Biopsychology | AQA A-Level Psychology (7182)
Biopsychology
- 172 questions
- 8 subtopics
- Paper 2: Psychology in context
- Paper 2
Biopsychology is the second topic of Paper 2.
It covers the structure of the nervous and endocrine systems, how neurons communicate, the fight or flight response, how the brain is organised and studied, how it recovers after injury, and the rhythms that govern the body over time.
Sample questions from Biopsychology
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Divisions of the nervous system
Into which two subdivisions is the peripheral nervous system divided?
Show the answer
The somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system. -
Structure and function of neurons and synaptic transmission
Where is the cell body positioned in a motor neuron, and what structural feature branches from it?
Show the answer
The cell body is located at one end of the neuron with dendrites branching from it. -
The endocrine system
Why are the effects of hormones often more significant for long-term bodily regulation compared to neural signals?
Show the answer
Because hormonal effects tend to be longer-lasting than the effects of nervous system activity. -
The fight or flight response
What effect does adrenaline have on blood pressure during fight or flight?
Show the answer
Adrenaline increases blood pressure. -
Ways of studying the brain
What do electrodes placed on the scalp detect during an EEG recording?
Show the answer
They detect voltage changes resulting from neuronal firing in the brain. -
Localisation of function and hemispheric lateralisation
Where is Broca's area located and what is it responsible for?
Show the answer
In the left frontal lobe; it is responsible for speech production. -
Plasticity and functional recovery of the brain after trauma
When does functional recovery typically occur?
Show the answer
It can happen quickly after trauma (spontaneous recovery) and then slows down, often requiring rehabilitative therapy to continue. -
Biological rhythms: circadian, infradian and ultradian
Give an example of an ultradian rhythm.
Show the answer
The stages of sleep, which cycle roughly every 90 minutes through the night.
The 8 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Divisions of the nervous system | The central and peripheral divisions, the role of the somatic nervous system, and the contrasting effects of the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches. | 25 |
| Structure and function of neurons and synaptic transmission | Sensory, relay and motor neurons, the effect of myelination on conduction speed, and the sequence of chemical transmission at a synapse, including excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters. | 32 |
| The endocrine system | The glands of the endocrine system and the hormones each secretes, and how hormonal communication compares with neural communication. | 14 |
| The fight or flight response | The sequence from perceiving a threat to adrenaline release, the physiological changes that prepare the body for action, and why the response is adaptive. | 21 |
| Ways of studying the brain | Functional magnetic resonance imaging, EEG and event-related potentials as ways of recording activity in the living brain, with the strengths and limitations of each. | 22 |
| Localisation of function and hemispheric lateralisation | The main cortical areas and what each does, the brain areas responsible for speech production and language understanding, hemispheric lateralisation, and split-brain research by Sperry and Gazzaniga. | 25 |
| Plasticity and functional recovery of the brain after trauma | How the brain reorganises in response to experience, Maguire's taxi driver research, the mechanisms behind recovery after injury, and what affects how fully someone recovers. | 15 |
| Biological rhythms: circadian, infradian and ultradian | Circadian, infradian and ultradian rhythms, the internal body clock's control of the sleep/wake cycle, and the effect of exogenous zeitgebers and of removing them. | 18 |
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.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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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.
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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.
Nearby topics
AQA A-Level Psychology Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 2,999 questions with their answers.