England · Pearson EdexcelQ&A
PsychologyQ&A by dot point
A short Q&A bank for every England Psychology syllabus dot point. Each question and answer is drawn directly from our worked dot-point page, so you can scan key concepts before opening the long-form answer.
Topic 4: The brain and neuropsychology
- The impact of neurological damage: how damage to the brain (for example from injury or stroke) affects movement and behaviour, and how this reveals the localisation of function.3Q&A pairs
- Neurons and synapses: the structure and function of neurons, the electrical impulse, and synaptic transmission using neurotransmitters.3Q&A pairs
- Core studies: Sperry (1968) on split-brain patients and Damasio et al. (1994) on the case of Phineas Gage, including their aims, methods, results, conclusions and evaluation.4Q&A pairs
- The structure and function of the brain: the cerebrum and its four lobes, the cerebellum and brain stem, and the lateralisation of function across the two hemispheres.3Q&A pairs
Topic 6: Criminal psychology
- Core studies: Bandura, Ross and Ross (1961) Bobo doll study and Charlton et al. (2000) St Helena study of television and behaviour, including their aims, methods, results, conclusions and evaluation.4Q&A pairs
- Biological explanations of criminality: the role of genes and brain structure (including the amygdala and frontal lobe), and an evaluation against the learning explanation.7Q&A pairs
- Learning theories of criminality: social learning theory (observation, imitation and vicarious reinforcement) and operant conditioning, applied to how criminal and antisocial behaviour is learned.4Q&A pairs
- The effect of punishment on recidivism and treatments to reduce antisocial behaviour (such as anger management and token economies), with an evaluation.5Q&A pairs
Topic 1: Development
- Early brain development: the development of the brain in the womb and in early years, including the structures that develop, and the influence of nature and nurture on development.3Q&A pairs
- Dweck's mindset theory (fixed and growth mindset, the role of praise) and Willingham's learning theory (the limits of learning styles, the importance of meaning and self-regulation).4Q&A pairs
- Morality in development (Piaget's stages of moral development and Kohlberg's idea of moral reasoning) and the nature-nurture debate applied to development.3Q&A pairs
- Core study: Piaget and Inhelder (1956), the three mountains task, including its aim, method, results, conclusion and evaluation.5Q&A pairs
- Piaget's theory of cognitive development: schemas, assimilation and accommodation, and the four stages of development with their key features.3Q&A pairs
Topic 2: Memory
- Features of short-term and long-term memory and types of amnesia: retrograde and anterograde amnesia, and what they show about memory.3Q&A pairs
- Core studies: Bartlett (1932) War of the Ghosts and Peterson and Peterson (1959) on short-term memory duration, including their aims, methods, results, conclusions and evaluation, and the reductionism-holism debate.4Q&A pairs
- The multi-store model of memory (Atkinson and Shiffrin): the sensory register, short-term and long-term memory, the roles of attention and rehearsal, and an evaluation of the model.8Q&A pairs
- The theory of reconstructive memory (Bartlett): schemas, the active reconstruction of memory, and how this leads to distortion of recall.4Q&A pairs
- The structure and process of memory: encoding, storage and retrieval, and the features of short-term and long-term memory (capacity, duration and encoding).3Q&A pairs
Topic 3: Psychological problems
- Defining mental health: what is meant by mental health and mental health problems, how definitions and attitudes have changed over time, and the incidence of mental health problems.3Q&A pairs
- Explaining addiction: its characteristics, the influence of genes, and the learning theory of addiction (classical and operant conditioning), including Young (2007) on internet addiction.7Q&A pairs
- Explaining unipolar depression: its characteristics, the influence of genes (Caspi et al. 2003), and the cognitive theory of depression (Beck's negative triad and faulty thinking).4Q&A pairs
- Treating addiction: drug treatments (such as aversion therapy and substitute drugs) and behavioural and cognitive approaches based on the learning theory, with an evaluation of each.7Q&A pairs
- Treating unipolar depression: cognitive behavioural therapy (challenging negative thoughts) and drug treatments (antidepressants and how they work), and an evaluation of each.4Q&A pairs
Topic 11: Research methods
- Data analysis: types of data, measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode) and the range, percentages, ratios and fractions, and ways of displaying data such as bar charts and tables.3Q&A pairs
- Designing psychological research: aims and hypotheses (including null and alternative), experimental designs, types of experiment, and other research methods such as observations, questionnaires and case studies.3Q&A pairs
- Ethical issues in psychological research: consent, deception, protection from harm, confidentiality and the right to withdraw, the use of animals, and how researchers deal with these issues.3Q&A pairs
- Sampling methods (random, opportunity, stratified, systematic) and variables (independent, dependent and extraneous variables), and how variables are controlled.3Q&A pairs
Topic 5: Social influence
- Factors affecting bystander intervention: the bystander effect, diffusion of responsibility, and situational and personal factors that affect whether people help.3Q&A pairs
- Collective behaviour: deindividuation in crowds, prosocial and antisocial behaviour, and how social influence can lead to both helping and harmful crowd behaviour.4Q&A pairs
- Social influence concepts: conformity and the factors affecting it, obedience to authority and the factors affecting it (including Milgram's work and the agentic state).4Q&A pairs
- Core studies: Piliavin et al. (1969) subway study of helping behaviour and Haney, Banks and Zimbardo (1973) Stanford prison study, including their aims, methods, results, conclusions and evaluation.4Q&A pairs