Lesson 1.4.1

1.4.1 Key question: applying social psychology to society Quiz: Pearson Edexcel Psychology, Unit 1

20 questions

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Lesson 1.4.1, Key question: applying social psychology to society: 20 multiple choice questions for the Pearson Edexcel Psychology (9PS0), Unit 1: Social psychology, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Which key question is an example of how social psychology can be applied to society?

    • How do children acquire language through reinforcement from parents in the first years of their lives?
    • How can knowledge of social psychology be used to reduce prejudice in situations such as crowd behaviour or rioting?
    • How do neurons transmit electrical signals along the axon during the action potential in the brain?
    • How does working memory store phonological information during the rehearsal of a list of words in the lab?

  2. What makes a key question different from an academic argument in this specification?

    • It is discussed only in terms of statistics, with no reference to any theory of social behaviour at all
    • It is discussed only in a laboratory with controlled variables, rather than in any real-world setting
    • It is discussed only through the views of a single researcher, with no wider evidence or context
    • It is discussed as a contemporary issue for society, rather than as a purely academic debate

  3. Which concept from social psychology could be used to address the key question on heroism?

    • Social identity theory, to explain how group membership can motivate people to help others
    • Neurotransmitter function, to explain how dopamine release affects the movement of muscles during a rescue
    • Working memory model, to explain how people hold information in short-term memory while helping
    • Multi-store model, to explain how sensory memory stores images of an event for a fraction of a second

  4. A question asks: how can social psychology explain heroism? Which approach best answers it?

    • Describe the anatomy of the brain in detail, without reference to any social or group processes at all
    • Draw on relevant social psychology theories and research, and discuss how far they explain heroism in society
    • List the names of all famous heroes in history, with no reference to any theory or research evidence
    • Carry out a single experiment with a fixed outcome, and use the result as the complete answer to the question

  5. Why should a key question be discussed as a societal issue rather than as an academic argument?

    • So that the answer avoids all evidence, since evidence is never relevant to a discussion of a social issue
    • So that the answer considers real-world impact and the use of psychological knowledge in society
    • So that the answer is limited to a single study, which keeps the discussion simple and easy to follow
    • So that the answer focuses only on theory and ignores the practical consequences of any findings at all

  6. Which of these would be a suitable way to apply social psychology to reducing prejudice in a riot?

    • Separate the groups completely and never allow them contact, so that they cannot learn about each other
    • Give one group sole control over all the resources, so that the other group loses any reason to be angry
    • Increase competition between groups for scarce resources, which research shows always reduces hostility
    • Use contact and cooperation on shared goals between groups, based on research into prejudice

  7. Which evaluation point is most relevant when applying social psychology to a societal issue?

    • Research findings from social psychology are always decided by a single study with a fixed outcome
    • Research findings from lab or field studies may not transfer neatly to complex real-world situations
    • Research findings from lab or field studies always transfer perfectly to every real-world situation at once
    • Research findings from social psychology can never be applied to society, since they are only about individuals

  8. What is the best description of the use of 'concepts, theories and/or research' in answering a key question?

    • Drawing on relevant ideas and evidence from social psychology to support an informed discussion of the issue
    • Copying out the full text of one theory word for word, with no discussion of its relevance to the question
    • Quoting only the researcher's name and date, with no explanation of what the research found or why it matters
    • Listing every social psychology study ever conducted, without linking any of them to the question asked

  9. Which contemporary issue relates to the key question on crowd behaviour?

    • How the number of neurons in the brain changes with age, and how this affects the learning of new skills
    • How social identity can drive crowd behaviour, and how contact and shared goals might reduce rioting
    • How phonological similarity affects the recall of word lists in short-term memory tasks in the laboratory
    • How the chemistry of recreational drugs affects synaptic transmission in the central nervous system

  10. A student's answer to a key question only describes one study and does not discuss society. What is the main weakness?

    • It uses too much evidence from social psychology, so the answer has become too technical for the reader
    • It uses a contemporary issue, so the answer cannot be an acceptable response to the key question
    • It discusses too many societal issues, so the answer is too broad to be useful in any context
    • It does not treat the question as a contemporary societal issue, so the discussion is too narrow

  11. Which statement about heroism and social psychology is most accurate?

    • Heroism can be explored through social identity and situational factors such as group norms and bystander behaviour
    • Heroism is entirely genetic, so social factors such as group norms have no effect on whether someone helps
    • Heroism can only be explained by brain chemistry, since social psychology has nothing to say about helping at all
    • Heroism has no psychological explanation, since it is a random event with no link to thought or behaviour

  12. Which approach would best show how psychology is used in society?

    • Describe the history of psychology from its founding to the present day, with no reference to specific research
    • Describe a single laboratory result, with no reference to theory or to the wider society in which it is used
    • Describe a real intervention, explain the theory behind it, and evaluate how well the evidence supports it
    • Describe a theory of memory in depth, without any reference to how it might be used in any real setting

  13. Which of these is a reason a key question should draw on research as appropriate?

    • Because all research must be included in every answer, whatever the key question is about in each case
    • Because the research needs to fit the chosen key question, rather than being chosen to fill a list
    • Because research from other subjects must be included, so that the social psychology is always connected to them
    • Because research is more important than theory, so theory should never be included in a key question answer

  14. Which key question is best suited to discussing social psychology as a contemporary issue for society?

    • How can social psychology be used to explain heroism in everyday situations, and what does this mean for society?
    • How do neurons pass signals across the synaptic cleft during an action potential in the nervous system?
    • How does the phonological loop store verbal information for a few seconds during rehearsal in a memory test?
    • How do the medial temporal lobes contribute to the formation of new episodic memories in the human brain?

  15. What is the difference between using social psychology in an academic argument and in a key question?

    • A key question uses no evidence, whereas an academic argument must always be supported by experimental data
    • A key question is judged by theory alone, whereas an academic argument is judged by its relevance to society
    • A key question is judged by its relevance to society, whereas an academic argument is judged by theory alone
    • A key question and an academic argument are identical, with no difference in purpose or focus at all

  16. Which of these is an appropriate way to apply social psychology to the crowd behaviour key question?

    • Explain how the number of neurons in the frontal lobe changes with age, and how this changes crowd size
    • Explain how the working memory's visuospatial sketchpad helps people read signs in a busy crowded street
    • Explain how shared identity can reduce hostility between crowd groups, and how this could inform policing
    • Explain how the synaptic cleft changes shape during a riot, and how this changes the movement of the crowd

  17. A good answer to a key question should do which of these?

    • Avoid all evidence and rely only on personal opinion about the issue, without any reference to research
    • Describe only one laboratory experiment in detail, without considering how it relates to society at all
    • Consider evidence from social psychology and evaluate how well it applies to the societal issue raised
    • List many unrelated theories from different subjects, without explaining how they answer the question

  18. Why might social psychology findings be hard to apply directly to a riot?

    • Riots involve no groups and no identity, so social psychology has no relevance to them in any way
    • Real riots are complex, with many interacting factors that laboratory findings may not capture fully
    • Riots are simple events with only one cause, so any single laboratory finding can be applied directly to all
    • Riots happen only in laboratories, so the findings from the laboratory apply to them without any change

  19. Which of these is an ethical concern when applying social psychology interventions to a community?

    • Interventions can be imposed secretly, since the community will never notice the change in its behaviour at all
    • Interventions need no evaluation, since social psychology is always correct and never needs checking in practice
    • Interventions can ignore participants' rights, since the community benefits from the intervention in every case
    • Interventions must respect participants' rights and avoid causing harm to the people they are designed to help

  20. Which concept from social psychology best supports an answer on how to reduce prejudice in a riot?

    • Operant conditioning of individual behaviour through reward, which is a learning theory of individual behaviour
    • Contact under conditions of equal status and shared goals, which research suggests can reduce prejudice
    • The multi-store model of memory, which explains how information moves between sensory and long-term stores
    • The working memory model, which explains how verbal and visual information are held in short-term memory

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