AQA A-Level Psychology guide FAQ (7182)
Guide overview All 23 topics Sample questions Papers and weighting Look inside Questions and answers
AQA A-Level Psychology: questions and answers
Specification 7182. Two sets, because students and parents ask different things.
For students
I only do three of the options. Is the rest wasted?
No. Paper 3 is issues and debates plus one option from each of three blocks, so three options in total, chosen by your school.
All of them are in the guide because schools choose differently. Work your three and skip the rest. Each is a separate page.
Which topics are on which paper?
Paper 1 is Social Influence, Memory, Attachment and Psychopathology. Paper 2 is Approaches, Biopsychology and Research Methods. Paper 3 is Issues and Debates plus your three options. The full breakdown is here.
How much research methods is there really?
It is a section of Paper 2 in its own right, and it is applied throughout Papers 1 and 3 in the evaluation of every study. In the guide it is four topics totalling 804 questions, covering experimental design, sampling, variables, ethics, reliability and validity, data handling and the inferential tests.
Do I need to know the inferential tests?
Yes, and which one to choose. Sign test, chi-squared, Mann-Whitney, Wilcoxon, Spearman, Pearson, unrelated and related t-tests, with the level of measurement and design that selects each one, plus critical value tables.
Do I have to name studies and dates?
Yes. AQA credits a named study with its findings above a general description, and evaluation points are expected to be specific.
How long does one session take?
About twenty minutes for one subtopic, all three steps. Topics run from 27 to 310 questions, so work by subtopic.
Can I do it in my head instead of writing?
Write. Psychology marks turn on naming the study and the finding precisely, and the sixteen-mark essays are built from recalled parts. The method page sets out the evidence.
Do I still need past papers?
Yes. The method puts the studies and methods into memory. Past papers train the sixteen-mark essays and the applied scenarios under time. AQA publishes them free.
For parents
What is this, in plain terms?
A PDF of 2,999 exam-style questions covering the whole of AQA A-Level Psychology including every Paper 3 option, with the answers printed after each topic.
My child only studies some of these topics.
That is correct. Paper 3 takes one option from each of three blocks, chosen by the school. All the options are in the guide because schools choose differently.
How do I check it is the right course?
The specification code is on the exam timetable. AQA A-Level Psychology is 7182.
How do I know if it is being used properly?
There should be handwritten answers on paper and three passes over the same questions, and two scores per session to compare.
My child revises for hours and the grades have not moved.
Rereading and highlighting were both rated low utility by Dunlosky and colleagues in 2013. Psychology exposes this quickly, because a study recalled without its name, sample or finding scores almost nothing.
The method page sets out the alternative.
How much is it compared with a textbook?
£8.00 for the whole specification including every option. An endorsed AQA A-Level Psychology textbook is usually £30 to £40 and covers one year.
How much time does the whole course take?
136 subtopics at roughly twenty minutes each is about 45 hours for everything, and closer to 30 once the unused options are skipped.
AQA A-Level Psychology Active Recall Guide
2,999 questions with their answers, 136 subtopics, one file.