A psychologist investigated whether hours of sleep correlate with errors on a reaction task. Write a directional hypothesis.
1(b)2 marks
The psychologist used opportunity sampling of eight students. Give one weakness of this sampling method for this study.
1(c)6 marks
Data:
Participant
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Hours slept
5.0
6.5
7.0
8.0
5.5
9.0
6.0
7.5
Errors
12
13
9
6
10
7
14
8
Calculate Spearman's rho. Show your working.
1(d)3 marks
The critical value for N = 8 (one-tailed, p ≤ 0.05) is 0.643. Explain whether the result is significant.
1(e)3 marks
Explain why the psychologist cannot conclude that lack of sleep causes errors.
1(f)4 marks
Explain one threat to validity and one way of improving reliability in this study.
1(g)4 marks
The psychologist also interviewed participants about how tired they felt. Explain how thematic analysis could be used on these data.
2(a)4 marks
Describe the procedure of one contemporary study from social psychology (for example Burger, 2009).
2(b)8 marks
Compare Milgram (1963) with one contemporary study you have learned in terms of methodology and ethics.
2(c)12 marks
Evaluate the use of brain scanning in biological psychology, with reference to at least one study you have learned.
3(a)4 marks
Explain one ethical issue in research using animals in psychology.
3(b)8 marks
Discuss how psychological knowledge has been used as a means of social control.
3(c)20 marks
Evaluate the contribution of psychology to understanding the nature–nurture debate. You must refer to at least three topic areas you have studied.
Finished?
Answer every question to finish (13 left), or finish when the time’s up.
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This paper is written by Plasmo in the style of the Edexcel A-Level Psychology exam. It is not a past paper and is not produced or endorsed by the exam board.