General Certificate of Education
January 2001
Advanced Subsidiary Examination
PSYCHOLOGY (SPECIFICATION A) PYA3
Unit 3 Social Psychology and Research Methods
Monday 22 January 2001 9.00 am to 10.15 am
Time allowed: 1 hour 15 minutes
Instructions
· The Examining Body for this paper is AQA. The Paper Reference is
PYA3.
· In Section A answer one question. You should attempt all parts of
the question you choose.
· In Section B answer all questions. You should attempt all parts of
the question you choose.
· Cross through any work you do not want marked.
Information
· The maximum mark for this paper is 62.
· Mark allocations are shown in brackets.
· In addition to the mark allocations indicated within the paper, you
will be awarded up to 2 marks for your ability to organize and present information,
ideas, descriptions and arguments clearly and logically. Account will be taken
of your use of grammar, punctuation and spelling and the legibility of your
handwriting.
SECTION A - Social Psychology
Answer one question from this Section.
You should attempt all parts of the question you choose.
|
Question 1 |
Total for this question: 30 marks |
(a) Outline two reasons why people obey.
(3 marks + 3 marks)
(b) Describe the procedures and findings of one study that has explored obedience
to authority.
(6 marks)
(c) Describe two ethical issues that were a feature of the study you have described
in (b).
(3 marks + 3 marks)
(d) "For some, social influence research has been ethically indefensible,
yet for others it has been described as having great moral significance."
From your knowledge of the ethical issues involved in social influence research,
to what extent can such research be justified?
(12 marks)
|
Question 2 |
Total for this question: 30 marks |
(a) What is meant by the terms 'conformity', 'minority influence' and 'obedience'?
(2 marks + 2 marks + 2 marks)
(b) Describe two explanations of why people yield to minority influence.
(3 marks + 3 marks)
(c) Outline two ethical issues that have arisen in social influence research.
(3 marks + 3 marks)
(d) "The role of ethical guidelines is to preserve an overriding high
regard for the well-being and dignity of research participants."
Assess whether psychologists have been successful in resolving the ethical issues
raised by social influence research.
(12 marks)
SECTION B - Research Methods
Answer all questions in this Section.
|
Question 3 |
Total for this question: 15 marks |
In an attempt to investigate the effectiveness of tuition using a driving simulator, a driving school carried out the following field experiment. Ten new drivers were each given 5 hours tuition on the simulator before receiving any tuition in a road car. Another ten new drivers were taken straight out onto the road without first experiencing the driving simulator. Each driver was then assessed over the forthcoming weeks to judge the point at which they were considered ready to take their driving test.
The mean number of hours road tuition needed by the simulator group (after their time on the simulator) before they were considered ready for their test was 20.5 hours while the non-simulator group needed an average 23.5 hours before they were considered ready. The standard deviation for the simulator group was 2.7, and for the non-simulator group it was 6.3.
Comparison of driving tuition times for simulator and non-simulator
group
|
Hours spent on simulator
|
Mean number of hours road tuition to reach test standard
|
|
| Simulator group |
5.0
|
20.5
|
| Non-simulator group |
0
|
23.5
|
Table 1
(a) Suggest a suitable non-directional hypothesis for this investigation.
(2 marks)
(b) Explain one advantage and one weakness of field experiments such as this.
(2 marks + 2 marks)
(c) What was the independent variable in this investigation?
(1 mark)
(d) Describe two other reasons (besides the effect of the simulator) that might
account for the difference in the number of hours road tuition needed for the
two groups of drivers before they were considered ready to take their driving
test.
(2 marks + 2 marks)
(e) From the information given in Table 1, outline two conclusions that could
be drawn from this investigation.
(2 marks + 2 marks)
|
Question 4 |
Total for this question: 15 marks |
Psychologists take part in many aspects of applied social research. Imagine you are part of a team of research psychologists interested in children's vulnerability to traffic accidents as pedestrians. In order to see if there are any age or sex differences in 'reckless' behaviour, you will need to observe children as they use the roadway both in their play and in their passage to and from school.
(a) Identify two ways in which you could operationalise 'reckless behaviour'.
(2 marks)
(b) Identify one way in which you could ensure reliability among the different
observers, and explain how you might put this into practice.
(3 marks)
(c) Describe one way in which you could minimize the intrusive nature of your
observations.
(2 marks)
(d) Explain two features of the study that might affect the validity of the
data being collected.
(2 marks + 2 marks)
(e) Describe two ways of ensuring that this study would be carried out in an
ethically acceptable manner.
(2 marks + 2 marks)
END OF QUESTIONS
