Edexcel A Level Psychology
Edexcel A Level Psychology Topic 8: Health Psychology Exam Questions
Free Edexcel A Level Psychology exam questions for Topic 8: Health Psychology, with a mark scheme for every pack. Covers biological and learning explanations of drug addiction, tolerance and withdrawal, treatments, anti-drug campaigns and Olds and Milner (1954).
Topic 8: Health Psychology exam questions
1 question pack of real past exam questions, each with its mark scheme. Do not stop after a few: answer as many as you can without notes, then mark every answer with the mark scheme. The more questions you do, the more quickly you will spot how examiners ask about each idea.
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About Edexcel A Level Psychology Topic 8: Health Psychology
Health Psychology is Topic 8 of Edexcel A Level Psychology and is one of the option topics on Paper 2, Applications of Psychology. It focuses on drug misuse and addiction. You study biological explanations of addiction, including how drugs act at synapses and the brain's reward pathways, tolerance and withdrawal, and learning explanations using classical and operant conditioning and social learning. You apply these to specific drugs, compare treatments such as drug-based and psychological therapies, and evaluate anti-drug campaigns. Methods include animal and human research into drugs and their ethics. The classic study is Olds and Milner (1954) on reward centres in the rat brain.
What you need to know
- Biological explanations Many drugs increase dopamine activity in the brain's reward pathway, producing pleasure. Over time, tolerance develops so more is needed, and stopping causes withdrawal symptoms.
- Learning explanations Operant conditioning explains drug taking through positive reinforcement (the high) and negative reinforcement (avoiding withdrawal). Classical conditioning explains cravings triggered by cues, and social learning explains starting through role models.
- Specific drugs You apply explanations and treatments to specific drugs, such as heroin, nicotine or alcohol, depending on your course.
- Treatments Drug treatments include substitutes such as methadone for heroin and nicotine replacement therapy. Psychological treatments include aversion therapy, CBT and token economies.
- Anti-drug campaigns Campaigns use fear arousal, information and social influence; their effectiveness depends on factors such as credibility and the target audience.
- Classic study: Olds and Milner (1954) Rats with electrodes in the septal area pressed a lever to self-stimulate at very high rates, suggesting a reward centre in the brain. This supports biological explanations of addiction.
Common mistakes in Topic 8: Health Psychology
- Confusing tolerance and withdrawal.
- Describing negative reinforcement in addiction as punishment; taking a drug to avoid withdrawal is negative reinforcement.
- Generalising directly from Olds and Milner's rats to human addiction without discussing the limits of animal research.
- Saying methadone cures heroin addiction; it is a substitute that reduces withdrawal and harm while dependence remains.
- Evaluating anti-drug campaigns without evidence of actual changes in behaviour.
Try three Topic 8: Health Psychology exam-style questions
1. Explain how operant conditioning can explain drug addiction. (4 marks)
Show the mark scheme answer
Taking a drug produces a pleasurable high, which positively reinforces drug taking; so the behaviour is repeated; later, taking the drug removes unpleasant withdrawal symptoms; this is negative reinforcement, which maintains the addiction.
2. Describe the findings of Olds and Milner (1954). (3 marks)
Show the mark scheme answer
Rats with electrodes placed in the septal area pressed the lever to receive stimulation very frequently; when the stimulation was turned off, lever pressing stopped (extinction); this suggested the septal area acts as a reward or pleasure centre.
3. Outline aversion therapy as a treatment for addiction. (3 marks)
Show the mark scheme answer
Based on classical conditioning; the drug is paired with an unpleasant stimulus, for example alcohol with an emetic such as Antabuse that causes nausea; the drug becomes associated with sickness rather than pleasure, so the person avoids it.
Topic 8: Health Psychology FAQs
What does Edexcel A Level Psychology Topic 8 Health Psychology cover?
It covers biological and learning explanations of drug addiction, tolerance and withdrawal, explanations and treatments for specific drugs, anti-drug campaigns, animal and human research methods, Olds and Milner (1954) and contemporary studies.
Which paper is Health Psychology examined in?
Health Psychology is one of the option topics on Paper 2, Applications of Psychology.
How do I link Health Psychology to other topics?
Use Biological Psychology for synapses and neurotransmitters and Learning Theories for classical conditioning, operant conditioning and social learning when explaining addiction.
