to OCR Psychology
What to expect from your AS course
Units of study
AS Unit G541: Psychological Investigations
• This unit is 30% of your total AS psychology and
consists of a 1 hour written paper marked out of
60.
• Although you will have to learn four sections for
this paper, you will only be asked questions on
three of the sections.
The four sections are:
• self report
• experiment
• observation
• correlation
Self
Report
• A self report is any method which involves asking
a participant about their feelings, attitudes, beliefs
and so on. Examples of self reports are
questionnaires and interviews but note that self
reports are often used as a way of gaining
participants responses in observational studies
and experiments.
• Questionnaires are a type of self report method
which consist of a set of questions usually in a
highly structured written form.
• Questionnaires can contain both open questions
and closed questions and participants record their
own answers.
• Interviews are a type of spoken questionnaire
where the interviewer records the responses.
Interviews can be structured whereby there is a
predetermined set of questions or unstructured
whereby no questions are decided in advance.
Experiment
• An experiment is a research method used by psychologists
which involves the manipulation of variables in order to
discover cause and effect. It differs from non-experimental
methods in that it involves the deliberate manipulation of one
variable, while trying to keep all other variables constant.
• The two main types of 'true' experiments are laboratory
experiments and field experiments.
• When psychologists carry out experiments they use one of
three basic experimental designs to investigate the effects of
an independent variable on a dependent variable. These are the
independent measures design, the repeated measures design
and the matched pairs design.
• Before researchers carry out experiments they operationalise
the variables and create hypotheses. A hypothesis is a testable,
predictive statement.
• Experiments produce quantitative data which can be analysed
statistically. For this part of the course you need to be aware of
descriptive statistics including measure of central tendency
and bar charts.
• Follow this link for a full evaluation of this method.
Observation
• All types of research involve some element of
observation. It is not just observational studies
that use observation. For example, when we use
self report measures we observe the responses
of the participants, when we carry out
experiments we observe the behaviour of our
participants and so on.
• A full evaluation of this method can be found by
following this link.
Correlation
• Correlation refers to a measure of how strongly two or
more variables are related to each other.
• A positive correlation means that high values of one
variable are associated with high values of the other. Or
if you like, the variables increase together.
• A negative correlation means that high values of one
variable are associated with low values of the other. Or if
you like, as one variable increases the other decreases.
Note that like a positive correlation, a negative
correlation still indicates that some kind of relationship
exists.
• If there is no correlation between two variables they are
said to be uncorrelated.
Correlation
• What type of correlation do these scatter graphs
represent?
• Correlations are expressed as a correlation coefficient which ranges from +1 to -1, with 0
indicating no correlation at all.
• Click on this link for further evaluation, pay
specific attention to the cause and effect
problem.
Units of study
AS Unit G542 Core Studies
• This unit is 70% of your total AS psychology and
consists of a 2 hour written paper marked out
of 120. The question paper has three sections.
• Section A requires you to answer short
questions related to each of the 15 core
studies.
• Section B requires you to answer one question,
which requires considerable detail of one core
study.
• Section C requires you to answer one question
from a choice of two focusing on approaches,
issues and methods.
Core studies (cognitive approach)
• Baron-Cohen et al. (autism)
Baron-Cohen, S., Jollife, T., Mortimore, C. & Robertson,
M. (1997) Another advanced test of theory of mind:
evidence from very high functioning adults with autism or
Asperger syndrome.
• Loftus and Palmer (eyewitness testimony)
Loftus, E.F. & Palmer, J.C. (1974) Reconstruction of
auto-mobile destruction: An example of the interaction
between language and memory.
• Savage-Rumbaugh et al. (animal language)
Savage-Rumbaugh, S., MacDonald, K., Sevcik, R. A.,
Hopkins, W. D. and Rubert, E. (1986) Spontaneous
symbol acquisition and communication use by pygmy
chimpanzees (Pan paniscus)
Core studies (developmental
psychology)
• Samuel and Bryant (conservation)
Samuel, J. and Bryant, P. (1984) Asking only
one question in the conservation experiment
• Bandura, Ross and Ross (aggression)
Bandura, A., Ross, D. & Ross, S.A. (1961)
Transmission of aggression through imitation of
aggressive models
• Freud (Little Hans)
Freud, S. (1909) Analysis of a phobia of a five
year old boy. In The Pelican Freud Library
(1977), Vol 8, Case Histories 1, pages 169-306
Core Studies (individual
differences)
• Rosenhan (sane in insane places)
Rosenhan, D.L. (1973) On being sane in insane
places.
• Thigpen and Cleckley (Multiple Personality
Disorder)
Thigpen, C.H. & Cleckley, H. (1954) A case of
multiple personality.
• Griffiths (gambling)
Griffiths, M. D. (1994) The role of cognitive bias
and skill in fruit machine gambling.
Core Studies (physiological
psychology)
• Maguire et al. (brain scans)
Maguire, E. A., Gadian, N. G., Johnsrude, I. S., Good, C.
D., Ashburner, J., Frackowiak, R. S., & Fith, C. D. (2000)
Navigation-related structural changes in the hippocampi
of taxi drivers.
• Dement and Kleitman (sleep and dreaming)
Dement, W. & Kleitman, N. (1957) The relation of eye
movements during sleep to dream activity: An objective
method for the study of dreaming.
• Sperry (split brain)
Sperry, R.W. (1968) Hemisphere deconnection and unity
in consciousness.
Core studies (social psychology)
• Reicher and Haslam (BBC prison study)
Reicher, S. & Halsam, S. A. (2006) Rethinking
the psychology of tyranny. The BBC prison
study.
• Milgram (obedience)
Milgram. S (1963) Behavioural Study of
Obedience.
• Piliavin et al. (subway Samaritan)
Piliavin, I.M., Rodin, J.A. & Piliavin, J. (1969)
Good Samaritanism: An underground
phenomenon?
Cognitive Psychology
• Cognitive psychology studies our mental processes or
cognitions. These mental processes that cognitive
psychologists focus on include memory, perception,
thinking and language.
• The main assumption of the cognitive approach is that
information received from our senses is processed by
the brain and that this processing directs how we behave
or at least justifies how we behave the way that we do.
• Cognitive processes are examples of hypothetical
constructs. That is, we cannot directly see processes
such as thinking but we can infer what a person is
thinking based on how they act.
• Cognitive psychology has been influenced by
developments in computer science and analogies are
often made between how a computer works and how we
process information. Based on this computer analogy
cognitive psychology is interested in how the brain
inputs, stores and outputs information.
Developmental Psychology
• Developmental psychology is interested in
discovering the psychological processes of
development. The three core studies in this
section all focus on how children develop. It
is worth noting that developmental
psychologists also study adulthood too.
• A main assumption of the developmental
approach is that cognitive, emotional and
behavioural development is an ongoing
process and that such changes result from
an interaction of nature and nurture.