Edexcel A Level Psychology Paper 2 October 2020 question paper 9PS0/02

In your studies of clinical psychology you will have learned about schizophrenia.

Describe three features of schizophrenia.

Andi is a clinical psychologist who is investigating whether family relationships improve or deteriorate once a person has been diagnosed with a mental health disorder.

Andi is going to interview two separate groups.

• Group A: Patients and families waiting for a diagnosis of a mental health disorder.

• Group B: Patients and families who already have a diagnosis of a mental health disorder.

Andi carries out interviews with patients and their families. She uses both open questions and closed questions in her interviews.

Suggest one open question Andi may use in her interview about the influence of diagnosis on family relationships.

Andi collated the data from her closed questions. Her results are shown in Table 1.

Andi carried out a chi-squared test on her data.

State two reasons why Andi used the chi-squared test on her data.

Andi found an observed / calculated value of 5.84 when df =1 when she calculated the chi-squared test for her investigation.

Explain whether Andi’s results were significant for a one-tailed (directional) hypothesis when p≤0.01.

Andi carried out a thematic analysis on the data from the open questions.

Explain one strength and one weakness of thematic analysis as used by Andi.

Strength

Weakness

In your studies of clinical psychology you will have learned about Carlsson et al. (2000).

State two aims of Carlsson et al. (2000).

Carlsson et al. (2000) collected secondary data.

Explain one strength and one weakness of using secondary data in clinical psychology.

Strength

Weakness

Hector and his mother have schizophrenia. Hector has hallucinations and hears voices telling him what to do. He suffers from delusions, for example he thinks he is in charge of the country. Hector also has disordered thinking as he is unable to make connections between his thoughts.

His doctor believes that Hector’s schizophrenia is caused by neurotransmitters, and has given him anti-psychotic medication to treat his schizophrenia.

Discuss the function of neurotransmitters as an explanation of Hector’s schizophrenia.

You must make reference to the context in your answer.

Assess the validity of diagnoses of mental health disorders through the use of classification systems.

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

• Anorexia nervosa

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

• Unipolar depression.

Evaluate one psychological treatment for your chosen disorder.

During your studies in criminological psychology you will have carried out a practical investigation.

State the aim of your practical investigation in criminological psychology.

Describe the procedure of your practical investigation in criminological psychology.

Brie carried out an experiment to see the effect that labelling had on participants’ perception of the probability of someone committing a crime. She selected her participants from students who were available in the refectory on one weekday during lunchtime.

She gave two separate groups of participants a different scenario to read.

• Condition A: the scenario stated that the person had already been involved in anti-social behaviour.

• Condition B: the scenario did not state anything about the person’s previous behaviour.

Brie then asked the participants to rate how probable it was that the person in the scenario would commit a crime. A score of 7 was ‘highly likely to commit a crime’ and a score of 0 was ‘highly unlikely to commit a crime’.

Identify the sampling technique used by Brie in her experiment.

The results from the experiment carried out by Brie are shown in Table 2.

Draw a suitable graph to represent the results shown in Table 2.

Brie used an independent groups experimental/research design.

Compare independent groups and matched pairs experimental/research designs as used in criminological psychology.

Pat recently fell over and hit his head on a hard surface. As a result of the accident the doctors diagnosed him with a brain injury.

Pat has just been arrested for being involved in a fight, which witnesses say he caused. His friends no longer want to go out with him as he often gets into fights and recently threw an object at one of his own friends. He is also aggressive at home, shouting at family members and losing his temper quickly.

Discuss how far brain injury can account for the aggression shown by Pat.

You must make reference to the context in your answer.

Cassandra is on trial for a recent case of burglary. She is 24 years old, white, of slim build and considered to be attractive. Her lawyer advises her to dress in a smart suit for the trial to make a good impression on the jury. She has a strong local accent, which is considered to be an unpopular accent.

The trial is taking place over 100 miles away from Cassandra’s home town, as this is where the alleged burglary took place.

To what extent may Cassandra’s characteristics affect the jury’s decision-making in her trial?

You must make reference to the context in your answer.

During your studies in child psychology you will have carried out a practical investigation.

State the aim of your practical investigation in child psychology.

Describe the procedure of your practical investigation in child psychology.

Brie carried out an observation to see the effects of day care on one-year-olds’ reactions to their mother leaving the room. She selected her participants from those who were available at a local day care centre one Monday.

She had two groups of one-year-old children.

• Condition A: the one-year-olds spent less than 15 hours a week in day care.

• Condition B: the one-year-olds spent over 30 hours a week in day care.

She set up a playroom and asked the mothers to play with their child for five minutes and then leave the room. Brie then rated the level of crying of the one-year-olds. A score of 7 was ‘intense crying’ and a score of 0 was ‘no crying at all’.

Identify the sampling technique used by Brie in her investigation.

The results from the observation carried out by Brie are shown in Table 3.

Draw a suitable graph to represent the results shown in Table 3.

Brie used an independent groups experimental/research design.

Compare independent groups and matched pairs experimental/research designs as used in child psychology.

Pat has recently been diagnosed as having autism. He has trouble making friends as he often gets into arguments about other children breaking the rules of games. He also finds it difficult to communicate with other people as he finds it hard to interpret their facial expressions. Pat does not like playing imaginative games with his brother, who does not have autism, as he finds it hard to imagine a cardboard box is a ship.

His parents have read an article that suggests that the causes of autism are biological.

Discuss how far one other explanation can account for Pat’s autism.

You must make reference to the context in your answer.

Cassandra has twin boys, Alexander and Julius, who attend day care. Cassandra has noticed that the boys react differently when she picks them up from day care; Alexander is happy to see her whilst Julius ignores her.

Alexander has many friends at day care who he plays word games with unlike Julius who often plays on his own. Alexander is more cognitively advanced for his age than his brother as he is starting to recognise letters whereas Julius cannot.

Assess the effects of day care on the development of Alexander and Julius.

You must make reference to the context in your answer.

During your studies in health psychology you will have carried out a practical investigation.

State the aim of your practical investigation in health psychology.

Describe the procedure of your practical investigation in health psychology.

Brie carried out an experiment to see the effect of a new drug for treating heroin addiction. The new drug was developed to reduce the impact of withdrawal symptoms. She selected heroin addicts from those who were available at a local rehabilitation centre one Monday.

She compared two groups of heroin addicts.

• Condition A: the heroin addicts who were not given the new drug.

• Condition B: the heroin addicts who were given the new drug.

Brie then asked the heroin addicts to rate the intensity of their withdrawal symptoms. A score of 7 was ‘high intensity of withdrawal symptoms’ and a score of 0 was ‘low intensity of withdrawal symptoms’.

Identify the sampling technique used by Brie in her experiment.

The results from the experiment carried out by Brie are shown in Table 4.

Draw a suitable graph to represent the results shown in Table 4.

Brie used an independent groups experimental/research design.

Compare independent groups and matched pairs experimental/research designs as used in health psychology.

Pat is addicted to alcohol and so is his father. When Pat was a child he saw his father drink alcohol. His father was often in a bad mood until he had his first alcoholic drink.

When Pat drinks alcohol he feels more relaxed and calm. He often has a drink after his evening meal, and now wants a drink every time he has his evening meal. He can now drink a lot of alcohol without feeling the effects.

Pat also drinks when he is out with his friends who praise the person that can drink the most alcohol. If Pat does not have a drink during the day he feels ill.

Discuss how far one learning explanation can account for Pat’s addiction to alcohol.

You must make reference to the context in your answer.

Cassandra is addicted to nicotine, and smokes over 30 cigarettes a day. When she smokes a cigarette Cassandra feels the effects almost immediately. She sometimes feels more alert, and sometimes feels more relaxed. She also feels happier and finds her memory improves after smoking a cigarette.

When she started smoking cigarettes Cassandra only had around five cigarettes a day, but this quickly increased as she found that the cigarettes were not having as much effect.

To what extent can one biological explanation account for Cassandra’s addiction to nicotine?

You must make reference to the context in your answer.