Process
AQA A-Level Psychology 7182
Social Influence
Memory
Attachment
Topic overviewCaregiver-infant interactions: reciprocity and interactional synchronySchaffer's stages of attachmentMultiple attachments and the role of the fatherAnimal studies of attachmentExplanations of attachmentAinsworth's Strange Situation and types of attachmentBowlby's theory of maternal deprivation and effects of institutionalisationInfluence of early attachment on relationshipsCultural variations in attachment
Approaches in Psychology
Biopsychology
Topic overviewDivisions of the nervous systemStructure and function of neurons and synaptic transmissionThe endocrine systemThe fight or flight responseWays of studying the brainLocalisation of function and hemispheric lateralisationPlasticity and functional recovery of the brain after traumaBiological rhythms: circadian, infradian and ultradian
Clinical Psychology and Mental Health
Research Methods
Scientific Processes
Topic overviewAims and hypothesesSamplingPilot studiesExperimental designsObservational designQuestionnaire construction and design of interviewsVariablesControlDemand characteristics and investigator effectsEthicsPeer reviewImplications of psychological research for the economyReliabilityValidityFeatures of scienceReporting psychological investigations
Quantitative and Qualitative Data
Topic overviewQuantitative and qualitative data; the distinction between qualitative and quantitative data collection techniquesPrimary and secondary data, including meta-analysisDescriptive statistics: measures of central tendency and measures of dispersionPresentation and display of quantitative data: graphs, tables, scattergrams, bar chartsDistributions: normal and skewed distributionsIntroduction to statistical testing; the sign test
Data Handling and Analysis
Inferential Testing
Issues and Debates in Psychology
RelationshipsOption 1
GenderOption 1
Cognition and DevelopmentOption 1
SchizophreniaOption 2
Eating BehaviourOption 2
StressOption 2
AggressionOption 3
Forensic PsychologyOption 3
AddictionOption 3
Explanations for Nicotine AddictionOption 3
Eating Behaviour
- 6 subtopics
- 26 things to know
- Paper 3
- Paper 3, one topic chosen from the second option block
What Eating Behaviour covers
Eating Behaviour is an optional topic for Paper 3. It covers why people prefer the foods they do, the neural and hormonal control of hunger, and biological and psychological explanations for both anorexia nervosa and obesity.
The 6 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Explanations for food preferencesThe evolutionary account of preferences for fat and sugar, neophobia and taste aversion, and the learning and social influences that shape what people eat.Open →
- Neural and hormonal mechanisms in eating behaviourThe hypothalamic areas controlling hunger and satiety, the roles of ghrelin and leptin, and the limitations of the hypothalamic account.Open →
- Biological explanations for anorexia nervosaEvidence for heritability, the link to serotonin dysfunction, reported brain differences, and the evaluation of biological explanations.Open →
- Psychological explanations for anorexia nervosaFamily systems theory, social learning theory and cognitive theory as explanations, and how the three compare.Open →
- Biological explanations for obesityInherited risk, the thrifty gene hypothesis, the role of leptin, and neural accounts of reward and hunger signalling.Open →
- Psychological explanations for obesityRestraint theory, the boundary model of eating, disinhibition in restrained eaters, and the evaluation of both models.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Key term
What is neophobia and what reduces it?
Key term
Define taste aversion.
Process
How do learning and social influences shape food preferences?
Process
Which hypothalamic areas control hunger and fullness?
Key term
What is ghrelin and what does it do?
Key term
What is leptin and how does it affect appetite?
Evaluation
Give limitations of the hypothalamic account of eating.
Study
What evidence suggests anorexia nervosa is heritable?
Process
How is serotonin dysfunction linked to anorexia nervosa?
Key term
What brain differences are reported in anorexia nervosa?
Evaluation
Evaluate biological explanations of anorexia nervosa.
Key term
What does family systems theory propose about anorexia nervosa?
Process
How does social learning theory explain anorexia nervosa?
Key term
How does cognitive theory explain anorexia nervosa?
Evaluation
Contrast the three psychological explanations of anorexia nervosa.
Key term
How can inherited genes raise the risk of obesity?
Process
What does the thrifty gene hypothesis claim?
Process
How does leptin feature in biological explanations of obesity?
Process
How do neural explanations of obesity describe reward and hunger signalling?
Study
What evidence supports genetic explanations of obesity?
Evaluation
Evaluate biological explanations of obesity.
Who and when
What does restraint theory claim about dieting?
Process
Describe the boundary model of eating.
Key term
Define disinhibition in restrained eating.
Evaluation
Evaluate restraint theory and the boundary model.
Take Eating Behaviour further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Neophobia vs Taste aversion
Neophobia: an evolved reluctance to eat foods that are unfamiliar. Taste aversion: a learned avoidance of a food that was followed by illness.
Ghrelin vs Leptin
Ghrelin: a stomach hormone that rises before meals and stimulates appetite. Leptin: a fat-cell hormone that signals fullness and suppresses appetite.
Aphagia vs Hyperphagia
Aphagia: failure to eat, following damage to the lateral hypothalamus. Hyperphagia: overeating and weight gain, following damage to the ventromedial hypothalamus.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
According to the evolutionary explanation, why did humans develop preferences for foods high in fat and sugar?
Model answer
These energy-dense foods were scarce in ancestral environments, so preferring them maximised survival by ensuring adequate calorie intake when available.
- 2
What is neophobia in the context of food preferences?
Model answer
Neophobia is the evolved tendency to avoid novel foods, which served as a protective mechanism against consuming potentially toxic or harmful substances.
- 3
Define taste aversion.
Model answer
Taste aversion is a learned avoidance of a food that has previously been associated with illness, which can develop after a single pairing of the food with nausea.
- 4
How does taste aversion demonstrate biological preparedness?
Model answer
The association between food and illness forms rapidly after just one pairing and is highly resistant to extinction, even when the illness was not actually caused by the food.
- 5
Why is taste aversion considered biologically prepared rather than a typical learned association?
Model answer
Unlike most learned associations that require multiple pairings, taste aversion can form after just one experience and persists even when the person knows the food did not cause the illness.
- 6
What survival advantage does the evolutionary explanation propose for taste aversion?
Model answer
Taste aversion evolved to prevent repeated consumption of poisonous foods, thereby enhancing survival.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Eating Behaviour revision questions
- What does Eating Behaviour cover in AQA A-Level Psychology?
- 6 subtopics: explanations for food preferences, neural and hormonal mechanisms in eating behaviour, biological explanations for anorexia nervosa, psychological explanations for anorexia nervosa, biological explanations for obesity and psychological explanations for obesity. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Eating Behaviour organised?
- By the AQA 7182 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Eating Behaviour, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.