Approaches in Psychology | AQA A-Level Psychology (7182)

Approaches in Psychology

146 questions
7 subtopics
Paper 2: Psychology in context
Paper 2

Approaches in Psychology is the first topic of Paper 2.

It covers the emergence of psychology as a science and the learning, cognitive, biological, psychodynamic and humanistic approaches, then sets them against each other on determinism, nature and nurture, and the status of internal mental events.

Sample questions from Approaches in Psychology

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

Origins of Psychology: Wundt, introspection and the emergence of Psychology as a science

What is introspection?

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The systematic examination and reporting of one's own conscious thoughts, feelings and sensations.
Origins of Psychology: Wundt, introspection and the emergence of Psychology as a science

Give one criticism of introspection as a method.

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It relies on subjective self-report of private mental processes, which cannot be objectively observed or verified.
Learning approaches

How does operant conditioning explain the learning of behaviour?

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Behaviour is learned through its consequences, being shaped and maintained by reinforcement and punishment.
Learning approaches

What is attention as a mediational process?

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The extent to which the observer notices and focuses on the model's behaviour.
The cognitive approach

How do schemas develop?

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Schemas develop through experience.
The cognitive approach

In the information processing approach, what is retrieval?

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The process of accessing and bringing stored information back into conscious awareness when needed.
The biological approach

Define evolution in the context of the biological approach.

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Evolution is the process by which inherited characteristics that enhance survival and reproduction become more common in successive generations through natural selection.
The biological approach

What does the biological approach assume about the relationship between neurotransmitter levels and behaviour?

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The biological approach assumes that imbalances or variations in neurotransmitter levels can affect psychological functioning and behaviour.

The 7 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
Origins of Psychology: Wundt, introspection and the emergence of Psychology as a science	Wundt's laboratory, introspection as a method for studying conscious experience, and the criticisms that pushed psychology towards more objective methods.	11
Learning approaches	Classical conditioning from Pavlov's work, operant conditioning and the effects of reinforcement and punishment, and the four mediational processes of social learning theory.	32
The cognitive approach	Internal mental processes studied by inference, the role of schemas in shaping how information is processed, theoretical and computer models, and cognitive neuroscience.	22
The biological approach	Genotype and phenotype, the role of evolution and genetics in behaviour, the influence of neurochemistry, and the study of the brain structures behind mental processes.	15
The psychodynamic approach	The unconscious mind, the id, ego and superego with the principle each follows, the ego defence mechanisms, and the five psychosexual stages.	25
Humanistic Psychology	Free will and personal growth, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Rogers's account of the gap between the self and the ideal self, and conditions of worth.	25
Comparison of approaches	The approaches compared on determinism and free will, their positions on nature and nurture, and whether internal mental events count as evidence.	16

Approaches in Psychology is 146 of the 2,999 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £8

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.