A-LevelPsychologyResearch methods9990/22 · May/June 2020 · Q24 Marks

In the study by Canli et al. (brain scans and emotions), participants watched scenes presented to them on a screen. They responded to these scenes by pressing buttons. Their response was one dependent variable.

(a)Describe how this dependent variable was operationalised in this study.[2]
(b)Explain one reason why the results of this study may not generalise to everyday life.[2]

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2020). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

[1] DV = rating of pictures / emotional intensity / valence (identification); [1] Rated 0-3 (Operationalisation);
[1] all female (identification) [1] and males might experience emotions differently (link); [1] all right-handed (identification) [1] and left-handers' brains might have different activation patterns (link); [1] the study was conducted in a lab so low ecological validity / task lacks mundane realism (identification) [1] having brain scanned may make participants behave differently from normal (link);

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Topic: Research methods, A-Level Psychology (syllabus 9990). Structured question, 4 marks.
Source: A-Level Psychology, May/June 2020 Paper 2 Variant 2, question 2.

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