OCR A-level Psychology Year 12 revision

Topic 1: Research methods

It builds on what you learned at GCSE in Research methods, and takes it further.

There are 16 parts: we start with aims, hypotheses, variables and operationalisation, and finish with the practical on investigation.

1. 1.1Aims, hypotheses, variables and operationalisationFree 27 questions
2. 1.2Experimental methods: laboratory, field, natural and quasi experiments23 questions
3. 1.3Experimental designs: independent groups, repeated measures, matched pairs and counterbalancing29 questions
4. 1.4Control of variables: extraneous and confounding variables, demand characteristics, investigator effects, randomisation and standardisation31 questions
5. 1.5Populations and sampling methods19 questions
6. 1.6Observational methods and behavioural categories34 questions
7. 1.7Self-report methods: questionnaires and interviews39 questions
8. 1.8Correlational analysis and correlation coefficients37 questions
9. 1.9Case studiesFree 24 questions
10. 1.10Content analysis and thematic analysis33 questions
11. 1.11Longitudinal, cross-sectional and cross-cultural research designs33 questions
12. 1.12Pilot studies, primary and secondary data, and meta-analysis68 questions
13. 1.13Ethical issues, the BPS Code of Ethics and ethics in animal research32 questions
14. 1.14Reliability and validity: assessing and improving them27 questions
15. 1.15Features of science, peer review and the implications of research for the economy28 questions
16. 1.16Practical investigation: planning, conducting, analysing and reporting a study (including referencing)28 questions

Topic 2: Research methods: data handling and analysis

This topic is about what to do with data once a study has been carried out.

We will cover types and levels of data, averages and spread, graphs and distributions, then probability, significance and errors.

Finally we will choose and use inferential tests, including the sign test, and practise the maths skills that appear in every exam.

1. 2.1Quantitative and qualitative data and levels of measurementFree 76 questions
2. 2.2Descriptive statistics: measures of central tendency and dispersion59 questions
3. 2.3Presenting data: tables, bar charts, histograms, scattergrams and distributions64 questions
4. 2.4Probability, significance levels and Type I and Type II errors65 questions
5. 2.5Choosing an inferential test and using critical values tables73 questions
6. 2.6The sign test: calculation and interpretation63 questions
7. 2.7Other inferential tests: Wilcoxon, Mann-Whitney, Spearman, Pearson, chi-square and t-tests73 questions
8. 2.8Maths skills for psychology: ratios, percentages, decimals, standard form, significant figures and estimation60 questions

Topic 3: Social area: core studies

It builds on what you learned at GCSE in Social influence, and takes it further.

There are 4 parts: we start with Milgram (1963) Behavioural study of obedience, and finish with levine et al. (2001) Cross-cultural differences in helping strangers.

1. 3.1Milgram (1963) Behavioural study of obedienceFree 33 questions
2. 3.2Bocchiaro et al. (2012) Disobedience and whistle-blowing37 questions
3. 3.3Piliavin et al. (1969) Good Samaritanism: the subway study37 questions
4. 3.4Levine et al. (2001) Cross-cultural differences in helping strangers73 questions

Topic 4: Cognitive area: core studies

It builds on what you learned at GCSE in Memory, and takes it further.

There are 4 parts: we start with loftus and Palmer (1974) Reconstruction of automobile destruction, and finish with simons and Chabris (1999) Gorillas in our midst.

1. 4.1Loftus and Palmer (1974) Reconstruction of automobile destructionFree 33 questions
2. 4.2Grant et al. (1998) Context-dependent memory in silence and noise34 questions
3. 4.3Moray (1959) Attention in dichotic listening36 questions
4. 4.4Simons and Chabris (1999) Gorillas in our midst: inattentional blindness28 questions

Topic 5: Developmental area: core studies

It builds on what you learned at GCSE in Development, and takes it further.

There are 4 parts: we start with bandura, Ross and Ross (1961) Transmission of aggression through imitation, and finish with lee et al. (1997) Chinese and Canadian children's evaluations of lying and truth telling.

1. 5.1Bandura, Ross and Ross (1961) Transmission of aggression through imitation36 questions
2. 5.2Chaney et al. (2004) A new asthma spacer device to improve compliance in children: the Funhaler24 questions
3. 5.3Kohlberg (1968) The child as a moral philosopher27 questions
4. 5.4Lee et al. (1997) Chinese and Canadian children's evaluations of lying and truth telling27 questions

Topic 6: Biological area: core studies

There are 4 parts: we start with sperry (1968) Hemisphere deconnection and unity in conscious awareness, and finish with maguire et al. (2000) Navigation-related structural change in the hippocampi of London taxi drivers.

1. 6.1Sperry (1968) Hemisphere deconnection and unity in conscious awarenessFree 26 questions
2. 6.2Casey et al. (2011) Behavioural and neural correlates of delay of gratification32 questions
3. 6.3Blakemore and Cooper (1970) Development of the brain depends on the visual environment31 questions
4. 6.4Maguire et al. (2000) Navigation-related structural change in the hippocampi of London taxi drivers36 questions

Topic 7: Individual differences area: core studies

It builds on what you learned at GCSE in Psychological problems, and takes it further.

There are 4 parts: we start with Freud (1909) Analysis of a phobia in a five-year-old boy, and finish with hancock et al. (2013) Language of psychopaths.

1. 7.1Freud (1909) Analysis of a phobia in a five-year-old boy: Little Hans22 questions
2. 7.2Baron-Cohen et al. (1997) Another advanced test of theory of mind26 questions
3. 7.3Gould (1982) A Nation of Morons: IQ testing in the USA34 questions
4. 7.4Hancock et al. (2013) Language of psychopaths38 questions

Topic 8: Areas, perspectives, issues and debates

There are 8 parts: we start with approaches in psychology, and finish with ethical considerations and practical issues in psychological research.

1. 8.1Approaches in psychology24 questions
2. 8.2Applying psychological perspectives (cognitive, behaviourist, biological, psychodynamic, social) to the core studies34 questions
3. 8.3Nature-nurture and free will-determinism debates28 questions
4. 8.4Reductionism-holism and idiographic-nomothetic approaches27 questions
5. 8.5Individual and situational explanations of behaviour20 questions
6. 8.6Cultural and gender bias in psychological research31 questions
7. 8.7Usefulness of psychological research and application to everyday life23 questions
8. 8.8Ethical considerations and practical issues in psychological researchFree 34 questions

Topic X: Wider reading: more classic studies

There are 11 parts: we start with burger (2009) Partial replication of Milgram, and finish with rosenhan (1973) On being sane in insane places.

1. X.1Burger (2009) Partial replication of Milgram33 questions
2. X.2Reicher and Haslam (2006) The BBC Prison Study40 questions
3. X.3Baddeley (1966) Coding in short-term and long-term memory38 questions
4. X.4Schmolck et al. (2000) Memory distortions and recollections of the O.J. Simpson verdict40 questions
5. X.5Bowlby (1944) Forty-four juvenile thievesFree 31 questions
6. X.6Samuel and Bryant (1984) Conservation in children32 questions
7. X.7Dement and Kleitman (1957) Sleep cycles, REM and dreaming28 questions
8. X.8Baron-Cohen et al. (2001) The Reading the Mind in the Eyes testFree 32 questions
9. X.9Griffiths (1994) Cognitive bias in fruit machine gamblers37 questions
10. X.10Thigpen and Cleckley (1954) A case of multiple personality32 questions
11. X.11Rosenhan (1973) On being sane in insane places33 questions

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