Key term
WJEC AS-Level Psychology 601-5719-7
Psychology Past to Present — The Five Approaches
Topic overviewThe Biological Approach: assumptions of the approach and applying the assumptions to the formation of relationshipsThe Biological Approach: love chemicals, strengths and weaknessesBiological Therapy: Drug Therapy or Psychosurgery — how the approach is used in therapyBiological Therapy: Drug Therapy or Psychosurgery — effectiveness of the therapyClassic Evidence (Biological): Raine, Buchsbaum and LaCasse (1997) — methodology and findingsClassic Evidence (Biological): Raine, Buchsbaum and LaCasse (1997) — conclusionsThe Psychodynamic Approach: assumptions of the approachThe Psychodynamic Approach: personality, defence mechanisms and the formation of relationshipsThe Psychodynamic Approach: strengths and weaknesses of the approachPsychodynamic Therapy: Dream Analysis or Group Analysis Psychotherapy — how the approach is usedPsychodynamic Therapy: Dream Analysis or Group Analysis Psychotherapy — effectiveness of the therapyClassic Evidence (Psychodynamic): Bowlby (1944) — methodology, procedures and findingsClassic Evidence (Psychodynamic): Bowlby (1944) — conclusions, ethical issues and social implicationsThe Behaviourist Approach: assumptions of the approachThe Behaviourist Approach: applying the assumptions to relationships, strengths and weaknessesBehaviourist Therapy: Aversion Therapy or Systematic Desensitisation — how the approach is usedBehaviourist Therapy: Aversion Therapy or Systematic Desensitisation — effectiveness of the therapyClassic Evidence (Behaviourist): Watson and Rayner (1920) — methodology, procedures and findingsClassic Evidence (Behaviourist): Watson and Rayner (1920) — conclusionsThe Cognitive Approach: assumptions of the approach and applying the assumptions to the formation of relationshipsThe Cognitive Approach: strengths and weaknesses of the approachCognitive Therapy: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or Rational Emotive Behaviour TherapyCognitive Therapy: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (2)Classic Evidence (Cognitive): Loftus and Palmer (1974) — methodology, procedures and findingsClassic Evidence (Cognitive): Loftus and Palmer (1974) — conclusionsThe Positive Approach: assumptions of the approachThe Positive Approach: applying the assumptions to the formation of relationshipsThe Positive Approach: strengths and weaknesses of the approachPositive Therapy: Mindfulness or Quality of Life Therapy — how the approach is used in therapyPositive Therapy: Mindfulness or Quality of Life Therapy — assumptions in practice, effectiveness and ethicsClassic Evidence (Positive): Myers and Diener (1995) — methodology, procedures and findingsClassic Evidence (Positive): Myers and Diener (1995) — conclusionsComparison of the Five Approaches: biological approach and psychodynamic approachComparison of the Five Approaches: behaviourist approach, cognitive approach and positive approach
Contemporary Debates
Topic overviewHow to Explore a Contemporary DebateDebate: The Ethics of Neuroscience — what is at the core of the debateDebate: The Ethics of Neuroscience — arguments on each side of itDebate: The Mother as Primary Care-Giver of an Infant — what is at the core of the debateDebate: The Mother as Primary Care-Giver of an Infant — arguments on each side of itDebate: Using Conditioning Techniques to Control the Behaviour of ChildrenDebate: Using Conditioning Techniques to Control the Behaviour of Children — arguments on each sideDebate: Reliability of Eye-Witness Testimony (Including Children) — what is at the core of the debateDebate: Reliability of Eye-Witness Testimony (Including Children) — arguments on each side of itDebate: Relevance of Positive Psychology in Today's Society — what is at the core of the debateDebate: Relevance of Positive Psychology in Today's Society — arguments on each side of it
Principles of Research and Application of Research Methods
Topic overviewSocial Psychology Context Study: Milgram (1963) — methodology and proceduresSocial Psychology Context Study: Milgram (1963) — findings, ethical issues and social implicationsDevelopmental Psychology Context Study: Kohlberg (1968) — methodology, procedures and findingsDevelopmental Psychology Context Study: Kohlberg (1968) — conclusionsDeciding on a Research Question: aim of the research and null hypothesesDeciding on a Research Question: variables, operationalisation and extraneous variablesMethodologies: experiments, quasi-experiments and participant observationsMethodologies: non-participant observation, content analysis and interviewsMethodologies: correlational studies, case studies and self-reportsLocation of Research: conducting research in a laboratory and in the fieldLocation of Research: conducting research on-lineParticipants and Sampling: target populations, sampling frames and opportunity samplingParticipants and Sampling: systematic sampling, stratified sampling and quota samplingParticipants and Sampling: self-selected sampling and observational sampling techniquesExperimental Design: independent groups and repeated measuresExperimental Design: matched pairsLevels of Measurement: nominal data and ordinal dataLevels of Measurement: interval data and ratio dataGraphical Representation: bar charts and histogramsGraphical Representation: scatter diagrams and choosing a display for the level of measurementDescriptive Statistics: the mean, the median and the modeDescriptive Statistics: the range, the standard deviation and choosing a measureReliabilityValidity: internal validity and external validityValidity: specific validity issues and ways of dealing with issues of validityEthics in Psychological Research: confidentiality, deception, protection from harm and risk to valuesEthics in Psychological Research: valid consent, working with vulnerable individuals and ways of dealing with ethical issuesApplication of Research Methods to a Novel Scenario (AS): identifying the method and the variablesApplication of Research Methods to a Novel Scenario (AS): judging the reliability, validity and ethics
Mathematical Requirements for Psychology (Appendix A: AS Unit 2 and A2 Unit 4)
Topic overviewArithmetic and Numerical Computation: standard form and significant figuresArithmetic and Numerical Computation: estimating and checking a resultHandling Data: means, medians, modes and ranges, percentages and percentage changeHandling Data: reading a table of data and orders of magnitudeAlgebraGraphs: plotting and labelling a graph, gradients and interceptsGraphs: reading a value off a curve and choosing the right form of graph
Contemporary Debates
- 11 subtopics
- 30 things to know
- AS Unit 2
What Contemporary Debates covers
Contemporary Debates is examined on AS Unit 2 of WJEC Psychology, Psychology: Using Psychological Concepts. 150 recall questions across 11 subtopics.
Where it is assessed
AS Unit 2
Psychology: Using Psychological Concepts.
Check the WJEC specification ↗The 11 subtopics
Each one has its own page. WJEC AS Psychology students sit this topic in the first year.
- How to Explore a Contemporary DebateRecall questions on social implications of a psychological position and ethnocentrism in psychological research.Open →
- Debate: The Ethics of Neuroscience — what is at the core of the debateRecall questions on neuroethics.Open →
- Debate: The Ethics of Neuroscience — arguments on each side of itRecall questions on neuro-essentialism.Open →
- Debate: The Mother as Primary Care-Giver of an Infant — what is at the core of the debateRecall questions on monotropy and internal working model.Open →
- Debate: The Mother as Primary Care-Giver of an Infant — arguments on each side of itTwelve recall questions on debate: The Mother as Primary Care-Giver of an Infant — arguments on each side of it.Open →
- Debate: Using Conditioning Techniques to Control the Behaviour of ChildrenThirteen recall questions on debate: Using Conditioning Techniques to Control the Behaviour of Children.Open →
- Debate: Using Conditioning Techniques to Control the Behaviour of Children — arguments on each sideRecall questions on overjustification effect.Open →
- Debate: Reliability of Eye-Witness Testimony (Including Children) — what is at the core of the debateRecall questions on reconstructive memory and weapon focus.Open →
- Debate: Reliability of Eye-Witness Testimony (Including Children) — arguments on each side of itRecall questions on own-race bias.Open →
- Debate: Relevance of Positive Psychology in Today's Society — what is at the core of the debateRecall questions on hedonic adaptation and flow.Open →
- Debate: Relevance of Positive Psychology in Today's Society — arguments on each side of itRecall questions on VIA classification, broaden-and-build theory and tyranny of the positive attitude.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Numbers
State the refrigerator mother and schizophrenogenic mother claims, and their present status.
Study
What did the second Loftus and Palmer experiment add, and why is it the more damaging finding?
Key term
How does the inverted-U explanation account for the effect of anxiety on accuracy?
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What interviewing practice best protects a child witness's accuracy?
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Has the income plateau that Kahneman and Deaton (2010) reported, with wellbeing levelling off at higher incomes, since been confirmed?
Evaluation
Give two economic arguments for taking wellbeing seriously.
Study
What did Koluchova's study of the Czech twins demonstrate?
Evaluation
Which ethical failings of the Little Albert study bear most on this debate?
Key term
Describe how a token economy works in a classroom.
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Why does the positive approach's commitment to free will matter in this debate?
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What kind of material should be used to support each side of a debate?
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Which assumptions of the biological approach give neuroscience its force in this debate?
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Why is an incidental finding an ethical problem in brain-imaging research?
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Why is valid consent harder to secure in neuroscience research than in a questionnaire study?
Who and when
What did Bowlby (1944) compare in his study of juvenile thieves?
Key term
How does the psychodynamic approach support the mother's special position?
Numbers
How has the law in Wales changed in relation to punishing children?
Key term
Why is consent a particular problem when conditioning techniques are used with children?
Who and when
What did Bartlett's War of the Ghosts study show?
Key term
State the three pillars of positive psychology.
Key term
Name the five psychological approaches used to explore the contemporary debates.
Who and when
What differences did Raine et al. (1997) report in the murderers' brains?
Key term
Give two economic implications of investment in neuroscience.
Evaluation
Which biological arguments are used to support the mother as primary care-giver?
Who and when
What did van IJzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988) find about attachment across cultures?
Key term
Distinguish classical from operant conditioning.
Who and when
What speed estimates did the two extreme verbs produce?
Key term
Name the four components of the cognitive interview.
Key term
Name the five elements of Seligman's PERMA model.
Take Contemporary Debates further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Negative reinforcement vs Punishment
Negative reinforcement: removing something unpleasant, which increases the behaviour. Punishment: adding something unpleasant, which decreases it.
Deprivation vs Privation
Deprivation: losing an attachment bond that had already formed. Privation: never having formed one.
Economic implications vs Social implications
Economic implications: costs and savings in money. Social implications: effects on attitudes, groups and institutions.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What does it mean to identify the core of a psychological debate?
Model answer
It means stating the single question the two sides actually disagree about, rather than listing everything that is known about the topic.
- 2
Why is an answer that argues only one side of a contemporary debate incomplete?
Model answer
Both sides have to be explored from a psychological perspective, so a one-sided answer leaves the opposing case and the evidence behind it untested.
- 3
What kind of material should be used to support each side of a debate?
Model answer
Named psychological studies and theories, each attributed to a researcher and a date, rather than personal opinion or anecdote.
- 4
Name the five psychological approaches used to explore the contemporary debates.
Model answer
The biological, psychodynamic, behaviourist, cognitive and positive approaches.
- 5
How would a biological psychologist typically frame a contemporary debate?
Model answer
In terms of genes, brain structure, neurotransmitters and evolutionary influences, treating behaviour as having identifiable physical causes.
- 6
How would a behaviourist frame a debate about why a child behaves as they do?
Model answer
As learning: the behaviour has been acquired from the environment through classical or operant conditioning, because the mind is treated as starting out as a blank slate.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Contemporary Debates revision questions
- Is Contemporary Debates examined at AS in WJEC Psychology?
- Yes. It sits in AS Unit 2, which you take in the first year, so it is on the AS paper as well as counting towards the full A level.
- What does Contemporary Debates cover in WJEC AS-Level Psychology?
- 11 subtopics: how to explore a contemporary debate, debate: the ethics of neuroscience — what is at the core of the debate, debate: the ethics of neuroscience — arguments on each side of it, debate: the mother as primary care-giver of an infant — what is at the core of the debate, debate: the mother as primary care-giver of an infant — arguments on each side of it, debate: using conditioning techniques to control the behaviour of children, debate: using conditioning techniques to control the behaviour of children — arguments on each side, debate: reliability of eye-witness testimony (including children) — what is at the core of the debate, debate: reliability of eye-witness testimony (including children) — arguments on each side of it, debate: relevance of positive psychology in today's society — what is at the core of the debate and debate: relevance of positive psychology in today's society — arguments on each side of it. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Contemporary Debates organised?
- By the WJEC 601-5719-7 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Contemporary Debates, 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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