OCR A-Level Psychology Active Recall Guide (H567)
OCR · A-Level
OCR A-Level Psychology Active Recall Guide
Every topic of specification H567 written as exam-style questions with the answers printed after them. 3,537 questions across 21 topics and 321 subtopics, covering research methods, all twenty core studies, and all four applied options so the guide fits whichever two you sit.
- OCR
- A-Level
- Specification H567
- 3,537 questions
Guide overview All 21 topics Sample questions Papers and weighting Look inside Questions and answers
What the exam asks of you
OCR A-Level Psychology is assessed by three papers of two hours each. Research Methods carries 90 marks and 30 per cent. Psychological Themes Through Core Studies carries 105 marks and 35 per cent. Applied Psychology carries 105 marks and 35 per cent.
The volume is unusual even for an A-Level. Twenty named core studies each with its method, sample, procedure, results and conclusions, five areas, two perspectives, eight debates, a compulsory mental health section and two applied options. Almost all of it is recall of specific detail, which is why it is worth measuring rather than assuming.
| Paper | Covers | Length | Marks | Weighting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Component 01 Research methods |
Research methods and techniques, planning and conducting research, and the analysis and presentation of data Report writing, the nature of science and the mathematical requirements Section A: 20 multiple choice questions; section B: research design around a novel source; section C: analysing and interpreting novel data, with at least 30 marks on mathematics |
2 hours | 90 marks | 30% |
|
Component 02 Psychological themes through core studies |
Section A: the twenty core studies, paired as a classic and a contemporary study in ten key themes Section B: the five areas, the two perspectives and the eight debates in psychology Section C: applying psychology to a novel source, and evaluating your own suggestions |
2 hours | 105 marks | 35% |
|
Component 03 Applied psychology |
Section A: Issues in mental health, compulsory for every learner Section B: two of child, criminal, environmental, and sport and exercise psychology Each applied topic is studied as background, key research and application |
2 hours | 105 marks | 35% |
What is in the guide
All 21 topics
Every topic has its own page with its subtopics, what it covers and sample questions.
Sample questions
Taken from the guide. Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Laboratory, field and quasi experiments
What is a field experiment?
Show the answer
An experiment in which the researcher still manipulates the independent variable, but does so in the participants' everyday natural environment. -
Aims, research questions and hypotheses
What is a one-tailed hypothesis?
Show the answer
A directional prediction that states which way the difference or relationship is expected to go. -
Raw data tables, standard form and decimal form
Why is a summary table presented separately from the raw data table?
Show the answer
The raw data table shows every original score, whereas the summary table condenses those scores into descriptive statistics such as the mean and standard deviation. -
Abstract and introduction of a practical report
Which four things should an abstract summarise?
Show the answer
The aim, the method, the main results and the conclusion drawn. -
Conducting and analysing self-report, observation, experimental and correlational practicals
What level of data does a tally chart of behavioural categories produce?
Show the answer
Nominal data, because it is a frequency count of behaviours falling into named categories. -
Decimal and standard form, percentages and ratios
A results table records a value as 1.25 × 10⁴. State this in decimal form.
Show the answer
It is 12,500. -
Background, aims, design and sample of a core study
Name the three experimental designs you may need to identify in a core study.
Show the answer
Repeated measures, independent measures and matched participants. -
Milgram (1963) obedience: background, sample and apparatus
Why is Milgram's baseline study best described as a controlled observation rather than an experiment?
Show the answer
There was no independent variable — all forty participants went through exactly the same standardised procedure, and their obedience was simply observed and recorded.
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.
Look inside
Questions for a subtopic print together and the answers for that section print after them.
- Research Methods and Techniques85
- Planning and Conducting Research124
- Data Recording, Analysis and Presentation155
- Report Writing and Scientific Communication49
- Practical Activities and the Nature of Science72
- Mathematical Requirements for Research Methods177
- Studying and Evaluating the Core Studies: the Common Framework104
- Core Studies: Social Area182
- Core Studies: Cognitive Area144
- Core Studies: Developmental Area146
- Core Studies: Biological Area137
- Core Studies: Individual Differences Area141
- and 9 more
- What is a research aim?
- How does a research question differ from an aim?
- Define the term hypothesis.
- What is the null hypothesis?
- What is the alternative hypothesis?
- Which hypothesis does an inferential statistical test actually test?
- What does it mean to operationalise a hypothesis?
- What is a one-tailed hypothesis?
- What is a two-tailed hypothesis?
- A general statement of the purpose of a study, setting out what the researcher intends to investigate.
- A research question turns the general aim into a specific question that the study is designed to answer.
- A precise, testable statement predicting the difference or relationship that the study expects to find.
- A statement predicting that there will be no difference or relationship between the variables, and that any effect observed is due to chance.
- A statement predicting that there will be a difference or relationship between the variables that is not due to chance alone.
- The null hypothesis, since the test decides whether there is enough evidence to reject it.
- To state its variables in precise, measurable terms so that the prediction can actually be tested.
- A directional prediction that states which way the difference or relationship is expected to go.
- A non-directional prediction that a difference or relationship will occur without stating its direction.
questions
Scroll sideways to turn through the pages.
Questions students ask first
Am I on H567 or H569?
This guide is H567. OCR is replacing it with H569.
The last first teaching of H567 was September 2026 and its final assessment is June 2028. Schools teach H569 from September 2027, first examined in June 2029. If you are sitting your exams in 2027 or 2028 you are on H567 and this is your guide. A student resitting after June 2028 sits H569.
Your exam timetable carries the code. Check it if you are unsure.
I only do two of the applied options. Is the rest wasted?
No. Component 03 is a compulsory section on issues in mental health plus two of child, criminal, environmental, and sport and exercise psychology. All four are in the guide because schools pick different pairs.
Work the two you are taught and skip the other two. They are separate topics with their own pages, so nothing is mixed together.
Does it cover all twenty core studies?
Yes, arranged by area: social, cognitive, developmental, biological and individual differences, each holding its classic and contemporary pair. There is also a section on the common framework used to study and evaluate them, and separate sections on the areas and perspectives and on the eight debates.
How much maths is really on Component 01?
At least 30 marks of the 90 involve mathematics, and Section C hands you novel data to analyse and interpret. The guide has a dedicated Mathematical Requirements topic of 177 questions across 18 subtopics, covering measures of central tendency and dispersion, levels of measurement, the choice of statistical test, significance and critical values, and the calculations themselves.
OCR A-Level Psychology Active Recall Guide
Every question paired with its answer, grouped by topic and subtopic, ready to work in three passes.