Practice Questions and Past Papers for G543

If you really want to get the best marks possible in the real exam, then one of the best things you can do is practice potential and past exam papers.

A key problem for many students is their timing, which is a problem in all exams, but it is especially key in G543 Psychology exam because you have to be able to rapidly recall sections, subsections and studies from a few keywords. This is why I have written at the top of each study page: ‘this is the first study from … further categorised into …’ – when you are asked a question in the exam it may have the key phrase ‘weapons focus’, in which case you know you need to talk about Loftus et al (1987).

Practicing these exam questions and timing yourself will help you work on exam technique and your speed of recall.

If you are having trouble remembering all the studies in an organised manner, get the eBook in the sidebar, which has several useful revision tips.

In the G543 psychology exam you have to answer four questions, each with two parts. Two questions will be from each area you have studied, for example Health and Clinical psychology and Forensic psychology. In each question there is a part A and a part B. The part A questions are worth 10 marks and the part B questions are worth 15 marks.

In the part A question you will be asked to ‘describe’ or ‘outline’ a study or idea. For example: ‘Outline interrogation techniques for crime suspects (10 marks).’ Here the question is relatively nice and has given us the subsection ‘interviewing suspects‘ and the study ‘Inbau et al (1986) – Interrogation technique‘. You should have been able to identify those almost instantly upon reading the question. It is important to identify the subsection, in this case ‘interviewing suspects‘ because the part B question will be on that subsection.

You should aim to be able to write your part A questions in less than 10 minutes.

No marks are awarded for evaluation for part A questions! It is a purely descriptive question type.

In the part B question you will be asked to consider an entire subsection, or select ideas from that subsection for evaluation. These questions are less formulaic so it is difficult to give one example that will explain the question type, but there will be more at the bottom of the page for you to practice. Here is the part B question that was linked with the previous part A: ‘How useful is research into interviewing suspects (15 Marks)’. Notice that the subsection ‘interviewing suspects‘ is clearly defined. The examiner will award more marks for a balanced evaluation than a one-sided argument. Also notice how the question is allowing for a continuum of usefulness and not a black and white ‘it is or it is not useful’. With these questions you are evaluating the extent to which research, in this case, can be considered useful.

Forensic Psychology Questions

Part A: Outline interrogation techniques for crime suspects (10 marks)

Part B: How useful is research into interviewing suspects (15 Marks)

Part A: Outline two pieces of research that investigated how a jury is persuaded by evidence presented in a courtroom (10 marks)

Part B: To what extent can research on the courtroom be said to be generalisable (15 marks)

Part A: Outline one piece of research that investigated police interviews of suspects (10 marks)

Part B: Evaluate the validity of research on interviewing suspects (15 marks)

Part A: Describe one piece of research that explains criminal behaviour (10 marks)

Part B: Discuss the difficulties of explaining criminal behaviour (15 marks)

Part A: Describe one approach to offender profiling (10 marks)

Part B: Evaluate the effectiveness of offender profiling (15 marks)

Part A: What is the effect on a jury of evidence being ruled inadmissible in court? (10 marks)

Part B: Evaluate the usefulness of research into persuading a jury (15 marks)

Part A: Describe one case study as an approach to offender profiling (10 marks)

Part B: Compare different approaches to creating a profile (15 marks)

Part A: Outline how brain dysfunction can explain criminal behaviour (10 marks)

Part B: Evaluate individual (biological) explanations of criminal behaviour (15 marks)

Part A: How can an upbringing in a disrupted family explain criminal behaviour (10 marks)

Part B: Evaluate the use of longitudinal research when considering upbringing as an explanation of crime (15 marks)

Health & Clinical Questions

Part A: Describe one piece of research which considers work as a source of stress (10 marks)

Part B: Discuss problems of conduction research into the causes of stress (15 marks)

Part A: Outline the self-report method of measuring stress (10 marks)

Part B: Discuss and evaluate a combined approach to measuring stress, using relevant research (15 marks)

Part A: Outline a cognitive technique for managing stress (10 marks)

Part B: Compare techniques for managing stress (15 marks)

Part A: Describe one reason why people do not adhere to medical requests (10 marks)

Part B: Discuss the problems psychologists might have when carrying out studies on adherence to medical requests (15 marks)

Part A: Describe one technique used to promote health (10 marks)

Part B: Discuss the effectiveness of health promotion techniques (15 marks)

Part A: Describe one method health promotion and explain how it works (10 marks)

Part B: How useful are the different methods of health promotion in promoting healthy behaviours (15 marks)

Part A: Describe one study which shows that legislation is an effective means of health promotion (10 marks)

Part B: What problems do psychologist face when trying to research methods of health promotion (15 marks)

Part A: Describe one study to illustrate a theory of health belief (10 marks)

Part B: Evaluate the usefulness of theories of health belief (15 marks)

Part A: Outline how theories of health belief help us to understand people’s choices about their health behaviours (10 marks)

Part B: Compare any two theories of health belief (15 marks)

Part A: How can fear arousal be used as a method of health promotion? (10 marks)

Part B: Assess the effectiveness of methods of health promotion (15 marks)

Part A: Outline a biological explanation of dysfunctional behaviour (10 marks)

Part B: To what extent are explanations of dysfunctional behaviour reductionist? (15 marks)

Psych Yogi

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Practice Questions and Past Papers for G543