Edexcel A-Level Psychology sample questions and answers (9PS0)
Guide overview All 8 topics Sample questions Papers and weighting Look inside Questions and answers
40 sample questions and answers
Taken from every topic of Edexcel A-Level Psychology, specification 9PS0. The full guide has 2,738.
Paper 1, Paper 3
Social Psychology
385 questions in the guide, across 27 subtopics. More from this topic
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Agency theory and social impact theory
How does 'immediacy' function as a factor in social impact theory?
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Immediacy refers to the physical or psychological closeness of the influence source to the target — the closer the source, the greater the social impact and likelihood of obedience. -
Social identity theory and realistic conflict theory
Does social identity theory require competition between groups for prejudice to occur?
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No, mere categorisation into groups is sufficient to produce prejudice without any competition for resources. -
Developmental psychology in obedience and prejudice
What environmental factors contribute to the development of cultural influences on prejudice?
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Socialisation, exposure to cultural attitudes, and learned behaviours -
Alternate and null hypotheses
Why is it the null hypothesis that is formally tested?
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Because a statistical test estimates the probability of the result if the null were true, and the null is rejected only when that probability is small enough. -
Analysing quantitative data
What is the standard deviation a measure of?
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The standard deviation is a measure of dispersion, indicating how spread out the data values are around the mean.
Paper 1, Paper 3
Cognitive Psychology
353 questions in the guide, across 28 subtopics. More from this topic
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The working memory model
What are the two sub-components of the phonological loop?
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The phonological store and the articulatory rehearsal process. -
Reconstructive memory and schema theory
Name the three distortions Bartlett described in serial reproduction.
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Levelling, in which detail is lost; sharpening, in which some elements are exaggerated; and rationalisation, in which the story is altered to make sense. -
Independent and dependent variables
In a study of noise on recall, which is the independent variable?
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The presence or level of noise. -
Experimental designs
What are two limitations of matched pairs design?
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Matching can be time-consuming and the matching may be imperfect. -
Objectivity, reliability and validity
What is ecological validity?
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The extent to which findings can be generalised to real-life settings and behaviours outside the research environment.
Paper 1, Paper 3
Biological Psychology
292 questions in the guide, across 20 subtopics. More from this topic
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The central nervous system and neurotransmitters
What type of signal does the axon carry, and in which direction?
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The axon carries electrical impulses (action potentials) away from the cell body towards the terminal buttons. -
Brain structure and aggression
Which structure links the amygdala to the hypothalamus in the aggression circuit?
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The stria terminalis. -
Hormones and aggression
How might testosterone influence aggression at the brain level?
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By affecting brain areas involved in threat perception and emotional regulation, such as the amygdala. -
Developmental psychology in biological psychology
What is cortisol?
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A stress hormone. -
Hypotheses, variables and levels of measurement
What is the nominal level of measurement?
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Data in named categories with no order or ranking.
Paper 1, Paper 3
Learning Theories
327 questions in the guide, across 25 subtopics. More from this topic
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The main features of classical conditioning
What is a conditioned response (CR)?
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A learned response to a previously neutral stimulus that has become a conditioned stimulus. -
Properties and schedules of reinforcement
How does money become a secondary reinforcer?
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It acquires reinforcing properties through association with primary reinforcers. -
The four stages of social learning
What is the function of motivation in Bandura's model of observational learning?
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Motivation determines whether the observer chooses to perform the learned behaviour, based on expected rewards or punishments (vicarious reinforcement). -
How learning theories explain phobias
What is vicarious experience in the context of phobia acquisition through social learning?
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The observer indirectly experiences the emotional fear response by watching the model, without direct personal experience of the feared stimulus. -
Developmental psychology in learning theories
How does social learning theory explain the acquisition of gender roles?
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Children observe same-sex models, are reinforced for gender-typical behaviour and punished for departures from it, so the role is learned rather than unfolding.
Paper 2, Paper 3
Clinical Psychology
442 questions in the guide, across 28 subtopics. More from this topic
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Diagnosing mental disorders and the four Ds
How is dysfunction assessed when diagnosing a mental disorder?
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By examining whether cognitive, emotional or behavioural patterns interfere with everyday functioning. -
Explanations of schizophrenia
What is emotional over-involvement in expressed emotion?
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Excessive concern, overprotection, or self-sacrifice by family members, which increases relapse rates in individuals with schizophrenia. -
Treatments for schizophrenia and the second disorder
How do SSRIs treat depression?
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They block the reuptake of serotonin at the synapse, increasing the amount of serotonin available to transmit signals, which gradually improves mood over several weeks. Examples include fluoxetine and sertraline. -
HCPC guidelines for clinical practitioners
How do HCPC guidelines require clinical practitioners to handle confidentiality?
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Practitioners must respect and protect confidential information, only disclosing it with consent or when required by law or in the public interest. -
Choosing an inferential test
What type of data is Spearman's rho designed to analyse?
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Ordinal (ranked) data, or interval/ratio data that has been converted to ranks.
Paper 2, Paper 3
Criminological Psychology
306 questions in the guide, across 23 subtopics. More from this topic
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Biological explanations of crime
How does impaired amygdala function relate to learning from punishment?
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Reduced amygdala functioning leads to failure to learn from punishment because individuals do not experience the normal fear response that would deter future anti-social behaviour. -
The cognitive interview and ethical interviewing
What is the fourth stage of the cognitive interview after report everything, context reinstatement and recall in changed order?
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Recall from a changed perspective, describing the event as another person present would have seen it. -
Biological treatments for offenders
How does anti-androgen treatment aim to reduce offending?
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By lowering testosterone it reduces sexual drive and, it is argued, the aggression associated with it. -
Factors influencing jury decision-making
What did Sigall and Ostrove find about the effect of defendant attractiveness on sentencing?
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Attractive defendants received shorter sentences, except when their attractiveness was used to commit the crime. -
Research methods in criminological psychology
What is a key strength of using laboratory experiments to study eyewitness testimony?
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High internal validity due to control over extraneous variables, allowing cause-and-effect conclusions to be drawn.
Paper 2, Paper 3
Child Psychology
293 questions in the guide, across 22 subtopics. More from this topic
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Bowlby's theory of attachment
What did Bowlby mean by a critical period for attachment?
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That attachment must form within roughly the first two and a half years, and becomes very difficult after about five. -
Research into deprivation
Who described the protest-despair-detachment response to short-term separation?
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James and Joyce Robertson, working with Bowlby. -
Cross-cultural research into attachment
How do cross-cultural similarities in attachment support the nature side of the debate?
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The finding that secure attachment is most common across all cultures suggests an innate, universal basis for attachment. -
Individual differences in child psychology
How might gender act as an individual difference in reaction to day care?
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Some studies report boys showing more externalising behaviour after long hours in care, though findings are inconsistent. -
Questionnaires and interviews in child psychology
What is a limitation of structured interviews regarding depth of data?
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They lack depth because the fixed format does not allow exploration of responses.
Paper 2, Paper 3
Health Psychology
340 questions in the guide, across 21 subtopics. More from this topic
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Addiction, tolerance and dependency
How can physical dependency be distinguished from psychological dependency?
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Physical dependency is distinguished by the presence of measurable physiological changes and somatic withdrawal symptoms, rather than purely emotional or cognitive cravings. -
Biological explanations of drug addiction
Why do heroin users require increasing doses over time?
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Tolerance develops because receptors become less sensitive and natural opioid production decreases -
Treatments for heroin and nicotine addiction
What is the intended outcome of rapid smoking therapy?
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The unpleasant sensations become associated with smoking, reducing the desire to smoke. -
Individual differences in health psychology
How do differences in social circumstance contribute to drug misuse?
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Availability, unemployment and social exclusion raise exposure and reduce the competing rewards that make abstinence worthwhile. -
Research methods using humans to study drugs
What type of information do self-report methods gather in drug research?
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Data on drug use patterns, experiences and effects directly from human participants
Edexcel A-Level Psychology Active Recall Guide
The other 2,698 questions, with the answers printed after each section.