Research Methods in Psychology

What is the difference between event

and time sampling in an observational

study?

How scientific is biological psychology?

What are the practical justifications for

using animals in psychological studies?

Describe three ways that cognitive

psychology has been applied to real-life

problems.

How can social psychology be used for

social control?

What do we mean by ‘socially sensitive

research’?

How does social impact theory explain

obedience?

Give three conclusions of Sherif et al

(1954)

What does a measure of dispersion tell

you?

Why might a researcher prefer using a

structured interview?

What are three ethical problems with

Milgram’s obedience studies?

Is it true that authoritarianism makes a

person more prejudiced?

Why should we not refer to Sebastian &

Hernandez-Gil (2012) as an experiment?

Which working memory components are

involved in following a set of directions

someone has given you?

Why is the standard deviation a better

measure of dispersion than the range?

Explain how you could shape the

behaviour of a dog to use a pedal bin.

Explain two reasons why you cannot

draw causal conclusions from a

correlational study.

What is your key question for learning

theory?

How true is it that cognitive psychology

cannot be used for social control?

Give two reasons why it is unwise to rely

on case studies of brain injury patients to

evaluate models of memory.

How can we reduce socially desirable

response bias?

When would it be better to use a fMRI

scan than a PET scan?

How does Bateson’s cube help

researchers decide whether an animal

study is justified.

What is spontaneous recovery?

How has cognitive psychology

developed since the 1960s?

How might testosterone be involved in

aggression?

When would it be appropriate to use a

Mann-Whitney U test?

What evidence is there that testosterone

does not directly influence aggression?

What ethical issues might be raised by a

covert observational study?

What are the strengths of Bandura’s

studies?

Describe the process of neural

transmission.

Give an example of socially sensitive

research in cognitive psychology.

What effect do situational factors have

on prejudice?

Give a similarity and a difference

between questionnaires and interviews.

Why does reducing prejudice matter for

society?

Is social psychology reductionist?

Give two reasons why it is reasonable to

generalise from animals to humans in

biopsychological research.

What is dissent?

How does social identity theory explain

prejudice?

When would it be appropriate to use a

Wilcoxon Sign Ranks test?

What is an order effect and what should

you do about them?

Explain one reason why methadone

therapy should be used with drug

addicts.

Explain three ethical issues raised by

Raine et al (1997)

How scientific is social psychology?

Explain a strength and a weakness of

Raine et al (1997).

What do we mean by controlling a

variable?

Explain three reasons why social

psychology might not be considered

scientific.

Give a similarity and a difference

between social identity theory and

realistic conflict theory.

When would it be appropriate to use a

Chi Squared test?

How do we know that there are different

types of LTM?

What practical problems are raised by

using brain scanning in psychological

research?

Explain a similarity and a difference

between the working memory model and

the multistore model.

When would you use a one-tailed test?

In Raine et al (1997), what was the

continuous performance task?

Are some cultures more obedient than

others?

What is an independent variable?

Give a strength and a weakness of the

working memory model.

Is obedience a question of nature or

nurture?

How does Milner et al’s (1968) case

study of HM both support and challenge

the multistore model?

Give two practical reasons for using

animals in Pavlov’s studies.

In what ways is biopsychology

reductionist?

On what grounds could watson and

Rayner (1920) be said to be unethical?

How much does personality affect

prejudice?

What are the three stages of systematic

desensitisation?

How do the three components of the

multistore model differ from each other?

How far would learning theory and

biopsychology agree about the causes of

gender differences?

How has obedience research developed

since Milgram’s studies?

What guidance does the BPS give about

using animals in psychological research?

What precautionary control must you

always use when using independent

groups?

If you recruit people by going up to them

at random, have you got a random

sample?

Outline a biopsychological and a learning

theory explanation for gender differences

in aggression.

How did Baddeley (1966) operationalise

memory?

What does an experiment tell you that a

correlational study doesn’t?

How can social psychology be used for

social control?

What has brain scanning shown is about

the causes of aggression?

Describe the structure of a neuron.

How far can we say that aggression is

genetic?

Can social psychology make society

better?

What does a correlational study tell you

that an experimental study doesn’t?

How does learning theory explain the

acquisition and maintenance of phobias?

Describe the process of classical

conditioning.

Give a similarity and a difference

between positive and negative

reinforcement.

Why did people stop being

behaviourists?

What is the difference between

methodological and philosophical

reductionism?

How is an adoption study done?

Why do cognitive psychologists have

relatively little to day about gender and

culture?

What would Skinner say about the

introduction of ‘social credit’ in China?

Explain two examples of socially

sensitive research in social psychology.

Why should we be cautious in drawing

conclusions from case studies on brain

injury in biopsychology?

Why do some people get worried when

biopsychology tries to explain cultural

differences?

Why is treating phobias an important

issue for society?

Explain two problems with doing

qualitative analysis of data.

What is the difference between an

alternative and a null hypothesis?

What has been the most important

innovation in biological psychology?

Why?

How does realistic conflict theory explain

prejudice?

How far does Raine et al (1997) support

a ‘nature’ position?

In the era of brain scanning, why do

some biopsychologists still use animals

in their research?

Outline two ways that people with

dyslexia can be supported.

What was the correlation coefficient in

your biopsychology practical

investigation?

How far doe Burger (2009) support

Milgram’s original conclusions.

What are the arguments for avoiding

socially sensitive topics in psychology?

Explain how you could improve the

validity of your biopsychology practical

investigation.

What are the moral objections to using

animals in psychological research?

What sorts of ethical issues are raised by

case studies of brain injury patients?

Why is drug addiction an issue for

society?

Apart from drugs, how might

biopsychology be used for social

control?

What is your key question for social

psychology?

What precautionary control must you

always use when using repeated

measures?

In what ways could social psychological

research become socially sensitive?

Explain the existence of the

reminiscence bump.

Outline the role of two brain structures in

aggressive behaviour.

What provisions are made by the

Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act?

What are the arguments for choosing

either participant or non-participant

observation?

Outline Pavlov’s (1927) findings.

What are the strength and weaknesses

of stratified sampling?

Why is dyslexia more common England

and less common in Japan?

Outline the process of operant

conditioning.

What is your key question for biological

psychology?

What are the strengths and weaknesses

of opportunity sampling?

Why, when we taught you to justify

statistical test choice, did we insist on

your using the phrase ‘at least ordinal’

data?

Describe Milgram’s (1963) basic

procedure.

What was the procedure of your social

psychology practical?

Give three reasons why children’s

working memory gets better as they get

older.

How scientific is learning theory?

Describe an example of methodological

reductionism in cognitive psychology.

Some people say that biopsychology has

no useful practical applications.  Explain

why they are wrong.

Explain the differences between

experimental and correlational studies.

What are the scientific arguments

against using animals in psychological

research?

Name four neurotransmitters.

Describe the structure of a synapse.

Which is more reductionist, cognitive

psychology or biopsychology? Why?

What are the strengths and weaknesses

of random sampling?

How does the situation affect dissent?

When would it be better to use a PET

scan than a fMRI scan?

If the result is p>0.05 what should you

do?

Give three reasons for infantile amnesia.

How does gender affect dissent?

What is meant by selective attrition in a

psychological study?

What is extinction in classical

conditioning?

Describe the procedure of Watson and

Rayner (1920).

Explain how biopsychological research

can be socially sensitive.

What is a dependent variable?

List four situational factors that affect

obedience.

Give a similarity and a difference

between neural and synaptic

transmission.

Describe an example of philosophical

reductionism in cognitive psychology.

Describe the steps involved in doing a

content analysis.

If the result is p<0.05, what should you

do?

Give a similarity and a difference

between structured and unstructured

interviews.

Describe what we have learned from

three twin studies of human behaviour.

If a behaviour does not differ in relation

to culture, what conclusion would a

biopsychologist draw?

What are the arguments for and against

using biopsychology for social control.

Why do Spanish children have shorter

digit spans than English children?

Outline the ways that hormones can

affect human development.

Explain a similarity and a difference

between the Freudian/psychodynamic

explanation of aggression and the

biopsychological view.

What precautionary control must you

always use when using matched

participants.

What are the three experimental

participant designs?

Outline the step involved in thematic

analysis?

How would evolutionary theory explain

human aggression?

Describe an example of a holistic

approach to cognitive psychology.

Explain which statistical test use used to

analyse the data in your cognitive

psychology practical.

When would it be better to use a fMRI

scan than a CAT scan?

Is it true that authoritarianism makes a

person more obedient?

Describe three procedures used in

animal learning studies that could be

considered unethical or immoral.

What do we mean by a situational

variable?

How did Sebastian & Hernandez-Gil

(2012) measure WM span?

Why should the results of twin studies be

treated with caution?

How is a quantitative observational study

done?

What are the weaknesses of adoption

studies?

Which working memory components are

involved in working out how many

windows your house or flat has?

Why do cognitive psychologists insist on

using scientific methods?

What are the differences between

semantic and episodic memory?

Explain two ways you could improve

your social psychology practical.

When are you more likely to make a type

2 error?

Outline three reasons why there might

be individual differences in memory.

Outline an argument for and against

generalising to humans from animal

learning studies.

Why would a person select someone as

a model in SLT?

Explain how you maximised the reliability

of your learning theory practical.

Explain the difference between nominal,

ordina and interval data.

Describe the process of synaptic

transmission.

Describe the process of social learning.

Why do you not need to worry about

participant variables when using

repeated measures?

Explain how the case study of Beth and

Jon sheds light on the nature of LTM.

Why does treating/supporting people

with dyslexia matter for society?

Give a strength and a weakness of the

multistore model.

How is a twin study done?

How does the case of KF support

Baddeley and Hitch’s working memory

model?

Give an example of how falsification has

led to progress in cognitive psychology.

How does a directional hypothesis differ

from a non-directional one?

Some psychologists say that

behaviourism is the most reductionist of

all theories.  What is their justification?

Outline some gender differences in

social psychology.

Describe the sample in your cognitive

psychology practical.

Why are social psychologists more

worried about ecological validity than

cognitive psychologists?

Which working memory components are

involved in keeping track of how much

your shopping will cost?

Why do learning theorists use animals

more often than cognitive psychologists?

List three brain areas in Raine et al

(1997) where no differences were found.

Explain a strength and a weakness of

Baddeley (1966).

What is a type 1 error?

Explain the difference between negative

reiforcement and punishment.

How much does culture affect prejudice?

In what ways did  behaviourism make

psychology more scientific?

How does agency theory explain

obedience?

How could evolutionary processes affect

human behaviour?

What determines whether a behaviour is

imitated in SLT?

Explain whether Sebastian &

Hernandez-Gil (2012) had a

representative sample.

Why does having high levels of control

increade the replicability of a study?

How might researcher effects influence

self-report data?

How would learning theory and

biopsychology explain cultural

differences?

What was the rationale for the

hypothesis in your cognitive practical?

State the alternative and null hypotheses

for your biopsychology practical

investigation.

Describe the sample in Raine et al

(1997).

Why is it wrong to say that Raine et al

(1997) supports a ‘nature’ view of

aggression?

Where do learning theory and social

psychology fall in relation to the nature

nurture debate?

When would a research not use the

mean as their measure of central

tendency?

What were the IVs in Baddeley (1966)?

Is it possible to reduce prejudice using

psychology?

Describe three ways in which Burger

(2009) adpated Milgram’s procedures.

Why do you have a control group in an

experiment?

How did Pavlov (1927) measure

salivation?

What are the strengths and weaknesses

of volunteer sampling?

Find the median of

45,78,92,14,86,30,45,29

Some people say that social learning

theory is just a branch of cognitive

psychology nowadays.  Why?

Why are drugs addictive?

Why does having high levels of control

increase the internal validity of an

experiment?

Explain how two recreational drugs affect

brain functioning.

Describe how you analysed the

quantitative data in your learning theory

practical.

Explain how a drug can be used to treat

drug addiction.

According to learning theory, why are

people different from each other?

How can we increase the validity of an

overt observational study?

When would it be better to use a CAT

scan than a FMRI scan?

What are the four lobes of the cerebral

cortex?

Explain two weaknesses of your

cognitive psychology practical.

Explain a strength and a weakness of

Sherif et al (1954)

How should you deal with participant

variables when using independent

groups?

Skinner wanted to develop a ‘technology

of behaviour’.  What does this mean?

What is predictive validity?

Explain why some people think you can’t

have high generalisability and high

internal validity in the same study.

Describe the differences between

Bandura (1961) and Bandura (1965).

What are the arguments for and against

airlines offering systematic

desensitisation for fear of flying?

What are the arguments for doing

socially sensitive research in learning

theory?

Describe the trend in working memory

development over the lifespan.

Describe the steps involved in doing a

thematic analysis.

Describe how you collected quantitative

and qualitative data for your learning

theory practical.

Describe two conclusions from Brendgen

et al (2005).

How scientific is cognitive psychology?

What are the main features of a science?

Give two examples of how gender is

relevant to cognitive psychology.

Give one similarity and one difference

between agency theory and social

impact theory.

Is is right to use reinforcement and

punishment to shape behaviour in

schools?

Outline three results from Brendgen et al

(2005).

Does training people’s working memory

help with dyslexia?

If you find that MZ concordance is

greater than MZ concordance, what does

that tell you?

How effective is systematic

desentitisation for phobias?

What is autobiographical memory?

Describe the results of an adoption

study.

Which is more scientific, learning theory

or biopsychology?  Why?

What are the weaknesses of Bandura’s

studies?

What are the characteristics of the

authoritarian personality?

Describe the main features of dyslexia.

Why do Spanish children have shorter

digit spans than English ones?

In what ways might the use of systematic

desensitisation be considered socially

sensitive?

Watson & Rayner claimed their study

demonstrated classical conditioning in

humans.  Give two grounds on which the

validity of this conclusion could be

disputed.

What were the results of Milgram’s

variations 10 (rundown office), 7

(telephone instructions) and 13 (ordinary

man)?

What were the results of your social

psychology practical?

How does culture affect dissent?

How does working memory theory

explain dyslexia?

What are the components of working

memory, according to Baddeley and

Hitch (1974).

What is your key question for cognitive

psychology?

Explain one reason why methadone

therapy should not be used with drug

addicts.

What roles are given by nature and

nurture in cognitive psychology?

When would it be appropriate to use a

Spearman’s Rho test?