Below are links to A level psychology revision notes organised by exam paper and topic.

The OCR psychology A level (H569) assessment consists of 3 exam papers. These are:

• Research methods
• Core studies in psychology
• Applied psychology

Each of these exam papers is 2 hours long and is worth 80 marks (33.3% of the overall grade).

Note: These notes are based on the new (2027+) spec.

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Research methods

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Methods and techniques

• Experiments
  • Laboratory experiment
  • Field experiment
  • Quasi experiment
• Observations
  • Structured vs. unstructured
  • Naturalistic vs. controlled
  • Participant vs. non-participant
  • Overt vs. covert
• Self-report
  • Questionnaire
  • Interview
    • Structured interview
    • Semi-structured interview
    • Unstructured interview
• Correlation
  • Correlation coefficients
    • Positive correlation
    • Negative correlation
    • No correlation
  • Obtaining data for correlation studies
• Case studies
  • Features of a case study 
  • Obtaining data for case studies
• Content analysis
  • Features of a content analysis
  • How a content analysis is performed

Planning and conducting research

• Aims and hypotheses (*AQA page)
• Populations and sampling (*AQA page)
• Research designs
  • Longitudinal research
  • Cross-sectional research
• Experimental designs
  • Independent measures design
  • Repeated measures design
  • Matched pairs design
• Variables
  • Operationalisation
  • Independent and dependent variables
  • Co-variables
  • Control of extraneous variables
• Observational study designs
  • Behavioural categories
  • Time sampling
  • Event sampling
• Self-report study designs
  • Open vs. closed questions
  • Rating scales
    • Numerical
    • Likert
    • Semantic differential

Data recording, analysis, and presentation

• Data
  • Raw data
  • Types of data
    • Quantitative
    • Qualitative
      • Converting qualitative data to quantitative
    • Primary
    • Secondary
  • Levels of data
    • Nominal
    • Ordinal
    • Interval
• Descriptive statistics
  • Measures of central tendency
    • Mean
    • Median
    • Mode
  • Measures of dispersion
    • Range
    • Variance
    • Standard deviation
  • Ratios
  • Percentages
  • Fractions
  • Frequency/tallies
• Graphs and charts
  • Line graph
  • Pie chart
  • Bar chart
  • Histogram
  • Scattergram
• Inferential statistics
  • Probability
  • Significance levels
    • Type 1 and type 2 errors
  • Normal and skewed distributions
  • Parametric tests
  • Non-parametric tests
    • How to calculate chi-square
• Methodological issues

Report writing

• Sections and subsections
  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Method
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • References
  • Appendices
• Citing academic references
• Peer review

Science in psychology

• Cause and effect 
• Falsification (*AQA page)
• Replicability (*AQA page)
• Objectivity (*AQA page)
• Hypothesis testing (*AQA page)
• Manipulation of variables 
• Control and standardisation
• Quantifiable measurements 

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Core studies in psychology

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Social

• Milgram (1963)
  • Summary of aims, method, and results
  • Obedience to authority
  • Evaluation and methodological issues
• Piliavin et al (1969)
  • Summary of aims, method, and results
  • Helping behaviour
  • Evaluation and methodological issues
• Levine et al (2001)
  • Summary of aims, method, and results
  • Cross-cultural helping behaviour and altruism
  • Evaluation and methodological issues

Cognitive

• Loftus and Palmer (1974)
  • Summary of aims, method, and results
  • Eyewitness testimony and post-event information
  • Evaluation and methodological issues
• Grant et al (1998)
  • Summary of aims, method, and results
  • Context-dependent memory
  • Evaluation and methodological issues
• Simons and Chabris (1999)
  • Summary of aims, method, and results
  • Visual inattention and inattentional blindness
  • Evaluation and methodological issues

Developmental

• Bandura et al (1961)
  • Summary of aims, method, and results
  • Transmission of aggression
  • Evaluation and methodological issues
• Chaney et al (2004)
  • Summary of aims, method, and results
  • Operant conditioning and adherence to medical regimes
  • Evaluation and methodological issues
• Lee et al (1997)
  • Summary of aims, method, and results
  • Cross-cultural development of moral attitudes towards lying
  • Evaluation and methodological issues

Biological

• Sperry (1968)
  • Summary of aims, method, and results
  • Lateralisation of function in the brain
  • Evaluation and methodological issues
• Casey et al (2011)
  • Summary of aims, method, and results
  • Delayed gratification
  • Evaluation and methodological issues
• Maguire et al (2000)
  • Summary of aims, method, and results
  • Brain plasticity
  • Evaluation and methodological issues

Individual differences

• Freud (1909)
  • Summary of aims, method, and results
  • Oedipus complex and phobias
  • Evaluation and methodological issues
• Baron-Cohen et al (1997)
  • Summary of aims, method, and results
  • Autism and theory of mind
  • Evaluation and methodological issues
• Van Leeuwen et al (2008)
  • Summary of aims, method, and results
  • Intelligence and heritability
  • Evaluation and methodological issues

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Applied psychology

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Mental health

• What is mental health?
  • Historical explanations of mental illness
  • Definitions of abnormality (*AQA page)
  • Categorising mental disorders
• Explanations of mental illness
  • The medical model
    • Biochemical explanations
    • Genetic explanations
    • Brain abnormality explanation
  • Alternatives to the medical model
    • Behaviourist explanations
    • Cognitive explanations
    • Psychodynamic explanations
• Modern approaches to mental health
  • The role of psychologists and psychiatrists
  • The role of technology
  • The promotion of mental wellbeing

Criminal psychology

• Explanations of criminal behaviour
  • The MAOA gene as a biological explanation (*AQA page)
  • Differential association as a social explanation (*AQA page)
  • Rational choice theory as a cognitive explanation
• Building a case
  • Emotional context in the processing of forensic evidence
  • Cognitive biases in the processing of forensic evidence
  • Biases associated with working for the prosecution or defence in the processing of forensic evidence
• In the courtroom
  • Characteristics that influence juries
  • Inadmissible evidence
  • Pre-trial publicity
• Managing offenders
  • Imprisonment (*AQA page)
  • Non-custodial punishments (*AQA page)
  • Rehabilitation

And one of the following:

Child psychology

• Pre-adult brain development
  • Brain development and risk-taking behaviour
  • Different areas of the brain and risk-taking behaviour
  • Dopamine and risk-taking behaviour
• Perceptual development
  • How perception can be studied in children and animals
  • The development of:
    • Depth perception
    • Shape/size constancy
    • Colour perception
• The development of attachment      (*AQA page)
  • Bowlby’s evolutionary theory of attachment (*AQA page)
  • Learning theory of attachment (*AQA page)
  • The effects of privation and deprivation (*AQA page)

Environmental psychology

• Biological rhythms
  • Types
    • Circadian rhythms
    • Ultradian rhythms
  • Control systems
    • Endogenous pacemakers
    • Exogenous zeitgebers
  • The impact of disrupted biological rhythms
• Recycling behaviour
  • Factors that influence the tendency to recycle
  • Light green and dark green environmentalists
  • Planned behaviour explanation of recycling behaviour
• Psychological effects of the built environment
  • The effects of noise on wellbeing
  • The effects of overcrowding on wellbeing
  • The effects of green spaces on wellbeing

Sports psychology

• Exercise and mental health
  • The endorphin hypothesis
  • Brain-derived neurotrophic factor
  • Social impacts of exercise
  • Cognitive impacts of exercise
• Motivation
  • Factors that effect motivation
    • Self-efficacy
    • Sports confidence
  • Sport Orientation Questionnaire
• Audience effects
  • The effects of social facilitation
  • The effect of social inhibition
  • Drive theory