Edexcel A Level Psychology Paper 3 October 2020 question paper 9PS0/03

Twitter and Facebook study

(Source: adapted from Hughes et al. (2012))

Explain one strength and one weakness of the sampling technique used for the Twitter and Facebook study.

A summary of the results from the Twitter and Facebook study are shown in Table 1.

Analyse the data provided in Table 1 to explain two conclusions that the researchers in the Twitter and Facebook study might draw from these results.

The Twitter and Facebook study used primary data.

Explain one strength of using primary data for the Twitter and Facebook study.

The researchers in the Twitter and Facebook study used the mean score to analyse the data from their ranked scale questions.

Explain one weakness of using the mean score to analyse the data in the Twitter and Facebook study.

Open plan office study

(Source: adapted from Bernstein and Turban (2018))

The researchers in the open plan office study used a covert, naturalistic, non-participant observation when measuring face-to-face communication.

Explain two strengths of using this type of observation for the open plan office study in terms of validity.

The researchers in the open plan office study measured electronic communication (emails or instant messages) using quantitative data.

Explain one strength and one weakness of using quantitative data in the open plan office study.

Explain one weakness of the open plan office study in terms of generalisability.

The results of the open plan office study are shown in Table 2.

Explain one conclusion you can make regarding the open plan office study using the data in Table 2.

Computer video games study

Playing computer video games is a popular leisure activity, and has been claimed to be the fastest growing form of recreation in humans, with annual revenues from video games having surpassed those of Hollywood (Yi, 2004).

Popular computer video games can enable players to connect online via the Internet and allow individuals to purchase in-game rewards with either real or virtual money. The in-game rewards can benefit players by providing resources which give them a better chance to complete objectives within the game successfully.

A group of researchers wanted to see if the number of in-game purchases correlated with the time spent playing the online games against others. The researchers asked 30 participants how much time they spent playing online against others and the number of in-game rewards they purchased for money.

The results of the computer video games study are shown in Figure 1.

Scattergraph to show the relationship between the time spent playing the computer video game and the number of

Time spent playing the computer video game (mins per week)

Figure 1

The researchers decided to use a statistical test for their data to determine significance. They calculated an observed / calculated value of 0.411 for a Spearman’s rho at the 5% level of significance for a two-tailed (non-directional) test.

Explain what this shows in terms of in-game purchases for the participants who played computer video games.

Using research evidence, explain how far biological psychology could account for the findings regarding the purchase of in-game rewards in the computer video games study.

Evaluate the classic studies by Raine et al. (1997) and Sherif et al. (1954/1961) in terms of their scientific status.

Janworth High School wanted their staff and students to exercise more. The head teacher found that students would not listen to staff about the benefits of physical activity, and that staff exercise rates did not go up after watching a video about the rewards of a more active lifestyle.

The head teacher subsequently invited an Olympic athlete to attend the school and give a motivational speech about the benefits of exercise to all the students. The speech was followed by a brief set of smaller group sessions with the athlete. The athlete also led a session with selected staff and students on the school field, where those involved had to work in teams and compete against each other for prizes.

The head teacher did a follow-up survey and found that for most staff and students their levels of exercise increased over the next month.

Evaluate the extent to which human behaviour such as exercise can be explained by social impact theory.

You must make reference to the context in your answer.

Assess how far psychology could be considered a reductionist explanation of human behaviour.