OCR A-Level Psychology H567
Research Methods and Techniques
Planning and Conducting Research
Data Recording, Analysis and Presentation
Report Writing and Scientific Communication
Practical Activities and the Nature of Science
Mathematical Requirements for Research Methods
Studying and Evaluating the Core Studies: The Common Framework
Core Studies: Social Area
Core Studies: Cognitive Area
Core Studies: Developmental Area
Core Studies: Biological Area
Core Studies: Individual Differences Area
Areas and Perspectives in Psychology
Debates in Psychology
Practical Applications of Psychology
Issues in Mental Health
Child PsychologyApplied option
Criminal PsychologyApplied option
Environmental PsychologyApplied option
Sport and Exercise PsychologyApplied option
Methodological Issues and Debates Running Through Applied Psychology
Core Studies: Biological Area
- 13 subtopics
- 39 things to know
- Component 02
What Core Studies: Biological Area covers
Core Studies: Biological Area is examined on component 02 of OCR Psychology, Psychological themes through core studies. 137 recall questions across 13 subtopics.
Where it is assessed
Component 02
Psychological themes through core studies, the synoptic paper.
Check the OCR specification ↗The 13 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Sperry (1968) split-brain study: background, apparatus and procedureRecall questions on the corpus callosum surgery of Sperry's 1968 split-brain patients, the aim, method and sample, the visual apparatus and brief presentations, visual field pathways, and responses to words and objects presented to each hemisphere.Open →
- Sperry (1968) split-brain study: results, conclusions and evaluationRecall questions on Sperry's findings from drawing, emotional reactions, right-hemisphere language and left-hand tasks, his conclusions about consciousness and hemisphere function, and the evaluation of procedure, generalisation, sample, ecological validity, comparisons, reductionism and practical value.Open →
- Casey et al. (2011) neural correlates of delay of gratification: background and sampleRecall questions on the background and aim of Casey et al.'s 2011 study of the neural correlates of delay of gratification, hot and cool systems, the combined methods, the original cohort, high and low delayers, and the participants.Open →
- Casey et al. (2011) neural correlates of delay of gratification: the go/no-go task and resultsRecall questions on the go/no-go task used by Casey et al., its cool and hot versions and target reversal, the behavioural findings, and the prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum findings for low and high delayers.Open →
- Casey et al. (2011) neural correlates of delay of gratification: conclusions and evaluationRecall questions on Casey et al.'s conclusions about the stability of self-control and when low delayers fail, and the evaluation of the longitudinal element, fMRI, sample, ecological validity, causation and applications.Open →
- Regions of the brain: comparing Sperry and Casey et al.Recall questions on the similarities between Sperry and Casey et al. in aims, pre-existing groups, data, samples, validity and debates, their differences in brains studied, methods, time frame, regions, health and ethics, and what the pair adds on localisation, technology and diversity.Open →
- Blakemore and Cooper (1970) early visual experience: background and methodRecall questions on the aim of Blakemore and Cooper's 1970 study of early visual experience, the earlier finding behind it, the method and design, how the kittens were housed, the vertical and horizontal striped cylinders, and the collar.Open →
- Blakemore and Cooper (1970) early visual experience: procedure and resultsRecall questions on the conditions in Blakemore and Cooper's study, the kittens' introduction to a lit room, behavioural deficits and recovery, behavioural blindness, single-neuron recording and the central neurophysiological finding.Open →
- Blakemore and Cooper (1970) early visual experience: conclusions and evaluationRecall questions on Blakemore and Cooper's main conclusion, sensitive periods, explanations for the missing cells, and the evaluation of internal validity, combined measures, ethics, generalising to humans, applications and the behavioural observations.Open →
- Maguire et al. (2000) taxi drivers: background, method and sampleRecall questions on the Knowledge and why London taxi drivers were studied, the hippocampus, the aim, method and design of Maguire et al.'s 2000 study, the taxi driver and control samples, and why all were right-handed men.Open →
- Maguire et al. (2000) taxi drivers: MRI analysis and resultsRecall questions on how Maguire et al. examined the brains using MRI, voxel-based morphometry and pixel counting, blinding, and the findings for posterior and anterior hippocampi, total volume and years of taxi driving experience.Open →
- Maguire et al. (2000) taxi drivers: conclusions and evaluationRecall questions on whether Maguire et al. found other brain differences, their conclusion and the role of the posterior hippocampus, and the evaluation of two analysis techniques, causation, sample, design improvements and reductionism.Open →
- Brain plasticity: comparing Blakemore and Cooper and Maguire et al.Recall questions on the similarities between Blakemore and Cooper and Maguire et al. in plasticity, measurement, samples, nature and nurture, reductionism and practical value, their differences in participants, causation, life stage, ethics and data, and what the pair adds on plasticity and diversity.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
How could a patient show they had in fact processed a stimulus presented only to the right hemisphere?
How did each study obtain its evidence about brain function?
What did the cylinder look like?
Was total hippocampal volume different between the groups?
Which study can claim cause and effect, and why?
Contrast the ethics of the two studies.
What did Sperry conclude about consciousness in these patients?
Who made up the original cohort?
What did the ventral striatum show?
Why can the brain differences not be said to cause poor self-control?
Why did each kitten wear a wide black collar?
Why does the study have high internal validity?
Who made up the control group?
Describe the second analysis technique.
Suggest one way the design could be improved to strengthen the causal claim.
How is the labour divided between the two hemispheres?
How does the hot system differ from the cool system?
What stimuli were used in the cool version of the task?
State the main conclusion about the stability of self-control.
How did the two studies differ in the state of the brains they examined?
What was the only difference between the two conditions?
Which deficits improved and which persisted?
What does the study suggest about a sensitive period?
State the aim of Maguire et al.'s study.
Were differences found anywhere else in the brain?
State the aim of the study.
Give two strengths of the procedure.
Which methods were combined in this study?
What was found on the cool task?
Under what conditions do low delayers actually fail?
Give one difference in the time frame of the two studies.
What earlier finding made the question worth asking?
What is meant by saying the kittens showed a behavioural blindness?
Give two competing explanations for the missing cells.
Who made up the taxi driver sample?
How were the brains examined?
State the main conclusion of Maguire et al.'s study.
Who took part in each of the two studies?
Take Core Studies: Biological Area further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Sperry (1968) vs Casey et al. (2011)
Sperry (1968): the study of patients whose corpus callosum had been cut, testing each hemisphere separately. Casey et al. (2011): the study following up adults who had done a delay-of-gratification task as children.
Blakemore and Cooper (1970) vs Maguire et al. (2000)
Blakemore and Cooper (1970): the study rearing kittens in a cylinder painted with stripes of a single orientation. Maguire et al. (2000): the study comparing the hippocampi of London taxi drivers with those of controls.
Posterior hippocampus vs Anterior hippocampus
Posterior hippocampus: the rear region found to be larger in experienced taxi drivers. Anterior hippocampus: the front region found to be smaller in experienced taxi drivers.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What surgical procedure had all of Sperry's participants undergone?
Model answer
They had all had a commissurotomy, in which the corpus callosum was cut so that the two cerebral hemispheres were separated.
- 2
State the aim of the study.
Model answer
To investigate the psychological consequences of separating the hemispheres, and so establish what each hemisphere can do on its own.
- 3
Which research method best describes the study?
Model answer
It was a quasi-experiment carried out under laboratory conditions, because the independent variable of having had the operation was naturally occurring rather than manipulated.
- 4
How many patients formed the sample?
Model answer
Eleven patients who had already undergone hemisphere deconnection surgery.
- 5
Describe the apparatus used for the visual tests.
Model answer
Participants sat in front of a screen with one eye covered, fixating a central point, while images were projected onto the screen; objects could be handled out of sight through a gap beneath it.
- 6
For roughly how long was each image flashed onto the screen, and why did this matter?
Model answer
Each image appeared for about one tenth of a second, which is too brief for the participant to move their eyes and let the other hemisphere see it.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Core Studies: Biological Area revision questions
- What does Core Studies: Biological Area cover in OCR A-Level Psychology?
- 13 subtopics: sperry (1968) split-brain study: background, apparatus and procedure, sperry (1968) split-brain study: results, conclusions and evaluation, casey et al. (2011) neural correlates of delay of gratification: background and sample, casey et al. (2011) neural correlates of delay of gratification: the go/no-go task and results, casey et al. (2011) neural correlates of delay of gratification: conclusions and evaluation, regions of the brain: comparing sperry and casey et al., blakemore and cooper (1970) early visual experience: background and method, blakemore and cooper (1970) early visual experience: procedure and results, blakemore and cooper (1970) early visual experience: conclusions and evaluation, maguire et al. (2000) taxi drivers: background, method and sample, maguire et al. (2000) taxi drivers: mri analysis and results, maguire et al. (2000) taxi drivers: conclusions and evaluation and brain plasticity: comparing blakemore and cooper and maguire et al.. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Core Studies: Biological Area organised?
- By the OCR H567 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Core Studies: Biological Area, 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.
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