5/7/25, 10:56 PM AQA A-LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY PAPER 3 EXAM/ACTUAL EXAM QUESTIONS WITH WELL DETAILED ANSWERS(…
AQA A-LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY PAPER 3
EXAM/ACTUAL EXAM QUESTIONS WITH WELL
DETAILED ANSWERS (Issues and debates,
Relationships, Schizophrenia, Forensic
psychology)/NEWEST UPDATE
because psychologists' beliefs and values are
why may bias be influenced by social and historical context, yet
inevitable in research psychology claims to have universality in its findings
(they can be applied to anyone, anywhere)
what are the two types of gender and cultural bias
bias in issues and debates
the idea that research or a theory may offer a view
what is gender bias that does not justifiably represent the experience and
behaviour of men or (usually) women
what are the main alpha bias, beta bias and andocentrism
components of gender
bias
what are the two types of alpha and beta bias
gender bias
… 1/66
,5/7/25, 10:56 PM AQA A-LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY PAPER 3 EXAM/ACTUAL EXAM QUESTIONS WITH WELL DETAILED ANSWERS(…
exaggerates differences between sexes (e.g. Freud
what is alpha bias said women were morally inferior because they had a
less developed superego)
minimises differences between the sexes (often
occurs when women are not included in research),
assuming that finding apply equally to both genders
what is beta bias
(e.g. Kohlberg's theory of moral development was
based on an all male sample, so his vignettes were
orientated towards violence rather than dialogue)
when 'normal' behaviour is judged according to a
male standard, so female behaviour may be
misunderstood pathologised (e.g. feminist
what is androcentrism commentators say that pre-menstrual syndrome, PMS,
is a social construct that medicalises female emotions
while male anger is often seen as a rational response
to external pressures)
recognising bias but contributes to stereotypes,
evaluate gender bias institutional sexism, Worrell's criteria to avoid gender
bias
many modern researchers are beginning to
recognised the effect of their own bias on their
research and embrace it as a crucial and critical part
describe recognising of research with some including reflection of how
gender bias their gender-based experiences influence their
interpretation of events, so reflexivity may lead to
greater awareness about the role of personal biases in
future research
gender-biased research may create misleading
assumptions about behaviour and contribute to
describe how gender bias
negative stereotypes and discrimination, which could
contributes to stereotypes
provide a scientific 'justification' for denying women
opportunities in the workplace or wider society
… 2/66
,5/7/25, 10:56 PM AQA A-LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY PAPER 3 EXAM/ACTUAL EXAM QUESTIONS WITH WELL DETAILED ANSWERS(…
there are fewer senior female researchers so female
concerns may not be reflected in research, male
describe institutional researchers are more likely to have their work
sexism in psychology published, and studies that find evidence of gender
differences are more likely to appear in journal
articles than those that don't
women should be studied within meaningful real-life
contexts, women should genuinely participate in
describe Worrell's criteria
research rather than being the object of study,
to avoid gender bias in
diversity within groups of women should be studied,
research
and a greater emphasis should be placed on
collaborative research collecting qualitative data
a tendency to ignore cultural differences and interpret
what is cultural bias
all phenomena through the 'lens' of one's own culture
94% of the studies used in a 1991 social psychology
textbook were conducted in north america, and in
give an example of culture 1992 64% of the world's psychology researchers were
bias in research american, which suggests that psychology mainly
studies white american males despite claiming that its
results are universal
mainstream psychology tends to assume that the
finding of western research can be applied
describe a criticism of worldwide, but replications of studies such as Asch's
mainstream psychology in and Milgram's have found very different results in
terms of cultural bias different countries, so cultural bias may lead to
cultural differences in behaviour being seen as
abnormal, inferior, or unusual
… 3/66
, 5/7/25, 10:56 PM AQA A-LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY PAPER 3 EXAM/ACTUAL EXAM QUESTIONS WITH WELL DETAILED ANSWERS(…
judging other cultures by the standards and values of
one's own culture (e.g. Ainsworth categorised
children's attachment type and suggested that 'secure'
was the ideal attachment type, however this led to
what is ethnocentrism mothers in other cultures/countries such as Germany
being seen as cold and rejecting rather than
encouraging independence, so the Strange Situation
is an inappropriate measure of attachment type for
non-US children
the idea that norms, values, ethics and moral
standards can only be meaningfully understood
within specific social and cultural contexts, so
what is cultural relativism
psychologists should be mindful of cultural relativism
in their research, and recognise this as a way of
avoiding cultural bias
looks at behaviour from outside of a given culture and
what is an 'etic' approach
attempts to describe universal behaviours
functions from inside the culture and identifies
what is an 'emic' approach
behaviours specific to that culture
universality of some behaviours but distinguishing
between individualist and collectivist cultures,
evaluate cultural bias
participant familiarity with research, can be used to
justify discrimination
research suggests that the basic facial expressions for
emotions e.g. happiness and disgust are the same all
describe universality of over the world, so not all of psychology is culturally
some behaviours relative, and a full understanding of human behaviour
requires the study of both universals and variation
among individuals and groups
… 4/66
AQA A-LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY PAPER 3
EXAM/ACTUAL EXAM QUESTIONS WITH WELL
DETAILED ANSWERS (Issues and debates,
Relationships, Schizophrenia, Forensic
psychology)/NEWEST UPDATE
because psychologists' beliefs and values are
why may bias be influenced by social and historical context, yet
inevitable in research psychology claims to have universality in its findings
(they can be applied to anyone, anywhere)
what are the two types of gender and cultural bias
bias in issues and debates
the idea that research or a theory may offer a view
what is gender bias that does not justifiably represent the experience and
behaviour of men or (usually) women
what are the main alpha bias, beta bias and andocentrism
components of gender
bias
what are the two types of alpha and beta bias
gender bias
… 1/66
,5/7/25, 10:56 PM AQA A-LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY PAPER 3 EXAM/ACTUAL EXAM QUESTIONS WITH WELL DETAILED ANSWERS(…
exaggerates differences between sexes (e.g. Freud
what is alpha bias said women were morally inferior because they had a
less developed superego)
minimises differences between the sexes (often
occurs when women are not included in research),
assuming that finding apply equally to both genders
what is beta bias
(e.g. Kohlberg's theory of moral development was
based on an all male sample, so his vignettes were
orientated towards violence rather than dialogue)
when 'normal' behaviour is judged according to a
male standard, so female behaviour may be
misunderstood pathologised (e.g. feminist
what is androcentrism commentators say that pre-menstrual syndrome, PMS,
is a social construct that medicalises female emotions
while male anger is often seen as a rational response
to external pressures)
recognising bias but contributes to stereotypes,
evaluate gender bias institutional sexism, Worrell's criteria to avoid gender
bias
many modern researchers are beginning to
recognised the effect of their own bias on their
research and embrace it as a crucial and critical part
describe recognising of research with some including reflection of how
gender bias their gender-based experiences influence their
interpretation of events, so reflexivity may lead to
greater awareness about the role of personal biases in
future research
gender-biased research may create misleading
assumptions about behaviour and contribute to
describe how gender bias
negative stereotypes and discrimination, which could
contributes to stereotypes
provide a scientific 'justification' for denying women
opportunities in the workplace or wider society
… 2/66
,5/7/25, 10:56 PM AQA A-LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY PAPER 3 EXAM/ACTUAL EXAM QUESTIONS WITH WELL DETAILED ANSWERS(…
there are fewer senior female researchers so female
concerns may not be reflected in research, male
describe institutional researchers are more likely to have their work
sexism in psychology published, and studies that find evidence of gender
differences are more likely to appear in journal
articles than those that don't
women should be studied within meaningful real-life
contexts, women should genuinely participate in
describe Worrell's criteria
research rather than being the object of study,
to avoid gender bias in
diversity within groups of women should be studied,
research
and a greater emphasis should be placed on
collaborative research collecting qualitative data
a tendency to ignore cultural differences and interpret
what is cultural bias
all phenomena through the 'lens' of one's own culture
94% of the studies used in a 1991 social psychology
textbook were conducted in north america, and in
give an example of culture 1992 64% of the world's psychology researchers were
bias in research american, which suggests that psychology mainly
studies white american males despite claiming that its
results are universal
mainstream psychology tends to assume that the
finding of western research can be applied
describe a criticism of worldwide, but replications of studies such as Asch's
mainstream psychology in and Milgram's have found very different results in
terms of cultural bias different countries, so cultural bias may lead to
cultural differences in behaviour being seen as
abnormal, inferior, or unusual
… 3/66
, 5/7/25, 10:56 PM AQA A-LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY PAPER 3 EXAM/ACTUAL EXAM QUESTIONS WITH WELL DETAILED ANSWERS(…
judging other cultures by the standards and values of
one's own culture (e.g. Ainsworth categorised
children's attachment type and suggested that 'secure'
was the ideal attachment type, however this led to
what is ethnocentrism mothers in other cultures/countries such as Germany
being seen as cold and rejecting rather than
encouraging independence, so the Strange Situation
is an inappropriate measure of attachment type for
non-US children
the idea that norms, values, ethics and moral
standards can only be meaningfully understood
within specific social and cultural contexts, so
what is cultural relativism
psychologists should be mindful of cultural relativism
in their research, and recognise this as a way of
avoiding cultural bias
looks at behaviour from outside of a given culture and
what is an 'etic' approach
attempts to describe universal behaviours
functions from inside the culture and identifies
what is an 'emic' approach
behaviours specific to that culture
universality of some behaviours but distinguishing
between individualist and collectivist cultures,
evaluate cultural bias
participant familiarity with research, can be used to
justify discrimination
research suggests that the basic facial expressions for
emotions e.g. happiness and disgust are the same all
describe universality of over the world, so not all of psychology is culturally
some behaviours relative, and a full understanding of human behaviour
requires the study of both universals and variation
among individuals and groups
… 4/66
