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Psychology
Provide students with a clear structured route through the syllabus, with opportunities to assess their own progress,
as well as reflect on and discuss new ideas and concepts.
Cambridge International AS & A Level Psychology Cambridge International AS & A Level Psychology
Boost eBook
£45
March 2022
9781398353008
£23 for 1 year access
March 2022
9781398353466
Psychology
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Acknowledgements
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ISBN: 9781398353008
© Evie Bentley, Kimberley Croft, Helen J Kitching, Carl Piaf and Amanda Wood 2022
First published in 2022 by
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Illustrations by David Bates
Typeset by David Bates
A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
AS LEVEL
Chapter 1: The Biological approach 1
1.0 Introducing the Biological approach 2
1.1 Sleep and dreams: Dement and Kleitman (1957) 5
1.2 Monkey toy preferences: Hassett et al. (2008) 15
1.3 Mindfulness and brain scans: Hölzel et al. (2011) 28
Chapter 2: The Cognitive approach 43
2.0 Introducing the Cognitive approach 44
2.1 Doodling: Andrade (2010) 48
2.2 Eyes test: Baron-Cohen et al. (2001) 59
2.3 Line-ups: Pozzulo et al. (2011) 70
Chapter 3: The Learning approach 85
3.0 Introducing the Learning approach 86
3.1 Aggression: Bandura et al. (1961) 89
3.2 Elephant learning: Fagen et al. (2014) 101
3.3 Button phobia: Saavedra and Silverman (2002) 113
Chapter 4: The Social approach 127
4.0 Introducing the Social approach 128
4.1 Obedience: Milgram (1963) 132
4.2 Personal space: Perry et al. (2015) 143
4.3 Subway Samaritans: Piliavin et al. (1969) 153
Chapter 5: Research methodology 165
5.0 Introducing research methodology 166
5.1 Research methods 168
5.2 Methodological concepts 195
A LEVEL
Chapter 6: Clinical Psychology 000
6.1 Schizophrenia 000
6.2 Mood (affective) disorders 000
6.3 Impulse control disorders 000
6.4 Anxiety and fear-related disorders 000
Chapter 7: Consumer Psychology 000
7.1 The physical environment 000
7.2 The psychological environment 000
7.3 Consumer decision-making 000
7.4 The product 000
7.5 Advertising 000
iii
iv
Learning outcomes
At the start of each chapter, there is a blue box that
provides a summary of the learning outcomes to be CHAPTER SUMMARY
covered in that topic.
At the end of each chapter, there is a list of the main
points from the chapter that you should have a good
understanding of.
KEY TERMS
A list of significant words from each study, with clear and
concise definitions provided in the glossary, adapted for
learners with English as a second language. TEST YOURSELF
Short questions at the end of each chapter to help
recap and confirm knowledge and understanding of the
Chapter overview concepts covered.
A short introduction to the chapter and its focus.
Answers
RESEARCH METHOD Answers to questions in the student textbook are available
at: www.hoddereducation.com/cambridgeextras
Highlighting research methods links and encouraging
the development of research-based skills.
LEARNING LINK
Numerous topics in psychology are connected. This
feature states where relevant material is covered
elsewhere in the book.
Learning outcomes
In this chapter, we will discuss:
l the main assumptions, methodology, history, issues and debates of the Biological
approach
l psychological concepts, theories and research relating to the three core studies:
• Dement and Kleitman (sleep and dreaming)
• Hassett et al. (monkey toy preferences)
• Hölzel et al. (mindfulness and brain scans)
l strengths and weaknesses of the three key studies with reference to ethical issues,
reliability, validity, objectivity and subjectivity, generalisations, issues and debates,
including applications to everyday life
l how to plan and evaluate your own investigations using longitudinal studies,
correlations and questionnaires.
Think!
Why is the pituitary gland known as the master gland?
Think!
Imagine you are working in a laboratory conducting research using female rats. Your
supervisor suggests a study where you will inject the rats with testosterone. She asks
you to come up with a way of testing the effects of this hormone on their behaviour.
What would you suggest?
Think!
Many animals have evolved to sleep at night when it is dark. Using your understanding
of evolution, explain why natural selection has favoured animals that sleep at night and
are awake during the day.
Figure 1.2 shows the position of the hippocampus, a brain structure associated with
memory, which underwent neuroplastic changes following Mindfulness-Based Stress
Reduction in the study by Britta Hölzel and colleagues. Dr
Thalamus Hölzel conducted an experiment, but how would you convince
her to let you conduct a case study on the role of the
Basal ganglia
hippocampus?
Cerebrum
Pineal gland
Hypothalamus
Pituitary gland
Hippocampus Main assumptions
Amygdala
Cerebellum 1 Behaviour, cognitions and emotions can be explained
in terms of the working of the brain and the effect of
hormones and genetic and evolutionary differences,
such as those between humans and animals.
2 Similarities and differences between people can be
understood in terms of biological factors and their
▲ Figure 1.2 The limbic system interaction with other factors.
(Cambridge International, 2021)
1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030
Do you remember Rohan and Polina from page 000? They were discussing an internet news
story about a riot in another country. Rohan was shocked by the level of aggression that
(EEG) Think!
rapid eye movement
How have your sleep patterns changed throughout your lifetime so far? Have you noticed any
(REM)
changes in the amount of time you sleep, or the time you wake up, as you have got older?
non-rapid eye movement
(non-REM)
Think!
ultradian rhythms
1 The Biological approach
dreaming While the use of scientific equipment such as EEGs to record physiological processes can
make measurements more objective, what are some disadvantages of their use?
Awake
Fall
asleep
Stage 1
(light sleep) REM REM REM REM
Sleep stages
Stage 3
NREM
Stage 4
(deep sleep)
NREM NREM
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Hours
How do the stages of sleep change throughout the night? When you have slept for a longer
period of time than normal, are you more likely to remember your dreams?
Dreams
Dreams are subjective memories of what we experience while we are asleep and this study
was interested in whether people are more likely to report dreams if woken in certain
sleep stages compared with others.
Imagine…
Merry is planning a longitudinal study to investigate whether people’s total REM sleep
changes over their lifespan. She wants to know if the total time spent in REM sleep changes
from childhood to old age.
» What advice would you give Merry about how to conduct a longitudinal study to
investigate whether people’s total REM sleep changes over their lifespan?
Frequency or interval Longitudinal studies investigate any changes that may occur over a period of time. In
order to collect valid data about lifespan changes in REM sleep, how long will Merry’s
study last and how frequently will her participants need to be tested?
Re-contacting of participants Participants in longitudinal studies need to be re-contacted for repeated testing.
(for repeated testing) How might Merry re-contact her participants if she only needs to test them every few
years?
Controls and standardisation In order to compare data over a period of time, procedures need to be standardised
and controls put in place. How can Merry ensure that her procedure is the same each
time participants attend testing? What controls can she put in place?
Describe Explain
Strengths What unique insight might be gained from Merry Would it be possible for Merry to gain this data
undertaking a longitudinal study? How would this using another research method? If so, why might a
strengthen the validity of the data? longitudinal study give a more valid insight into time
spent in REM sleep over the lifespan?
Weaknesses What issue might arise with the research taking If the validity of the data is compromised by the study’s
place over a very long period of time? Why might length, what impact will this have on any findings
this compromise the validity of the data? about time spent in REM sleep over the lifespan?
Improvements Consider the weakness you gave above. How might How would this improvement affect the validity and/
you improve Merry’s procedure to overcome this or reliability of the data Merry collects about lifespan
issue? changes in time spent in REM sleep?
LEARNING LINK
Similar to Dement and Kleitman, Hölzel et al. (mindfulness and brain
scans) also used scientific equipment to take measurements of the
brain. In Hölzel et al.’s (2011) study, participants were awake, not
asleep and an MRI scanner was used as opposed to an EEG machine.
MRI scans are static (still) images of the brain, whereas Dement and
Kleitman recorded brain wave activity using an EEG machine. An MRI
scanner is very restrictive as it requires a person to lie still within
a very small space and can be quite claustrophobic. Therefore, it is
only appropriate to be used for a short amount of time. An EEG, on
the other hand, is used by placing electrodes on a person’s head.
While this is still quite restrictive, as a person is still attached
▲ Figure 1.7 There are sleep tracking apps for to a machine via cables, it allowed Dement and Kleitman to take
both phones and watches recordings throughout the whole night while participants slept.
TEST YOURSELF
1 This study investigated rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Outline the main
features of REM sleep. [2]
2 Identify one reason for using an EEG (electroencephalogram) to record brain
activity. [1]
3 Explain why the study by Dement and Kleitman is an example of the Biological
approach. [2]
4 Dement and Kleitman found a positive correlation between REM duration and the
number of words used to describe the dream. Explain what is meant by a ‘positive
correlation’, using this study as an example. [2]
5 Dement and Kleitman had to rely on self-reports to investigate the content of
participants’ dreams. Explain one disadvantage of this. [2]
6 The study by Dement and Kleitman was conducted in a sleep laboratory. Suggest
one disadvantage of conducting a study in this location. [2]
Think!
How easy do you find it to recall your dreams when you wake up in the morning? Do you
find it easier to remember your dreams when you sleep for longer? If so, why might this
▼ Figure 1.8 A modern be the case?
EEG being used in a
medical setting
Think!
Why was it important that participants did not consume alcohol or
caffeine on the day of the experiment?
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
experiment
correlation
interview
What does an EEG record? How might using this machine affect the participants’ sleep?
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this reason we have been selected by
‘Higher Order Thinking’ questions designed to
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