What are the personal investigations, and what skills do they assess?
Personal investigations (Section A): the practical investigations carried out across the course (such as a Stroop or memory experiment, an observation and a correlation) and the design, analysis and evaluation skills they assess.
An overview of the WJEC A-Level Psychology Unit 4 personal investigations: the practical investigations carried out across the course and the design, analysis, reporting and evaluation skills they assess, examined through questions in the Unit 4 paper.
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What this dot point is asking
Unit 4 Section A is personal investigations: the practical investigations you carry out across the course, such as a Stroop or memory experiment, an observation, a questionnaire and a correlation. They are not a separately marked coursework folder; instead, the skills you develop, designing, running, analysing, reporting and evaluating studies, are assessed through questions in the Unit 4 written paper. This single overview covers what the investigations are and the skills they build; the detailed methods and statistics are in the applied-research-methods page.
What the personal investigations are
Across the course you carry out a range of small studies that span the main methods, typically including:
- An experiment, such as the Stroop effect (naming ink colours is slower when the word names a different colour) or a memory study.
- An observation, with operationalised behavioural categories and a sampling method.
- A self-report study using a questionnaire or interview.
- A correlation between two measured co-variables.
Carrying out studies in each method means you understand them from the inside, which is exactly what the Unit 4 paper tests.
The skills they assess
How they are examined
You are not submitting a coursework folder for separate marks; the personal investigations develop the skills that are then tested in the Unit 4 written paper, frequently through a described study you must analyse: identifying the design and variables, writing a hypothesis, choosing a statistical test, interpreting results, and evaluating the methodology. So the best preparation is to understand each investigation you carried out well enough to answer methods questions about any similar study.
Examples in context
Example 1. A memory investigation. A study comparing recall of words in a meaningful order versus a random order uses an independent-groups or repeated-measures design, a mean recall score, and an inferential test, the same skill set the paper assesses.
Example 2. A correlation. Measuring hours of sleep and reaction time and plotting a scattergraph rehearses correlation, the difference between correlation and causation, and the choice of a correlational inferential test.
Try this
Q1. Are personal investigations submitted as separately marked coursework? [1 mark]
- Cue. No; they build research skills that are assessed through questions in the Unit 4 written paper.
Q2. Name three methods you would carry out as personal investigations. [3 marks]
- Cue. Any three: an experiment (such as Stroop), an observation, a questionnaire or interview, and a correlation.
Q3. Outline two skills a personal investigation assesses. [4 marks]
- Cue. Any two developed: designing a study (hypotheses, variables, design, sampling, ethics); analysing data (descriptive and inferential statistics); reporting in standard sections; and evaluating reliability, validity and ethics.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of WJEC exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
WJEC specimen6 marksA student carried out a personal investigation using the Stroop effect. Identify the experimental design they should use, write a suitable hypothesis, and state one extraneous variable they should control.Show worked answer →
WJEC rewards a correct design, an operationalised hypothesis and a sensible control.
Design: repeated measures, because each participant does both the congruent (word and ink colour match) and incongruent (mismatch) conditions, controlling participant variables (counterbalance to control order effects).
Hypothesis: "Participants will take longer to name the ink colours of incongruent colour words than of congruent colour words."
Extraneous variable to control: lighting, the same word list length, or practice; for example standardise the number of words and the lighting so they do not differ between conditions.
A strong answer names the design, writes a directional, operationalised hypothesis and gives a relevant, controllable variable.
WJEC specimen8 marksExplain how a student would design and evaluate a personal investigation using a naturalistic observation.Show worked answer →
WJEC rewards a clear design with appropriate methods and an evaluation.
Design: choose a behaviour and setting, decide between covert and overt and participant and non-participant observation, create operationalised behavioural categories, and use a sampling method such as event or time sampling. Ensure ethics (consent or public-place justification, confidentiality).
Analysis: record frequencies in the categories, check inter-rater reliability between two observers, and summarise the data.
Evaluation: strengths include high ecological validity and capturing real behaviour; weaknesses include observer bias, low control of extraneous variables, and ethical issues with covert observation. A strong answer covers design, reliability and a balanced evaluation.
Related dot points
- Application of research methods (Section B): brain-scanning techniques, longitudinal and cross-sectional studies, extended reliability and validity, distributions and descriptive statistics, and choosing and interpreting inferential tests.
A focused answer to WJEC A-Level Psychology Unit 4 Section B on the application of research methods: brain-scanning techniques, longitudinal and cross-sectional studies, extended reliability and validity, distributions and descriptive statistics, and choosing and interpreting inferential tests.
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A focused answer to WJEC A-Level Psychology Unit 2 Section B on research methods: hypotheses, variables, experimental and non-experimental methods, experimental designs, sampling techniques, reliability, validity and ethics.
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A focused answer to WJEC A-Level Psychology Unit 2 Section A on contemporary debates: how the five approaches inform current debates such as the ethics of neuroscience, the importance of mothering, conditioning children, eyewitness reliability and the value of positive psychology, and how to argue both sides.
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A focused answer to WJEC A-Level Psychology Unit 1 on the cognitive approach: its assumptions, its application to the formation of relationships, cognitive behaviour therapy, the classic study of Loftus and Palmer (1974), and how to evaluate the approach.
Sources & how we know this
- WJEC GCE Psychology specification (from 2015) — WJEC (2015)