Homework 1
This homework is broken down into 4 sections with 4 different activities. These aim
to:
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

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assess previous knowledge (A),
current knowledge (B),
prepare you for future topics (C)
review all previous content in preparation for assessment (D).
Each section constitutes a week’s worth of homework and should equate to around
4.5 hours of your time.
Each section will be checked by your teacher weekly.
To Access all video links- this homework is available online at psych205.com
The Linear A level-> Homework
Activity A
due date:__________
This homework comprises of some questions on key terms, methods and techniques you
have learnt about since starting the psychology course. You can use the research methods
pack to help you complete this work!
It also involves some preparation material for the next topic of study- social influences. It is
important to complete this task so you have some knowledge of the topic before you come
to the lesson and it allows you to join in on the class activities.
Questions
Wundt used a variety of methods to collect data in his psychological laboratory, one of which was
introspectionism. Explain what Wundt meant by introspection. (2 marks)
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Briefly explain the emergence of psychology as a science? (4 marks)
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What are some key features of science? (3 marks)
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Name and give brief detail of three key approaches in psychology. (6 marks)
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Decide whether the following hypotheses are directional or non-directional
1. There is a difference in children’s reading ability depending on whether they have blue or brown
eyes.
2. Dogs that are rewarded with chocolate sit when told to do so more often than dogs that are not
rewarded with chocolate.
3. There is a difference in the psychology grades of students depending on whether they are male
or female.
4. Teenagers who watch horror films have more friends than teenagers who watch romantic
comedies.
Identify the IVs and DVs in the examples below:
Independent variable
1. Talking to a child will
increase their language
ability
2. People are more
aggressive on hot days
3. Students may be late for
school because they
stayed up late the night
before
4. Watching horror films will
make children have
nightmares
5. People will be rated as
more attractive if they
wear red.
Dependent variable
Below are research aims for possible experiments. For each one identify and operationalise the IV and
DV and then write two hypotheses: a directional one and a non-directional one.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Do girls watch more television than boys?
Do children who watch more aggressive films have higher aggression levels?
Do students who have more school absences have lower exam grades?
Do people rate food as looking more attractive when they are hungry?
A researcher believes older people sleep more than younger people.
An experiment that measured the effects of an earthquake on stress levels (measured before and
after) would be:
a)
b)
c)
d)
Quasi-experiment
Lab experiment
Natural experiment
Field experiment
Which one is not usually a strength of a lab experiment?
a)
b)
c)
d)
High external validity
Establishes cause and effect
Precise control of variables
Replication is possible
Which is not a type of experimental design?
a)
b)
c)
d)
Repeated measures
Independent groups
Matched pairs
Participant design
Which of the following is an independent groups design, a repeated measures design or a matched
pairs design?
What design?
Depressed patients were assigned to receive
either cognitive therapy or behaviour therapy
for a 12-week period. A standardised test for
depression was administered and participants
were paired on the severity of their symptoms.
A researcher randomly assigned student
volunteers to two conditions. Those in
condition one attempted to recall a list of
words that were organised into meaningful
categories; those in condition two attempted
to recall the same words, randomly grouped on
the page.
To investigate whether students are more alert
in the morning or afternoon, each student is
given a hazard perception test before school
and at the end of the day.
Standing in a busy shopping centre and picking people ‘at random’ to be part of a sample is:
a)
b)
c)
d)
Opportunity sampling
Volunteer sampling
Systematic sampling
Stratified sampling
Which of the above sampling methods is most likely to produce a representative sample?__________
Decide which one of the five sampling techniques is being used in the examples below:
Which sampling method?
Students investigating the link between age and
attitudes to the legalisation of drugs stop people
in the street and ask them their views
An occupational psychologist surveying employees
about stress at work selects a sample that reflects
the overall staff ration of management to shop
floor workers
A teacher selects a sample of year 9 students to
take part on a test of selective attention by
picking every 3rd students from the register
A member of senior management is interested in
teachers opinions regarding their workload. She
assigns all the staff a number, places these in a
hat and draws out 20 numbers.
A university lecturer requests participants for an
experiment into how expectation affects
perception by placing an advert on the common
room notice board.
A psychologist wanted to test the accuracy of eyewitness testimony when using different identification
techniques. He wanted to compare the use of simultaneous line-ups with the use of sequential line-ups.
Simultaneous line-ups involve a witness identifying a suspect when viewing everyone in a line-up at the same
time. Sequential line-ups involve looking at one person at a time and deciding whether they are the offender or
not. If not, the next person is viewed.
The psychologist had 40 students volunteering to take part in his experiment. He divided them into two equal
groups- one group viewed a simultaneous line-up, the other group viewed a sequential line-up. All participants
were shown the same staged mugging on film. A week later participants returned to the laboratory to view the
line-up.
i)
ii)
Write a suitable hypothesis for this study (3 marks)
Briefly outline how the psychologist could have conducted the same experiment using a
repeated measure design (5 marks)
Preparation:
Complete the following questions in the table to prepare yourself for lesson material next week.
Conformity to social roles- Zimbardo
Visit the website below to read about the Stanford prison experiment. It would be useful to watch the
video clips as well to see the behaviour of the prisoners and guards.
http://www.prisonexp.org/psychology/5
This website also provides a useful summary: http://www.simplypsychology.org/zimbardo.html
Who was the sample? How were they
recruited? What checks were made before
they took part?
How was it decided who would be a prisoner
and a guard?
At the beginning of the study, what
happened to those participants who were
chosen to be prisoners?
What were the guards given to wear? What
instructions were they given by Zimbardo?
How did the prisoners respond initially (day
1 and 2) to the guard’s behaviour?
How did the guards behave over the
duration of the study?
Give examples of when the guards used
their power to enforce rules, humiliate and
punish the prisoners.
How did the prisoners begin to behave after
a few days?
Why was the study called off after only 6
days?
What did Zimbardo conclude about social
roles from the findings of the experiment?
This video provides a good summary to help
answer this question:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jdOoxnr7AI
What ethical issues was Zimbardo said to
have compromised?
Activity B
due date:___________
In one weeks’ time you will have a formal timed assessment on this essay title below:

Describe and evaluate normative and informational social influence as
explanations of conformity. Refer to evidence in your answer (16 marks)
1) Your task is to plan and prepare an essay for this essay question.
Use the extended writing plan worksheet and class notes you have on this topic
to help you to plan.
AO1- description (6 marks)
Identify below what explanations the question wants you to describe:
Consider how the marks will be split for AO1 (Theory)?
How much do you need to write for each part of the AO1? How many points will you make?
Use the space below to write your plan for AO1:
AO3- Evaluation (10 marks)
Paragraph 1
What research could you describe that supports normative influence on conformity? You must explain why
it supports. Use the technique below:
The ‘Burger Technique’
A study that supports normative
influence on conformity is …………..
Describe procedure and findings of a
relevant study.
This supports normative influence on
conformity because……
Paragraph 2
What research could you describe that supports informational influence on
conformity? Use the burger technique to construct this paragraph.
Paragraph 3
Do these explanations offer any practical applications? How are they useful to us?
Remember to
structure each
point using this
format:



Identify
Justify
Elaborate
Paragraph 4
Could individual differences be a problem for both explanations? Why?
Paragraph 5 (conclusion)
Is it always possible to be sure when NSI or ISI are influencing our behaviour? Could both processes be
operating at the same time?
Activity C
due date:___________
This activity will require you to prepare for the next topic of study:
Cognitive Psychology- Memory
Task 1: Using the Cognitive Information pack (available on psych205) to make
notes on the key terms below:
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

Coding
Duration
Capacity
For each term, identify the difference between sensory register, short-term
memory and long-term memory. Draw and fill in this table in your notes.
Coding
Duration
Capacity
Sensory register
Short term memory
Long term memory
Task 2:
Watch this video link and draw an annotated diagram of the Multi-store model of
memory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGY7-cxJby0
Using this website, make more detailed notes on the role and function of each store:
http://aspsychologyblackpoolsixth.weebly.com/multi-store-model.html
Task 3:
Watch this video link and draw an annotated diagram of the Working Memory Model
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRBcKm0qJKE
Using this website, make more detailed notes on the role and function of each store
(including the episodic buffer):
http://www.simplypsychology.org/working%20memory.html
Task 4
Copy this diagram of Types of long term memory into your notes:
Use this website http://www.brainhq.com/brain-resources/memory/types-ofmemory/long-term-memory and your cognitive information pack to makes detailed
notes on:



episodic memory
semantic memory
and procedural memory
Activity D
due date:___________
1) Complete revision flashcards for the topic- social influence
You must ensure that the flashcards cover all the material from the specification and
the corresponding evaluation discussed in class.
Again- you can use an alternative to flashcards e.g. notes, posters, mindmaps
You will have a formal timed assessment (short answer questions) on this
topic in one week’s time therefore must prepare appropriately as you could
be asked a question on anything in this area!
Checklist
 Types of conformity: internalisation, identification and
compliance.
 Explanations for conformity: informational social influence and
normative social influence.
 Variables affecting conformity including group size, unanimity
and task difficulty as investigated by Asch.
 Conformity to social roles as investigated by Zimbardo.
 Explanations for obedience: agentic state and legitimacy of
authority, and situational variables affecting obedience including
proximity, location and uniform, as investigated by Milgram.
 Dispositional explanation for obedience: the Authoritarian
Personality.
 Explanations of resistance to social influence, including social
support and locus of control.
 Minority influence including reference to consistency,
commitment and flexibility.
 The role of social influence processes in social change.
Examples of how the flashcards could be set out are on the following page
Evaluation
Example 1: Question/answer flashcard
Question:
Answer:
Types of conformity
Types of conformity
1) What are the 3 types of conformity?
2) Describe compliance

Compliance, identification,
internalisation
Compliance
 Adjust behaviour/opinions in order to
be accepted or avoid disapproval of
the group
 Desire to fit in
 Involves public (not private) acceptance
of the groups’ behaviour/attitude
 Weak and temporary from of
conformity
 Only shown in the presence of the
group
Example 2: Information flashcard
Compliance
Types of conformity (1)
 Adjust behaviour/opinions in order to be
accepted or avoid disapproval of the
group
 Desire to fit in
 Involves public (not private) acceptance
of the groups’ behaviour/attitude
 Weak and temporary from of conformity
 Only shown in the presence of the group
Internalisation
Types of conformity (3)
 Individuals genuinely adjust their
behaviour/opinions to the group
 If groups opinions are seen as correctleads to public and private acceptance
 Strongest type of conformity
 Not temporary
 Will be maintained when individual leaves
the group
Identification
Types of conformity (2)
 Adjust behaviour/opinions because
membership of that group is desirable
 Stronger type of conformity
 Involves public and private acceptance
 Generally temporary
 Not maintained when individual leaves
the group