Core Studies: Social Area | OCR A-Level Psychology (H567)

Core Studies: Social Area

182 questions
17 subtopics
Component 02: Psychological themes through core studies
Component 02

Core Studies: Social Area is examined on component 02 of OCR Psychology, Psychological themes through core studies.

179 recall questions across 17 subtopics.

Sample questions from Core Studies: Social Area

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

Milgram (1963) obedience: background, sample and apparatus

Why is Milgram's baseline study best described as a controlled observation rather than an experiment?

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There was no independent variable — all forty participants went through exactly the same standardised procedure, and their obedience was simply observed and recorded.
Milgram (1963) obedience: evaluation and applications

What three ethical problems does Milgram's study raise?

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Participants were deceived about the purpose and the shocks, they could not give fully informed consent, and they were not protected from severe psychological distress.
Bocchiaro et al. (2012) disobedience and whistle-blowing: procedure, results and conclusions

How was the chance to blow the whistle built into Bocchiaro's procedure?

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On leaving, participants completed a form for the research committee in a second room, which had space for comments and a mailbox in which the form could be posted.
Responses to people in authority: similarities and differences between Milgram and Bocchiaro et al.

How were the samples in the two authority studies similar?

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Both used volunteers who responded to an advertisement or flyer and were paid for taking part, so both were self-selected.
Piliavin et al. (1969) subway Samaritans: background, design and method

State the aims of Piliavin's 1969 study.

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To investigate how the type of victim, the race of the victim, the presence of a helping model and the size of the group affect whether and how quickly a stranger is helped in a real emergency.
Piliavin et al. (1969) subway Samaritans: results and findings

What did Piliavin find about the sex of the first helper?

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About 90% of first helpers were men, even though men made up only around 60% of the passengers.
Levine et al. (2001) cross-cultural altruism: background, sample and materials

What research method did Levine use?

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A cross-cultural field experiment in which covert observation was used to record helping, with the country acting as a naturally occurring variable.
Levine et al. (2001) cross-cultural altruism: conclusions and evaluation

Explain one problem with standardising Levine's procedures across 23 countries.

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Traffic conditions, street layouts and what counts as a downtown business district differ between cities, so the situations were not identical for every participant.

The 17 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
Milgram (1963) obedience: background, sample and apparatus	Recall questions on the background and aim of Milgram's 1963 obedience study, its setting and research method, how participants were recruited and paid, the shock generator, the rigged draw, the learner and experimenter, and the learning task.	14
Milgram (1963) obedience: procedure, results and conclusions	Recall questions on Milgram's procedure, including the pre-recorded learner, events at 300 V and the four prods, the numbers who reached 300 V and 450 V, signs of tension, predictions versus results, and Milgram's conclusions.	13
Milgram (1963) obedience: evaluation and applications	Recall questions on the evaluation of Milgram's obedience study, including methodological strengths, ecological validity and realism, ethical problems and Milgram's response, sample limitations, quantitative data, individual and situational explanations, and practical uses.	9
Bocchiaro et al. (2012) disobedience and whistle-blowing: background and sample	Recall questions on the background and aims of Bocchiaro et al.'s 2012 study of disobedience and whistle-blowing, the definition of whistle-blowing, its setting, sample, recruitment, exclusions and comparison group.	11
Bocchiaro et al. (2012) disobedience and whistle-blowing: procedure, results and conclusions	Recall questions on Bocchiaro et al.'s procedure, including the cover story, unethical request and whistle-blowing opportunity, the rates of obedience, disobedience and whistle-blowing, the comparison group's predictions, personality findings and conclusions.	15
Bocchiaro et al. (2012) disobedience and whistle-blowing: evaluation and applications	Recall questions on the evaluation of Bocchiaro et al.'s study, including the absent experimenter, methodological strengths, ethical problems and safeguards, sample and exclusions, type of data, ecological validity and practical applications.	9
Responses to people in authority: similarities and differences between Milgram and Bocchiaro et al.	Recall questions on the key theme of responses to people in authority, and the similarities and differences between Milgram and Bocchiaro et al. in aims, methods, samples, ethics, harm, response measures, pressure applied and obedience rates.	10
Responses to people in authority: what Bocchiaro et al. add to Milgram	Recall questions on how far Bocchiaro et al. change understanding of responses to authority, what they measured that Milgram did not, confirming and extending the situational explanation, predictions about others, and cultural, individual and social diversity.	10
Piliavin et al. (1969) subway Samaritans: background, design and method	Recall questions on the background and aims of Piliavin et al.'s 1969 subway Samaritan study, diffusion of responsibility, its field experiment method, independent measures design, and its independent and dependent variables.	8
Piliavin et al. (1969) subway Samaritans: sample, materials and procedure	Recall questions on the participants in Piliavin et al.'s study, the setting on the New York subway, how the drunk and ill victims were presented, the roles of the four team members, and when the model intervened.	10
Piliavin et al. (1969) subway Samaritans: results and findings	Recall questions on Piliavin et al.'s results on helping the cane and drunk victims, speed of help, sex and race of helpers, group size, passengers leaving the critical area, the model conditions, and passengers' comments.	9
Piliavin et al. (1969) subway Samaritans: conclusions, the cost-reward model and evaluation	Recall questions on Piliavin et al.'s arousal: cost-reward model and how it explains helping the drunk victim, and the evaluation of the field setting, method, ethics, sample, observer reliability and balance of conditions.	10
Levine et al. (2001) cross-cultural altruism: background, sample and materials	Recall questions on the background of Levine et al.'s 2001 cross-cultural study of helping, explanations for cultural differences, simpatía, the quasi-experimental method, the sample and how the dropped pen and hurt leg situations were staged.	11
Levine et al. (2001) cross-cultural altruism: procedure and results	Recall questions on Levine et al.'s helping measures for the hurt leg and blind pedestrian situations, overall helping scores, the most and least helpful cities, and findings on simpatía, economic prosperity, population, individualism and pace of life.	13
Levine et al. (2001) cross-cultural altruism: conclusions and evaluation	Recall questions on Levine et al.'s conclusions and the evaluation of their field measures, cross-cultural design, standardisation across countries, ethnocentrism, one city per country, ethical issues, correlational findings and type of data.	10
Responses to people in need: similarities and differences between Piliavin et al. and Levine et al.	Recall questions on the key theme of responses to people in need, and the similarities and differences between Piliavin et al. and Levine et al. in aims, methods, ethics, data, situations, variables, scope, measures and explanations of helping.	11
Responses to people in need: what Levine et al. add to Piliavin et al.	Recall questions on how far Levine et al. change understanding of responses to people in need, cost-reward as cultural, correcting bias in bystander research, what Piliavin still explains, diversity, and findings on the sex of helpers.	9

Core Studies: Social Area is 182 of the 3,537 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.