OCR A Level Psychology
OCR A Level Psychology Core Studies Exam Questions
Free OCR A Level Psychology exam questions for Core Studies, with a mark scheme for every pack. Covers twenty classic and contemporary Core studies in ten key themes across social, cognitive, developmental, biological and individual differences Psychology.
Core Studies exam questions
5 question packs 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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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 Core Studies
The Core Studies are the heart of OCR A Level Psychology Paper 2, Psychological Themes through Core Studies. You study 20 studies arranged in ten key themes, each pairing a classic study with a contemporary one, across five areas: social, cognitive, developmental, biological and individual differences. For each study you need the background, aims, sample, procedure, results and conclusions, and you must be able to evaluate it using methodological issues such as validity, reliability, sampling and ethics. You also compare the pairs to show how understanding has changed. The studies are then used in the areas, perspectives and debates section and in practical applications questions.
What you need to know
- Social Responses to people in authority: Milgram (1963) and Bocchiaro et al. (2012) on disobedience and whistle-blowing. Responses to people in need: Piliavin et al. (1969) subway Samaritan and Levine et al. (2001) cross-cultural altruism.
- Cognitive Memory: Loftus and Palmer (1974) and Grant et al. (1998) on context-dependent memory. Attention: Moray (1959) on auditory attention and Simons and Chabris (1999) on visual inattention.
- Developmental External influences on children's behaviour: Bandura et al. (1961) and Chaney et al. (2004) Funhaler study. Moral development: Kohlberg (1968) and Lee et al. (1997) on evaluations of lying and truth-telling.
- Biological Regions of the brain: Sperry (1968) split brain and Casey et al. (2011) on delay of gratification. Brain plasticity: Blakemore and Cooper (1970) kittens and Maguire et al. (2000) taxi drivers.
- Individual differences Understanding disorders: Freud (1909) Little Hans and Baron-Cohen et al. (1997) on autism in adults. Measuring differences: Gould (1982) A nation of morons and Hancock et al. (2011) on the language of psychopaths.
- Key findings to know For example, 65% of Milgram's participants went to 450V; Piliavin found the cane victim was helped far more often than the drunk victim; Maguire found taxi drivers had larger posterior hippocampi.
Common mistakes in Core Studies
- Mixing up details between paired studies, such as samples or procedures in Milgram and Bocchiaro.
- Describing results in vague terms without any specific findings or figures.
- Writing evaluation that is generic instead of linked to the specific study, for example explaining exactly why Grant et al.'s sample limits generalisation.
- Forgetting the key theme each study belongs to when asked to compare the classic and contemporary studies.
- Writing that Piliavin et al. found diffusion of responsibility; they found no strong diffusion of responsibility on the subway.
Try three Core Studies exam-style questions
1. Outline the sample used in Bandura et al.'s (1961) study. (2 marks)
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72 children (36 boys and 36 girls); aged between about 3 and 5 years; from the Stanford University nursery school.
2. Describe the procedure of Grant et al.'s (1998) study on context-dependent memory. (4 marks)
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Participants read a two-page article on psychoimmunology; either in silent conditions or with background cafeteria noise played through headphones; they were then tested with short-answer and multiple-choice questions in either matching or mismatching conditions; a 2 x 2 independent measures design was used.
3. Explain one difference between the classic and contemporary studies on brain plasticity. (3 marks)
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Blakemore and Cooper used kittens and manipulated their early visual environment, while Maguire et al. used human taxi drivers and MRI scans; so Maguire's findings are easier to generalise to humans; but Blakemore and Cooper could establish cause and effect because the environment was controlled.
Core Studies FAQs
What does OCR A Level Psychology Core Studies cover?
It covers 20 classic and contemporary studies in ten key themes across five areas: social, cognitive, developmental, biological and individual differences.
Which paper are the Core Studies examined in?
The Core Studies are examined on Paper 2, Psychological Themes through Core Studies.
How should I revise the Core Studies?
Make a summary card for each study with aim, sample, procedure, results and conclusions, then add evaluation points and a comparison with its paired study in the same key theme.
