AQA A Level Psychology - Paper 1 Predictions

Hey all! Less than one week till Paper 1, how's everyone feeling?

I've compared questions from last year's paper 1, the questions that came up on the AS paper this year as well as a bit on the the AS paper last year in order to come up with a few predictions on what's going to come up on our paper 1. I couldn't find much for the AS paper 2, so I didn't do psychopathology, but if anyone wants to link me the questions I'd be happy to come up with predictions!

Units that are likely to come up are in red, units that are not likely are in blue :smile:

4.1.1 Social influence

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Types of conformity: internalisation, identification and compliance.

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Explanations for conformity: informational social influence and normative social influence,

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and variables affecting conformity including group size, unanimity and task difficulty as investigated by Asch

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Conformity to social roles as investigated by Zimbardo. (8 Mark Q on AS paper)

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Explanations for obedience: agentic state and legitimacy of authority,

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and situational variables affecting obedience including proximity, location and uniform, as investigated by Milgram.

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Dispositional explanation for obedience: the Authoritarian Personality.

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Explanations of resistance to social influence, including social support and locus of control.

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Minority influence including reference to consistency, commitment and flexibility.

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The role of social influence processes in social change.

4.1.2 Memory

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The multi-store model of memory: sensory register, short-term memory and long-term memory. (I personally feel like we could get a high mark Q on this one!)

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Features of each store: coding, capacity and duration.

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Types of long-term memory: episodic, semantic, procedural.

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The working memory model: central executive, phonological loop, visuo-spatial sketchpad and episodic buffer. Features of the model: coding and capacity. -

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Explanations for forgetting: proactive and retroactive interference and retrieval failure due to absence of cues.

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Factors affecting the accuracy of eyewitness testimony: misleading information, including leading questions and post-event discussion; (last year's 16 mark Q) anxiety

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Improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimony, including the use of the cognitive interview.

4.1.3 Attachment

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Caregiver-infant interactions in humans: reciprocity and interactional synchrony - hit or miss, there were quite a few low mark qs on this

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Stages of attachment identified by Schaffer.

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Multiple attachments and the role of the father.

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Animal studies of attachment: Lorenz and Harlow.

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Explanations of attachment: learning theory and Bowlby's monotropic theory. The concepts of a critical period and an internal working model.

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Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation’. Types of attachment: secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant.

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Cultural variations in attachment, including van Ijzendoorn - quite unlikely, was a high mark question for both the AS and A Level Paper

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Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation.

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Romanian orphan studies: effects of institutionalisation.

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The influence of early attachment on childhood and adult relationships, including the role of an internal working model.

That's just my 2 cents, please take this with a pinch of salt because for all we know AQA could give us the same stuff again!!

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Reply 1

username3581862

Original post by emimawi

4.1.1 Social influence

•

Types of conformity: internalisation, identification and compliance.

•

Explanations for conformity: informational social influence and normative social influence,

•

and variables affecting conformity including group size, unanimity and task difficulty as investigated by Asch

•

Conformity to social roles as investigated by Zimbardo. (8 Mark Q on AS paper)

•

Explanations for obedience: agentic state and legitimacy of authority,

•

and situational variables affecting obedience including proximity, location and uniform, as investigated by Milgram.

•

Dispositional explanation for obedience: the Authoritarian Personality.

•

Explanations of resistance to social influence, including social support and locus of control.

•

Minority influence including reference to consistency, commitment and flexibility.

•

The role of social influence processes in social change.

4.1.2 Memory

•

The multi-store model of memory: sensory register, short-term memory and long-term memory. (I personally feel like we could get a high mark Q on this one!)

•

Features of each store: coding, capacity and duration.

•

Types of long-term memory: episodic, semantic, procedural.

•

The working memory model: central executive, phonological loop, visuo-spatial sketchpad and episodic buffer. Features of the model: coding and capacity. -

•

Explanations for forgetting: proactive and retroactive interference and retrieval failure due to absence of cues.

•

Factors affecting the accuracy of eyewitness testimony: misleading information, including leading questions and post-event discussion; (last year's 16 mark Q) anxiety

•

Improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimony, including the use of the cognitive interview.

4.1.3 Attachment

•

Caregiver-infant interactions in humans: reciprocity and interactional synchrony - hit or miss, there were quite a few low mark qs on this

•

Stages of attachment identified by Schaffer.

•

Multiple attachments and the role of the father.

•

Animal studies of attachment: Lorenz and Harlow.

•

Explanations of attachment: learning theory and Bowlby's monotropic theory. The concepts of a critical period and an internal working model.

•

Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation’. Types of attachment: secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant.

•

Cultural variations in attachment, including van Ijzendoorn - quite unlikely, was a high mark question for both the AS and A Level Paper

•

Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation.

•

Romanian orphan studies: effects of institutionalisation.

•

The influence of early attachment on childhood and adult relationships, including the role of an internal working model.

That's just my 2 cents, please take this with a pinch of salt because for all we know AQA could give us the same stuff again!!

Haha yes indeed they could throw anything at us! I feel like we may get a Zimbardo question this year as a 16 marker. I still haven’t even revised research methods yet so what do we need to know for research methods in paper 1? Like what’s most likely they will ask for research methods in paper 1? Obviously paper 2 research methods is a whole section but they definitely like throwing research methods questions in paper 1. Also is a there a chance you’re studying english lit and maths?

:smile:

Reply 2

emimawi

Original post by ks234r

Yeah, I think the Zimbardo Q could be a possibility! From what I can tell they could literally ask us anything in the research methods topic but it probably won't be too complicated . We'll probably be given a study and there'll be a few basic questions about it - like what kind of test of significance would be applied, evaluate the kind of sample/design used, and maybe some maths or something. I looked in one of the spec papers and in the psychopathology section there were only 8 marks on actual psychopathology and the rest was research methods, but I doubt they'll do that on the actual paper!
I do lit, but not maths!

Reply 3

username3955940

Thanks so much for this!!

Reply 4

soIiIoquy

what about psychopathology? and research methods guys?

Reply 5

emimawi

Original post by soIiIoquy

what about psychopathology? and research methods guys?

I can't find the AS Paper 2 questions so I can't make predictions abt that yet, but I will if I can find them :smile:

Reply 6

username3581862

Original post by emimawi

Yes test of difference and peer review will probably come up but they can throw anything at us. Last year on social influence, only one questions was to do with social influence which was an 8 marker and the rest were research method questions. Aqa like messing with us but not as much as edexcel 😂😂😂. How you feeling for lit? Last year they had such an easy paper for lit but this year I’m sure it will be some next thing.

Reply 7

Kivs

Both my teachers and my tutors believe that institutionalisation (romanian orphans) may come up

Reply 8

emimawi

Original post by ks234r

Tbh if they're going to throw a bunch of research methods I'm gonna hope it's in attachments, since that's my worst topic out of all of them! For lit I feel okay though I'm kind of worried about the comparative essay since my teachers never really taught us how to answer it.

Reply 9

username3581862

Original post by emimawi

Yeah same over here! Like I’m doing othello, unseen poetry and the great gatsby + anthology. Out of these I struggle with section C the most since we also haven’t been taught particularly well in this field. How did your NEA go?

Reply 10

emimawi

Original post by ks234r

I'm doing Othello as well! I got a 21 and a 23 for my NEA, so tbh I'm more worried about psych, since I don't have coursework to fall back on. How'd you do?

Reply 11

username3581862

Original post by emimawi

I'm doing Othello as well! I got a 21 and a 23 for my NEA, so tbh I'm more worried about psych, since I don't have coursework to fall back on. How'd you do?

That’s amazing! I got 22 so that’s basically 44/50 for the NEA since they double the scores for it to be out of 50. I was kinda surprised since i did the NEA in like 3 or 4 days whereas everyone else started a year before lol.This is weird but I’m more confident with paper 2 eng lit than paper 1 😂😂😂. What do you think Othello may be on? Tbh it could be on anything like infidelity or betrayal etc.. So yes, I’m also worried about psycho since I still need to go over RM and paper 3. Then I’ve got maths on top of that! Just need to work hard now i guess.

Reply 12

soIiIoquy

whats the difference between reciprocity and interational synchrony? (attachment)

Reply 13

tkrv

Original post by soIiIoquy

whats the difference between reciprocity and interational synchrony? (attachment)

reciprocity is the description of how 2 people interact. it's a two way process where emotional connection is developed between infant and primary caregiver. Interactional synchrony is when the mother and infant reflect each others actions in a synchronised way.

Reply 14

Fractite

This year's AS had the Strange Situation as a 12 marker, so I'm not overly sure if that'll come up.

And for Psychopathology:

Biological treatments of OCD (I think) and definitions of abnormality (FFA and DIMH) have come up over the last couple of years.

I suspect there may be a 16 marker on explanations for depression or phobias.

Reply 15

cathartic

How are you guys memorising your content? I’ve only done memory and psychopathology still need to memorise attachment and social influence as well as paper 2 😭😭