OCR A Level Psychology
OCR A Level Psychology Child Psychology Exam Questions
Free OCR A Level Psychology exam questions for Child Psychology, with a mark scheme for every pack. Covers intelligence, pre-adult brain development, perceptual development, cognitive development and education, development of attachment and the impact of advertising on children.
Child 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.
StemUp mark scheme flashcards
A-Level Psychology Flashcards for 2027 Onwards
Every answer is written in mark scheme wording, so you learn exactly what examiners give marks for. Then test yourself with the questions on this page.
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About OCR A Level Psychology Child Psychology
Child Psychology is one of the four options on OCR A Level Psychology Paper 3, Applied Psychology, and you study two of them. It has six topics: intelligence, pre-adult brain development, perceptual development, cognitive development and education, development of attachment, and the impact of advertising on children. Each topic has background, a piece of key research and an application, so questions ask you to describe, apply and evaluate. The topic links to developmental studies such as Bandura et al. and Kohlberg on Paper 2 and to nature-nurture and socially sensitive research. Strong answers name the key research accurately and evaluate it using methodological issues and debates.
What you need to know
- Intelligence Background includes theories and measurement of intelligence. Key research is van Leeuwen et al. (2008), a twin-family study of general IQ in Dutch families, which found intelligence was substantially heritable.
- Pre-adult brain development The prefrontal cortex continues developing into the twenties, linked to adolescent risk-taking. Key research is Barkley-Levenson and Galván (2014), who found adolescents showed greater ventral striatum activity to expected value in a gambling task than adults.
- Perceptual development Key research is Gibson and Walk (1960), the visual cliff: most infants aged 6 to 14 months would not crawl onto the deep side, suggesting depth perception is present by the time infants can crawl.
- Cognitive development and education Theories such as Piaget and Vygotsky. Key research is Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976), where a tutor helped 3 to 5 year olds build a block pyramid, identifying functions of scaffolding.
- Development of attachment Key research is Ainsworth and Bell (1970), which used the Strange Situation to observe one-year-olds and identify secure and insecure attachment types.
- Impact of advertising on children Key research is Johnson and Young (2002), a content analysis of toy adverts showing that boy-oriented and girl-oriented adverts used different, gender-stereotyped language and voice-overs.
Common mistakes in Child Psychology
- Naming the wrong key research for a topic, such as using Piaget's own research instead of Wood et al. for cognitive development and education.
- Describing the visual cliff as proving depth perception is innate; infants were already able to crawl so learning could have occurred.
- Writing applications that are vague rather than describing a specific strategy, such as scaffolding in classrooms.
- Forgetting ethical issues of research with children when evaluating.
- Confusing correlation with causation in advertising research.
Try three Child Psychology exam-style questions
1. Outline the key research by Gibson and Walk (1960). (4 marks)
Show the mark scheme answer
Infants aged 6 to 14 months were placed on a central board of a visual cliff apparatus; one side had a pattern directly under the glass (shallow), the other had the pattern several feet below (deep); mothers called the infant from each side; most infants crawled to the shallow side but very few crossed the deep side, suggesting they could perceive depth.
2. Explain how research into cognitive development can be applied to education. (3 marks)
Show the mark scheme answer
Wood, Bruner and Ross showed tutors support children by scaffolding; teachers can give more help at first and reduce it as the child becomes competent; for example breaking tasks into steps and marking critical features, in line with Vygotsky's zone of proximal development.
3. Evaluate Ainsworth and Bell's (1970) study in terms of generalisability. (3 marks)
Show the mark scheme answer
The sample was of white middle-class American infants and mothers; attachment behaviour and child-rearing differ between cultures; so the attachment types and their proportions may not generalise to other cultures, as later cross-cultural research suggested.
Child Psychology FAQs
What does OCR A Level Psychology Child Psychology cover?
It covers intelligence, pre-adult brain development, perceptual development, cognitive development and education, development of attachment and the impact of advertising on children, each with background, key research and application.
Which paper is Child Psychology examined in?
Child Psychology is one of the four options in Section B of Paper 3, Applied Psychology, and students answer on two options.
Which key research should I learn for Child Psychology?
Learn van Leeuwen et al. (2008), Barkley-Levenson and Galván (2014), Gibson and Walk (1960), Wood et al. (1976), Ainsworth and Bell (1970) and Johnson and Young (2002).
