3.2.4.7.2 Psychological explanation: peer influence Quiz: AQA Psychology, Unit 8

The 20 questions

1. What is the psychological explanation of addiction in the specification?

   • Peer influence, a nurture explanation in which friends encourage use
   • Random chance in the environment with no social cause behind it at all
   • Hereditary factors that are passed between generations within a family line
   • Brain structure changes caused by ageing of the cells over the years

2. Which is an example of peer influence on substance use?

   • A friend encouraging a young person to drink at a party with the group
   • A parent reading a bedtime story to a young child before going to sleep
   • A teacher explaining a maths problem clearly to a class of pupils
   • A neighbour planting flowers in a garden on a sunny weekend afternoon

3. How might peer influence lead to addiction?

   • Peers only influence the colour of a person's clothing and their hairstyle
   • Social approval and modelling can encourage repeated use over time
   • Peer approval always prevents any use of substances in a group setting
   • Peers have no effect on behaviour at all in any social setting

4. Which term describes learning a behaviour by watching others?

   • Neuronal pruning, which is the removal of unused neural connections in the brain
   • Genetic inheritance, which is the passing of traits through the genes of parents
   • Modelling, which is learning a behaviour by observing and copying others
   • Synaptic reuptake, which is the recycling of neurotransmitters in the synapse

5. A young person starts using a substance because their group does so and they want to fit in. Which concept applies?

   • Neurotransmitter imbalance measured in the synapse of the young person
   • Tracer uptake measured in the occipital lobe during a visual task
   • Peer pressure linked to a need for social belonging and acceptance
   • Hereditary vulnerability passed on from the parents of the young person

6. Why is peer influence described as a nurture explanation?

   • It focuses on learned social experiences rather than on inherited biology
   • It focuses on the physical structure of the brain in the person
   • It focuses on the number of neurons in the cerebellum of the person
   • It focuses on inherited biology rather than on social experiences in life

7. A psychologist finds that adolescents who use substances have friends who also use. Which conclusion is most appropriate?

   • This proves that peers cause all substance use in every adolescent group
   • This shows that substance use is always inherited from the parents of the teenager
   • This proves that friends never influence each other in any way at all
   • This is a correlation, so peers may influence use but this is not proven alone

8. Which of these best illustrates peer influence rather than hereditary factors?

   • A person starts drinking after joining a social group where drinking is normal
   • A person's brain scan shows low activity in one specific region of the brain
   • A person's identical twin shares a similar pattern of use across the years
   • A person inherits a higher risk because of a strong family history of addiction

9. What is a limitation of explaining addiction through peer influence alone?

   • It shows that addiction is caused only by peers and nothing else in life
   • It may not account for biological vulnerability or individual personality differences
   • It proves that biology has no role in any addiction in any person at all
   • It requires a scan of every participant's brain before any data can be used

10. Which factor makes peer influence more powerful according to nurture explanations?

    • A faster reaction time on a simple test of visual responses in the lab
    • A larger skull than the average size found in people of the same age
    • A strong wish for social acceptance from a group
    • Living in a house with a blue front door on a quiet residential street

11. A teenager's older sibling uses a substance, and the teenager starts doing the same. Which explanation fits best?

    • Learning through observation and imitation of a family member
    • A blood test showing a chemical imbalance in the teenager's blood
    • A sudden genetic mutation that appeared in the teenager's brain cells
    • A brain injury affecting the motor area of the teenager's brain

12. Which statement about peer influence is most accurate?

    • Peers can increase the likelihood of use through social pressure
    • Peers only influence people over the age of seventy in care settings
    • Peers have no effect on how people behave in groups of any kind at all
    • Peers always stop people from ever using substances in any setting at all

13. How might peer influence interact with a biological vulnerability?

    • The two never interact in any study that has been carried out in the field
    • A person with a higher vulnerability may be more affected by peer pressure
    • Biological vulnerability always prevents any peer influence from having effect
    • Peer pressure cancels out all biological vulnerability in the person completely

14. Which is a social reward that could encourage substance use within a peer group?

    • Being given a pet by a relative for a birthday celebration in the family
    • Acceptance and status within the group of friends
    • Receiving a medical diagnosis from a clinic after a long wait for an appointment
    • Winning a prize for an academic test taken at the end of a school term

15. A researcher wants to test peer influence. Which design would be most suitable?

    • Observing how behaviour changes when group norms differ
    • Asking participants only about their favourite music and films each week
    • Scanning each participant's brain once with a CT scanner in a hospital
    • Measuring the weight of each participant's skeleton with a bone scanner

16. Why might peer influence be strongest in adolescence?

    • Adolescents often place high value on peer acceptance and belonging
    • Adolescents have no social contact with their peers at any point in the year
    • Adolescents are immune to all forms of social pressure from others around them
    • Adolescents never form social groups with others of a similar age

17. Which of these shows a psychological rather than a biological explanation for substance use?

    • Having a brain tumour that affects the frontal lobe of the brain
    • Using substances to fit in with a social group that normalises use
    • Inheriting a genetic risk from a biological parent in the family line
    • Having low serotonin levels measured in a laboratory test of the blood

18. What does 'peer pressure' mean in the psychological explanation of addiction?

    • Weather pressure that changes the mood of a group during a storm
    • Physical force applied by a group to a single person in a confined space
    • Social pressure from people of a similar age to behave in a certain way
    • Financial pressure applied by a bank to a family over a long period

19. Which statement correctly contrasts peer influence and hereditary factors?

    • Peer influence is learned from the social environment, while hereditary factors are inherited
    • Both are learned from the environment with no biological basis at all
    • Both are inherited and never involve any social factors in their operation
    • Peer influence is inherited, while hereditary factors are learned from friends

20. Which is the best way to reduce peer influence on substance use, according to a nurture view?

    • Changing the social norms and supporting alternative peer groups
    • Removing all social contact for every young person in the community
    • Increasing the number of substances that are available within a group
    • Ignoring the influence of peers entirely in any prevention approach

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