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Oxford AQA A-Level Psychology Paper 1: Social Context and Behaviour
We know for Paper 1 – Introductory topics in psychology, there are three sections in the paper – Memory, Social Psychology and Psychopathology and we’ll go through each of these topics in this video.
You can use the timestamps in the description to jump to the section you’re interested in or you can just sit back and listen.
Memory:
• Multi-Store Model of Memory: Familiarise yourself with the structure and processes of the multi-store model, including sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory. Make sure you can describe how information is transferred between these stores, and be ready to evaluate the model by discussing evidence that supports or contradicts it, such as research on the distinct capacities and durations of these stores.
• Working Memory Model: Know the components of the working memory model (central executive, phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, and episodic buffer) and how they interact. Be prepared to discuss the strengths, such as its explanation of multitasking, and limitations, including criticisms regarding the vague role of the central executive.
• Types of Long-Term Memory: Episodic and Procedural: Understand the distinctions between episodic and procedural memories, with episodic involving personal experiences and procedural involving skills.
• Use of Cognitive Interview: Review the principles of the cognitive interview and how it aims to improve accuracy in eyewitness testimony. Be ready to evaluate its effectiveness, considering strengths, such as research supporting its use in enhancing recall, and limitations, such as the practical challenges of training law enforcement.
Social Psychology:
• Locus of Control: Be prepared to explain locus of control as a personality dimension that can influence behaviour in social situations, particularly in relation to resisting conformity or obedience. Understand the difference between internal and external loci and be ready to evaluate the concept with supporting research, including its applicability to real-world settings.
• Legitimacy of Authority as an Explanation of Obedience: Understand how the perception of legitimate authority influences obedience, such as in Milgram’s research. Be able to discuss factors that enhance perceived legitimacy and evaluate this explanation by considering supporting evidence and alternative explanations, like dispositional factors.
• Types of Conformity: Know the three types of conformity (compliance, identification, and internalisation) and be able to distinguish between them with examples. Prepare to discuss the situational factors influencing each type and evaluate their relevance in explaining social behaviour.
• Asch’s Conformity Research: Make sure you can describe Asch’s experiment on conformity, including the aim, procedure, findings, and conclusions. Be prepared to evaluate the study by discussing strengths, such as its controlled design, and limitations, including ethical concerns and questions about ecological validity.
Psychopathology:
• Deviation from Ideal Mental Health Definition of Abnormality: Understand Jahoda’s criteria for ideal mental health, including autonomy, accurate perception of reality, and resistance to stress. Be able to describe how deviation from these criteria is used to define abnormality and evaluate this approach by discussing its practical application and limitations, such as cultural bias.
• Characteristics of Depression: Familiarise yourself with the key symptoms of depression, including emotional, behavioural, and cognitive characteristics. Be able to apply this knowledge to scenarios and discuss how these characteristics impact an individual’s daily functioning.
• Beck's Negative Triad Explanation of Depression: Understand Beck’s cognitive model of depression, which suggests that negative schemas about the self, world, and future contribute to depressive symptoms. Be prepared to evaluate the theory by discussing strengths, such as its support from cognitive-behavioural therapy research, and limitations, like the difficulty in establishing causation.
• Systematic Desensitisation: Know the stages of systematic desensitisation used to treat phobias, including relaxation techniques and gradual exposure. Be ready to evaluate this approach by discussing its effectiveness, ethical considerations, and comparison with alternative therapies like flooding or cognitive therapies.
Oxford AQA A-Level Psychology Paper 2: Biopsychology, Development and Research Methods
We know for Paper 2 – Biopsychology, Development and Research Methods 1 - there are three sections in the paper – Biopsychology, Cognitive Development and Research Methods and we’ll go through each of these topics in this video.
You can use the timestamps in the description to jump to the section you’re interested in or you can just sit back and listen.
Biopsychology:
Nervous System: Make sure you can describe the roles of the central and peripheral nervous systems in processing and responding to information. Understand how these systems coordinate to control voluntary and involuntary actions.
Endocrine System - Role of Glands: Know the main glands in the endocrine system, including the adrenal and pituitary glands, and how they release hormones. Be prepared to explain the role of these hormones in regulating behaviours like stress response and growth.
Role of Adrenaline in Fight or Flight: Understand how adrenaline prepares the body for a fight-or-flight response, increasing heart rate and blood flow to muscles. Be ready to discuss the adaptive function of this response in preparing the body to confront or escape threats.
Neurotransmitters in Synaptic Transmission: Know how neurotransmitters facilitate communication between neurons at synapses, including examples like dopamine and serotonin. Be able to describe the process of synaptic transmission and how imbalances in neurotransmitters can affect behaviour.
Localisation of Function in the Brain: Be familiar with the concept of localisation and examples such as the motor cortex, Broca’s area, and Wernicke’s area. Be ready to explain how different areas are specialised for particular functions and the implications of damage to these areas.
Cognitive Development:
Class Inclusion: Understand Piaget’s stages of cognitive development, focusing on the concept of class inclusion and how it reflects children’s developing ability to categorise. Be prepared to describe each stage’s key characteristics and Piaget’s theories with examples.
Baillargeon’s Violation of Expectations Research: Make sure you can describe Baillargeon’s research, including its aim, procedure, findings, and conclusion on infants’ understanding of object permanence. Be ready to evaluate the study, noting strengths such as its controlled design and limitations like potential issues with ecological validity.
Mirror Neuron System in Social Cognition: Understand the role of mirror neurons in social cognition, such as how they help us understand others’ intentions and emotions. Be prepared to explain how this system contributes to empathy and social understanding, along with evaluation points, including supporting evidence and limitations.
Research Methods:
· Embrace Research Methods: Recognise that Research Methods content can appear in all four exam papers, not just Paper 2. You’ll find dedicated Research Methods sections in both Paper 2 and Paper 3. Always be ready! Familiarise yourself with examples of research and identify key elements such as hypotheses, variables, control measures, samples used, ethics and data collected. Exposure to different research scenarios will better prepare you for the new piece of research you'll face in this section.
Oxford AQA A Level Psychology Paper 3: Advanced Topics and Research Methods 2
We know for Paper 3 – Advanced Topics and Research Methods 2 - there are three sections in the paper – Biopsychology, Cognitive Development and Research Methods and we’ll go through each of these topics in this video.
You can use the timestamps in the description to jump to the section you’re interested in or you can just sit back and listen.
Psychology of Sleep:
Types of Sleep: Non-REM and REM: Be ready to describe the stages of sleep, including the distinctions between non-REM and REM sleep. Make sure you can explain the characteristics of each stage, such as brain wave patterns and physiological changes, and understand how they contribute to sleep quality.
Disruption of Biological Rhythms: Shift Work: Understand how shift work can disrupt circadian rhythms, leading to sleep disturbances and potential health risks. Be prepared to discuss studies on shift work, explaining both the physical and psychological effects of circadian misalignment, as well as methods to mitigate these effects.
Role of Personality Factors in Insomnia: Be familiar with how personality traits may influence susceptibility to insomnia. Focus on factors like anxiety and neuroticism, and be ready to explain how these can exacerbate sleep difficulties. Prepare evaluation points, considering strengths and limitations of research on personality and sleep.
Schizophrenia:
Cognitive Explanations: Dysfunctional Thought Processes: Know the key cognitive explanations for schizophrenia, such as faulty information processing and attentional biases. Be able to describe how these thought processes contribute to symptoms like delusions and hallucinations. Be prepared to evaluate these explanations, considering their support from cognitive research and limitations, like the difficulty in determining causation.
Dopamine Hypothesis: Understand the dopamine hypothesis, which suggests that schizophrenia may be linked to dopamine dysregulation in the brain. Be able to explain how both hyperactivity and hypoactivity of dopamine contribute to different symptoms. Prepare evaluation points, including evidence from drug studies and criticisms regarding the oversimplification of neurotransmitter roles.
Reliability and Validity in the Diagnosis of Schizophrenia: Focus on the challenges in reliably and validly diagnosing schizophrenia, such as the overlap of symptoms with other disorders and the subjectivity of diagnostic criteria. Be ready to discuss key studies or criticisms about diagnosis reliability, like inter-rater reliability, and validity concerns, including cultural and diagnostic bias.
Research Methods:
· Embrace Research Methods: Recognise that Research Methods content can appear in all four exam papers, not just Paper 3. You’ll find dedicated Research Methods sections in both Paper 2 and Paper 3. Always be ready! Familiarise yourself with examples of research and identify key elements such as hypotheses, variables, control measures, samples used, ethics and data collected. Exposure to different research scenarios will better prepare you for the new piece of research you'll face in this section.
Oxford AQA A Level Psychology Paper 4: Approaches and Application
We know for Paper 4 – Approaches and Application - there are three sections in the paper – Approaches in Psychology, Issues and Debates in Psychology and Applied Psychology: Work and the Individual and we’ll go through each of these topics in this video.
You can use the timestamps in the description to jump to the section you’re interested in or you can just sit back and listen.
Approaches in Psychology:
Cognitive Approach: Schemas: Understand the concept of schemas as mental frameworks that help us organise and interpret information. Be ready to explain how schemas influence perception, memory, and behaviour.
Social Learning Theory: Be prepared to describe the key processes in Social Learning Theory, such as observation, imitation, and vicarious reinforcement. Make sure you can explain Bandura’s Bobo doll study and evaluate the theory by discussing strengths like its empirical support and real-world application, and limitations, such as the influence of biological factors.
Biological Approach: Know the biological approach, focusing on the influence of genes, brain structures, and neurotransmitters on behaviour. Be ready to discuss strengths, such as its scientific basis and use of objective methods like brain scans, and limitations, like reductionism and potential ethical issues in genetic research.
Issues and Debates in Psychology:
Determinism: Understand the concept of determinism and how it suggests that behaviour is controlled by internal or external factors, rather than free will. Be able to distinguish between types of determinism, such as biological and environmental determinism, and evaluate the debate with strengths, like the scientific predictability of behaviour, and limitations, including ethical implications.
Nature-Nurture Debate: Be familiar with the debate around whether behaviour is influenced more by genetics (nature) or environment (nurture). Prepare to evaluate the strengths of each side, such as the role of genetic research supporting nature, and studies on environmental influence supporting nurture. Consider an interactionist approach that incorporates both influences.
Psychology as a Science: Be able to discuss the scientific nature of psychology, focusing on aspects like objectivity, replicability, and control. Be ready to evaluate psychology’s strengths as a science, such as producing reliable knowledge, and limitations, like ethical concerns and the reduction of complex behaviours to simpler components.
Applied Psychology: Work and the Individual
Job Demands-Resources Model: Understand the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, which suggests that work stress arises from the balance between job demands and the resources available to meet them. Be prepared to evaluate this model by discussing its practical applications in improving workplace conditions and limitations, such as individual differences in handling stress.
Cultural Differences in Personal Space: Be ready to explain how personal space expectations vary across cultures and how these differences impact workplace interactions. Prepare to evaluate by discussing the importance of cultural sensitivity in diverse work environments and potential challenges when cultural norms conflict.
Communication at Work: Non-Verbal Communication: Understand the role of non-verbal cues, such as body language, eye contact, and facial expressions, in workplace communication. Be ready to evaluate the importance of non-verbal communication, including its effectiveness in enhancing understanding, and limitations, such as misinterpretation across cultures.
Effects of Group Membership: Focus on how group membership influences behaviour, including concepts like social identity theory, in-group favouritism, and out-group bias. Be prepared to evaluate by discussing the positive effects of group membership on cohesion and morale, as well as potential downsides like stereotyping and groupthink.