Edexcel A Level Psychology Paper 2 June 2025 question paper 9PS0/02

In your studies of clinical psychology, you will have learned about one of the following disorders:

• Anorexia nervosa

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

• Unipolar depression.

State three features of your chosen disorder.

Chosen disorder

Explain two strengths of one biological theory/explanation for your chosen disorder.

Chosen disorder

Lisa conducted an experiment to investigate whether socio-economic status had an effect on developing a mental disorder as part of her studies for a Master’s degree.

She gathered her participants from the nearest town and divided them into two conditions:

• Condition A: from a lower socio-economic group

• Condition B: from a higher socio-economic group.

There were 13 participants in condition A and 21 participants in condition B.

Lisa then asked a qualified psychiatrist from the hospital in the town to interview her participants and tally how many had a mental disorder and how many did not have a mental disorder.

Identify the independent variable (IV) and the dependent variable (DV) in Lisa’s experiment.

Independent variable (IV)

Dependent variable (DV)

Lisa used a random sampling technique to gather her participants.

Describe how Lisa may have used a random sampling technique to gather the participants for her experiment.

Lisa’s results are shown in Table 1.

Lisa used a statistical test to analyse her data.

Explain which statistical test Lisa would use to analyse her data in Table 1.

Lisa found that her results were significant at p0.01. State what is meant by the term ‘p0.01’.

Explain one strength of Lisa’s experiment.

Explain one improvement Lisa could make to her experiment.

Ruben is a clinical psychologist who is studying a group of five patients. The patients are attending a local counselling clinic due to their mental health. He observed that one patient would not accept any drinks made by other people and wrote down the reasons why, such as they thought they were being poisoned.

Ruben noted down every time a patient mentioned incidents in their childhood when discussing their mental health. He also gathered information from the counsellor’s notes to cross reference with his data.

Discuss the use of case studies within clinical psychology.

You must make reference to the context in your answer.

In your studies of clinical psychology, you will have learned about one biological theory/explanation for schizophrenia other than the function of neurotransmitters.

Evaluate one biological theory/explanation for schizophrenia other than the function of neurotransmitters.

Chosen biological theory/explanation

Barry is living in a different country than his home country due to work. He has been seen by a psychiatrist in the country where he is currently living.

Barry has been hearing voices telling him he is worthless and he also has a lack of appetite. He no longer goes out with his friends and feels he has to check all the doors and windows are locked to stop the aliens from entering his home.

The psychiatrist is using the ICD as a classification system to determine whether Barry has a mental disorder. At further meetings, Barry mentions that he now thinks his partner is trying to sell him to a secret organisation so they can experiment on him.

To what extent is the ICD useful in diagnosing Barry with a mental disorder?

You must make reference to the context in your answer.

In your studies of criminological psychology you will have learned about the classic study by Loftus and Palmer (1974).

Describe the results from Loftus and Palmer (1974).

Explain one strength and one weakness of the study by Loftus and Palmer (1974).

Strength

Weakness

Grace investigated the effectiveness of a cognitive interview compared to a standard interview. She asked her participants to watch a video of a robbery. Once they had seen the video, the participants were split into two conditions:

• Condition A: The participants had a standard interview

• Condition B: The participants had a cognitive interview.

Grace recorded the number of errors each participant made in their statement.

The results for the participants who had a standard interview are shown in Table 2.

Calculate the standard deviation for the number of errors made in the statement by the participants who had the standard interview using the data in Table 2. Show your working out and give your answer to one decimal place.

Standard deviation:_........

The standard deviation for the number of errors from the cognitive interview was 2.1.

Using your answer from 7(a)(i), explain what the two standard deviations tell us about the data from Grace’s investigation.

Assess one theory of personality as an explanation of crime and anti-social behaviour.

Humphrey has been in prison several times. This time he is in prison for assault. He fought another person whilst out with his friends. The other person had to go to hospital and Humphrey was arrested. It was not the first time he had been arrested for fighting with other people.

Humphrey has previously been in prison for being aggressive. He has also been in trouble for threatening previous partners.

It has been decided that Humphrey should have a biological treatment in an attempt to stop him returning to prison once he is released.

Evaluate one biological treatment that could be used with Humphrey.

You must make reference to the context in your answer.

In your studies of child psychology you will have learned about the classic study by van IJzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988).

Describe the results from van IJzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988).

Explain one strength and one weakness of the study by van IJzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988).

Strength

Weakness

Grace investigated the effects of short-term deprivation on children. She asked mothers to note down how many times a day their child cried when the mother left the room. The participants were split into two conditions:

• Condition A: The child had suffered short-term deprivation in the past month

• Condition B: The child had not suffered short-term deprivation in the past month.

The results for the children who had suffered from short-term deprivation are shown in Table 3.

Calculate the standard deviation for the number of times the child cried for those who had suffered from short-term deprivation using the data in Table 3. Show your working out and give your answer to one decimal place.

Standard deviation:_........

The standard deviation for the number of times the child cried when the mother left the room for those who had not suffered short-term deprivation was 2.1.

Using your answer from 11(a)(i), explain what the two standard deviations tell us about the data from Grace’s investigation.

Assess the usefulness of research into privation.

Humphrey has been diagnosed with autism. He does not have many friends. His peers at school say that he does not interact with them. Humphrey’s teachers have noted that he often takes what they say literally and they have to be careful about how they talk to him.

Humphrey has a set routine at weekends and gets upset if his parents change the routine. He gets very anxious in new situations such as meeting his grandparent who he has not seen in over a year. Humphrey is very interested in dinosaurs and can recall a lot of information about them.

It has been decided that Humphrey should have therapy to help him and to reduce his anxiety.

Evaluate one therapy that could be used with Humphrey.

You must make reference to the context in your answer.

In your studies of health psychology you will have learned about the classic study by Olds and Milner (1954).

Describe the results from Olds and Milner (1954).

Explain one strength and one weakness of the study by Olds and Milner (1954).

Strength

Weakness

Grace investigated the effect of alcohol on speech. The participants were split into two conditions:

• Condition A: The participants drank 3 pints of beer

• Condition B: The participants drank no beer.

Grace then asked her participants to read a page of a book out loud. She recorded the number of times each participant slurred a word.

The results for the participants who drank 3 pints of beer are shown in Table 4.

Calculate the standard deviation for the number of words slurred by the participants who drank 3 pints of beer using the data in Table 4. Show your working out and give your answer to one decimal place.

Standard deviation:_........

The standard deviation for the number of slurred words from the participants who drank no beer was 2.1.

Using your answer from 15(a)(i), explain what the two standard deviations tell us about the data from Grace’s investigation.

Assess the effectiveness of one biological explanation to account for heroin addiction.

Humphrey is addicted to alcohol. He drinks a can of beer as soon as he wakes up and then continues drinking throughout the day, often progressing to stronger alcohol such as bottles of vodka. His friends no longer go out with him or visit him at home due to his alcohol addiction.

Humphrey has lost his job due to being unable to carry out his work effectively because he was drunk. He was recently admitted to hospital as he was found unconscious after drinking. Whilst in hospital, Humphrey suffered withdrawal symptoms because he could not get any alcohol.

Humphrey has decided he wants to address his alcohol addiction and has admitted himself into a clinic which uses aversion therapy.

Evaluate aversion therapy as it could be used with Humphrey.

You must make reference to the context in your answer.