Cambridge Past Paper Questions

Beth is looking at the treatment of people with phobias. She is investigating whether there is a relationship between how long they have been in th...

In the study by Dement and Kleitman (sleep and dreams), the experimenter sometimes entered the room after the participant had completed their dream...

In the study by Schachter and Singer (two factors in emotion), participants were told that the study was about vitamins and vision. This was not tr...

Yamamoto et al. (chimpanzee helping) used bar charts to display their results.

Xanthe is investigating whether there is a relationship between how funny a person finds a joke and how much activity there is in a particular brai...

Albert is investigating autism. He plans to obtain a sample of people with autism and a control group. He will compare how well these participants ...

Laken is planning a case study of a child with a phobia of chairs. She is worried about how she will collect data from the child as he will not sit...

Taavi works in an office and has been asked to conduct an observation of employees' doodling. He is aiming to observe their doodling and what else ...

Psychology and abnormality

Psychology and consumer behaviour

Psychology and health

Blaszczynski and Nower (2002) looked at the effect of imaginal desensitisation on patients with impulse control disorders and used relaxation (trig...

In their laboratory experiment Mackay and Olshavsky (1975) state ‘A number of methods can be used for externally measuring a cognitive map.' The mo...

'Please don't make me sit in the middle!' Evans and Wener (2007) claim that sitting in the middle seat of a row of three and having their personal ...

The study by Gold et al. (1992) found that the number of shiftwork accidents made by nurses was significantly higher in those working a 'rotator' s...

A person is accused of setting several fires. You have to determine whether they are an accidental firesetter, an arsonist or a pyromaniac.

Most people do not like to queue in a fast-food restaurant.

Design an experiment to investigate the effectiveness of a stress inoculation programme to reduce ill health.

Design a study using a questionnaire to investigate management perceptions of bullying at work.

'Electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) is not a cure for depression.' To what extent do you agree with this statement? Use examples of research you have...

'To gather data about table spacing in restaurants, online questionnaires are more effective than studying participants in actual restaurants.' To ...

'Some studies of patient-practitioner relationships only collect data about non-verbal communications. This is too reductionist to be of any value....

'Job design techniques always improve job satisfaction.' To what extent do you agree with this statement? Use examples of research you have studied...

The aim of the study by Lovell et al. (2006) was to compare the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for obsessive-compulsive disor...

The layout of any store can increase sales and many designs have been proposed, such as the grid layout below. [Figure Grid Layout]

Unhealthy behaviours are difficult to change because of lifestyles; behaviours developed over a period of years that have become habitual. Lau et a...

For many years, Henry Mintzberg's ten managerial roles allowed the nature of leadership to be defined. However, it has never been clear how leaders...

Psychology and health Despite many campaigns, people still suffer serious head injuries because they do not wear a protective helmet when riding a ...

Psychology and organisations

'Even though Little Albert was just one child, the behavioural explanation of anxiety disorders can be generalised to everyone.' To what extent do ...

'Product colour associations are universal rather than cultural: everyone likes blue detergent.' To what extent do you agree with this statement? U...

'Using observation to measure pain will never be as accurate as a self-report.' To what extent do you agree with this statement? Use examples of re...

'The situation is irrelevant; all that any leader needs to succeed is individual charisma.' To what extent do you agree with this statement? Use ex...

‘Electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) is not a cure for depression.' To what extent do you agree with this statement? Use examples of research you have...

In his study, Milgram used a fake shock generator to measure levels of obedience.

From the study by Schachter and Singer (two factors in emotion):

Describe the 'Aggression Arousal' procedure in the study by Bandura et al.

A teacher, Rachael, has a new class of children aged six years. She wants the children to help each other more often in the classroom and asks you ...

From the study by Canli et al. (brain scans and emotions): Describe one result about the ratings of emotional intensity of the scenes and one resu...

Duncan has learned about the Pepperberg (parrot learning) study. He believes that the results support the nurture side of the nature-nurture debate.

An experiment is testing the aim that smiling affects helpfulness. The procedure is to investigate whether people leaving a shop will hold a door o...

The study by Saavedra and Silverman (button phobia) raised ethical issues. Explain two ethical guidelines that are relevant to this study.