory in different areas of the brain leading to treatment for memory problems Use of scanning/imaging techniques to study mental processing patients with depression or OCD or in children with autism or dyslexia. Use of imaging techniques and angiography to study the effects of normal ageing on the brain or to observe the effects of stroke on the brain Use of computer simulations/computational modelling to test theories or hypotheses about mental processes such as attention, memory, problem solving etc. Use of computer modelling to develop voice recognition programmes Use of eye-tracking/motion-tracking to study visual word processing and reading Question 5

Question 5 How many marks? Neuroscience is the scientific study of neurons. Neurons are nerve cells which send and receive messages in the brain and CNS. For example motor neurons. These have long axons as they have to stretch all the way down your arms and legs. They send messages to the muscles from the brain. This is done by action potentials which is when electricity is sent down a neuron to another one. You can study the activity in the brain by using scans such as PET. This works by injecting radioactive material that lights up in the part of the brain that is active. This can be useful when studying OCD because these people have activity in parts of the brain that others do not have as much of. An area in the front of the brain is very active in people with OCD and this has been discovered through the use of PET scans. This part of the brain involves mainly thoughts. Question 5

Question 6 2 parts to the question – description AND application Divide answer equally into both (4 + 4) Looking for specialist terminology Use of an example Can use diagrams for description but should support it with some written prose Question 6

Question 6 Possible content Detail of Pavlov’s classical conditioning experiments into salivation reflex in dogs. Knowledge of Pavlovian concepts in the context of Pavlov’s experiments: unconditioned stimulus; conditioned stimulus; unconditioned response; conditioned response. Detail of Pavlovian theory – learning by association; contiguity, experimental extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalisation Possible application School is initially a neutral stimulus A fear-arousing event (the unconditioned stimulus) occurs whilst the child is at school e.g. being bullied in the playground. Initially the child experiences fear which is an unconditioned response to the fear- arousing event (e.g. bullying). The fear-arousing event and school are paired together in time (are contiguous). Eventually the school becomes a conditioned stimulus which will elicit fear (now a conditioned response) even when the original fear-arousing event is not present Question 6

Question 6 How many marks? Classical conditioning is learning by association. This means an animal or human learns to associate something new with something which naturally causes a response. That ‘new thing’ then causes the same response by itself. Pavlov carried out work with saliva and dogs. Saliva is a reflex response to food and he discovered by chance that the dog began to salivate before the food touched the tongue. He then rang a bell when he presented the food a few times and after a while the ringing of the bell without the food made the dog salivate. The food was the UCS=Unconditioned Stimulus and the saliva the UCR=Unconditioned Response, because this is the original reflex response. The bell is the NS=Neutral Stimulus which becomes the CS=Conditioned Stimulus when it produces the saliva which is then known as the CR=Conditioned Response. A child would not normally be fearful of school but if school becomes associated with a frightening incident (teacher shouting) then the school alone can bring on the fear. Question 6

Specimen 2: 30 minutes Pages 2-5 Approaches Specimen 2: 30 minutes Pages 2-5

1 mark for each: B, D Question 1

Question 2 Knowledge of SLT What are the 4 mediational processes? Attention, Retention, Production, Motivation Must engage with scenario: maximum 2 marks if not Question 2

Question 2 Mediational processes relevant to Bradley’s situation: mental/cognitive processes occur between stimulus (Bradley’s observation) and response (Bradley’s copying the behaviour) Specific examples are: attention, motivation, retention/memory, assessment of own ability Bradley is motivated to attend to the relevant information (is keen to play well) Bradley pays attention to the actions of the person he wants to copy (watches carefully) Bradley tries to remember the action so he can do the same (thinks about how he was holding the cue) Bradley considers his own ability to perform (thinks…whether he can do the same.) Question 2

Question 3 Easy question Description only Write enough for 6 marks Focus on contribution Question 3

Content: Wundt known as ‘the father of psychology’ – moved from philosophical roots to controlled research Set up the first psychology laboratory in Liepzig, Germany in 1870s Promoted the use of introspection as a way of studying mental processes Introspection – systematic analysis of own conscious experience of a stimulus An experience was analysed in terms of its components parts e.g. sensations, emotional reaction etc. His work paved the way for later controlled research and the study of mental processes e.g. by cognitive psychologists. Question 3

Question 4 How many marks? Wilhelm Wundt is generally considered the father of experimental psychology. After studying medicine, he worked as a physiologist at Heidelberg University and later at Leipzig University. While at Heidelberg, he delivered the first university course on scientific psychology and went on to write the first textbook on psychology, “Principles of Physiological Psychology”. In 1875, at Leipzig University, he set up the first laboratory dedicated to experimental psychology. In doing so, he separated psychology from philosophy and biology and became the first person to be called a psychologist. Wundt’s approach became known as structuralism because he used experimental methods to find the basic building blocks (structures) of thought and investigate how they interacted. To do this, he studied sensation and perception, breaking participants’ observations of objects, images and events down into constituent parts in the same way that an anatomist would study a body trying to find its constituent parts and how they interact. He did this by studying reaction time - systematically changing the stimuli he presented to participants and measuring how long it took them to respond - inferring that the longer it took to respond, the more mental processes must be involved. Later, he adapted and developed a process called introspection to infer more about the nature of the processes involved. Question 4

Question 4 Strength: 1 mark for identification of a strength 1 mark for explanation/elaboration e.g. why it is a strength of the cognitive approach. Limitation: 1 mark for identification of a limitation 1 mark for explanation/elaboration e.g. why it is a limitation of the cognitive approach. Question 4

Likely strengths: control/objectivity in research; use of models for ease of understanding; links to neuroscience and consequent applications Likely limitations: still requires inferences about cognitive processes; mechanistic approach to understanding human behaviour Question 4

Question 5 8 mark question: 3 + 5 3 marks of A01 on psychodynamic approach – need to be selective At least 2 differences between psychodynamic and humanistic Outline of the psychodynamic approach is generally accurate. Discussion of difference(s) is thorough and effective. Answer is clear, coherent and well focused. Specialist terminology is used effectively. Question 5

Question 5 Possible content – outline: Concept of the unconscious and role of unconscious in behaviour (pre-conscious) Tripartite structure of the personality – id, ego, superego Psychosexual stages of development Conflicts – Oedipus and Electra Defence mechanisms Psychodynamic approach to therapy – psychoanalysis Possible differences - discussion: Negativity of Freud in relation to the positive outlook of humanistic psychology Emphasis on repressed thoughts and emotions, and past experiences (Freud) versus emphasis on subjective experience of the present and personal growth in the future Emphasis on unconscious drives/motives versus conscious awareness and experience Psychic determinism (Freud) versus free will and rational choice Directive versus non-directive approach to therapy Question 5