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AQA GCSE Psychology topic questions

Practice questions per spec point, written in board paper style with mark-scheme answers.

  1. P1Paper 1 — Cognition and Behaviour5 questions →
  2. P1.DDevelopment5 questions →
  3. P1.D.1Early brain development: roles of the brain stem, thalamus, cerebellum and cortex; nature and nurture in development6 questions →
  4. P1.D.2Piaget's stage theory of cognitive development: schemas, assimilation, accommodation, equilibrium and the four stages (sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, formal operational)6 questions →
  5. P1.D.3Piagetian research: conservation, egocentrism (three mountains task) and class inclusion6 questions →
  6. P1.D.4The application of Piaget's theory to education: readiness, discovery learning and key issues for the classroom6 questions →
  7. P1.D.5Dweck's mindset theory: fixed vs growth mindset, praise, effort and persistence6 questions →
  8. P1.D.6Willingham's learning theory: critique of learning styles and the role of meaning, neuromyths and effective teaching6 questions →
  9. P1.MMemory5 questions →
  10. P1.M.1Processes of memory: encoding (acoustic, visual, semantic), storage and retrieval7 questions →
  11. P1.M.2Structures of memory: sensory register, short-term and long-term memory; capacity, duration and encoding6 questions →
  12. P1.M.3Memory as an active process: Bartlett's War of the Ghosts study and theory of reconstructive memory6 questions →
  13. P1.M.4The multi-store model of memory (Atkinson and Shiffrin) and its evaluation6 questions →
  14. P1.M.5Primacy and recency effects in recall; Murdock's serial position curve study6 questions →
  15. P1.M.6Interference and context as factors affecting accuracy of memory6 questions →
  16. P1.PPerception5 questions →
  17. P1.P.1Sensation versus perception; the role of the visual system6 questions →
  18. P1.P.2Visual cues and constancies: monocular depth cues (height in plane, relative size, occlusion, linear perspective) and binocular depth cues (retinal disparity, convergence)6 questions →
  19. P1.P.3Gibson's direct theory of perception, including the role of motion parallax and optic flow6 questions →
  20. P1.P.4Visual illusions: types (ambiguous, fiction, distortion) with examples (Necker cube, Kanizsa triangle, Ponzo, Müller-Lyer, Rubin's vase)6 questions →
  21. P1.P.5Gregory's constructivist theory of perception and the role of inference6 questions →
  22. P1.P.6Factors affecting perception: culture, motivation, emotion and expectation; Gilchrist and Nesberg study; Bruner and Minturn study6 questions →
  23. P1.RResearch methods5 questions →
  24. P1.R.1Formulation of testable hypotheses, including null and alternative hypotheses; identifying independent and dependent variables5 questions →
  25. P1.R.2Sampling methods: random, opportunity, systematic, stratified — strengths, weaknesses and how to apply5 questions →
  26. P1.R.3Variables and how they are operationalised; control of extraneous variables5 questions →
  27. P1.R.4Experimental designs: independent groups, repeated measures, matched pairs — strengths and weaknesses6 questions →
  28. P1.R.5Non-experimental methods: observation (naturalistic, controlled, covert/overt, participant), interviews and questionnaires (open and closed questions), case studies and correlations5 questions →
  29. P1.R.6Planning research: pilot studies, ethics (BPS code: consent, deception, withdrawal, protection, confidentiality, debriefing) and dealing with ethical issues5 questions →
  30. P1.R.7Data handling: quantitative vs qualitative, primary vs secondary data; measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode) and dispersion (range)5 questions →
  31. P1.R.8Presentation of data: tables, bar charts, histograms, scatter diagrams; types of correlation and how to read them5 questions →
  32. P1.R.9Computation: percentages, fractions, decimals, ratios, significant figures, scientific notation and order of magnitude5 questions →
  33. P2Paper 2 — Social Context and Behaviour5 questions →
  34. P2.BBrain and neuropsychology5 questions →
  35. P2.B.1Structure and function of the nervous system: central and peripheral nervous systems, somatic and autonomic divisions; the fight-or-flight response and the role of adrenaline6 questions →
  36. P2.B.2Neurons and synapses: structure and function of sensory, relay and motor neurons; synaptic transmission and the role of neurotransmitters6 questions →
  37. P2.B.3Hebb's theory of learning and neural plasticity; the formation of cell assemblies6 questions →
  38. P2.B.4Localisation of function in the brain: motor, somatosensory, visual, auditory and language (Broca's and Wernicke's areas) centres; lateralisation6 questions →
  39. P2.B.5Methods of studying the brain: post-mortem, CT, PET and fMRI scans — strengths and limitations of each6 questions →
  40. P2.B.6Neurological damage: case studies of cognitive neuroscience (e.g. effects of stroke, Phineas Gage); cognitive neuroscience as a discipline6 questions →
  41. P2.LLanguage, thought and communication5 questions →
  42. P2.L.1The relationship between language and thought: Piaget's view (thought precedes language) vs the linguistic relativity hypothesis (Sapir–Whorf)6 questions →
  43. P2.L.2Variations in recall of events and recognition of colours as linked to language (the Inuit snow vocabulary debate, the Zuñi colour study)6 questions →
  44. P2.L.3Differences between human and animal communication: Von Frisch's bee study and the limits of animal language6 questions →
  45. P2.L.4Non-verbal communication: functions of body language, eye contact, facial expression, posture and gesture; personal space (Hall)6 questions →
  46. P2.L.5Explanations of non-verbal behaviour: the evolutionary view (Darwin, Yuki et al. on cross-cultural facial expressions) versus the learned/cultural view6 questions →
  47. P2.L.6Application: detecting deception and use of body language in interviews and policing6 questions →
  48. P2.PSPsychological problems5 questions →
  49. P2.PS.1How mental health affects individuals and society: increasing challenges and modern lifestyles; stigma6 questions →
  50. P2.PS.2Characteristics of clinical depression (unipolar) and the ICD criteria (low mood, loss of interest, sleep changes etc.)6 questions →
  51. P2.PS.3Theories of depression: biological (genetic vulnerability and the role of serotonin) and psychological (negative schemas and attributions; learned helplessness)6 questions →
  52. P2.PS.4Interventions for depression: antidepressants (SSRIs) and CBT — how they work and effectiveness6 questions →
  53. P2.PS.5Characteristics of addiction; substance and behavioural addictions; ICD criteria6 questions →
  54. P2.PS.6Theories of addiction: Kaij's twin studies and the genetic vulnerability hypothesis; Peer Pressure (learning theory) and the role of social influence6 questions →
  55. P2.PS.7Interventions for addiction: aversion therapy and self-management programmes (e.g. AA), and their evaluation6 questions →
  56. P2.SSocial influence5 questions →
  57. P2.S.1Conformity: majority influence; Asch's line study and variations (group size, unanimity, task difficulty); normative and informational social influence6 questions →
  58. P2.S.2Obedience: Milgram's agency theory; the legitimate authority and agentic state; the role of buffers and proximity6 questions →
  59. P2.S.3Bickman's study of obedience and the effect of uniform5 questions →
  60. P2.S.4Dispositional factors in obedience: the authoritarian personality (Adorno) and the F-scale5 questions →
  61. P2.S.5Prosocial behaviour and bystander intervention: Piliavin's subway study; the cost-reward model and arousal5 questions →
  62. P2.S.6Crowd and collective behaviour: deindividuation, social loafing and de-individuation effects in real-world settings6 questions →