A Level Psychology (Specialist options) MCQs with answers
Practise A Level Psychology (Specialist options) (9990) with 824 exam-style MCQs, each with the answer and a short explanation. Every test is marked the moment you finish and shows your score chapter by chapter, so you know what to revise next. It is free and needs no sign-up.
824 questions · 4 chapters
What each chapter covers 4 chapters
The questions follow the syllabus chapter by chapter. You can test the whole subject or one chapter at a time.
- Clinical Psychology 203 questionsSchizophrenia: diagnostic criteria, Schizophrenia: explanations, Schizophrenia: treatment and management, Mood disorders: diagnostic criteria, Mood disorders: explanations of depressive disorder, Mood disorders: treatment and management, Impulse control disorders: diagnostic criteria, Impulse control disorders: explanations, Impulse control disorders: treatment and management, Anxiety and fear-related disorders: diagnostic criteria, Anxiety and fear-related disorders: explanations, Anxiety and fear-related disorders: treatment and management, Obsessive-compulsive disorder: diagnostic criteria, Obsessive-compulsive disorder: explanations, Obsessive-compulsive disorder: treatment and management
- Consumer Psychology 246 questionsThe physical environment: retail store design, The physical environment: sound and consumer behaviour, The physical environment: retail atmospherics, The psychological environment: environmental influences on consumers, The psychological environment: menu design psychology, The psychological environment: consumer behaviour and personal space, Consumer decision-making: models and strategies, Consumer decision-making: choice heuristics, Consumer decision-making: mistakes in decision-making, The product: packaging and positioning, The product: selling the product, The product: buying the product, Advertising: types of advertising and advertising techniques, Advertising: advertising-consumer interaction, Advertising: brand awareness and recognition
- Health Psychology 171 questionsThe patient-practitioner relationship: interpersonal skills, The patient-practitioner relationship: diagnosis and style, The patient-practitioner relationship: misusing health services, Adherence to medical advice: types and reasons for non-adherence, Adherence to medical advice: measuring non-adherence, Adherence to medical advice: improving adherence, Pain: types and theories of pain, Pain: measuring pain, Pain: managing and controlling pain, Stress: sources of stress, Stress: measures of stress, Stress: managing stress, Health promotion: strategies for promoting health, Health promotion: schools and worksites, Health promotion: individual factors in changing health beliefs
- Organisational Psychology 204 questionsMotivation to work: need theories, Motivation to work: cognitive theories, Motivation to work: motivators at work, Leadership and management: traditional and modern theories, Leadership and management: leadership style, Leadership and management: leaders and followers, Group behaviour: group development and decision-making, Group behaviour: individual and group performance, Group behaviour: conflict at work, Organisational work conditions: physical work conditions, Organisational work conditions: temporal conditions, Organisational work conditions: health and safety, Satisfaction at work: theories of job satisfaction, Satisfaction at work: measuring job satisfaction, Satisfaction at work: attitudes to work
Sample A Level Psychology (Specialist options) MCQs with answers 12 questions
12 questions from the test, one or two from each chapter. Try each one, then open the answer.
1. The Blood Injection Phobia Inventory (BIPI) is best described as
- A
a machine that measures the blood pressure of a patient during exposure to needles
- B
a clinician's diagnostic interview that is used to assess all anxiety disorders
- C
a projective test in which the person interprets a series of pictures
- D
a self-report questionnaire on fear and avoidance of blood and injections
Show answer
Answer: D. The BIPI is a self-report measure of the severity of blood-injection phobia, so it is subjective and quantitative.
2. Which prediction would Robson et al. (2011) most likely have made from personal space theory?
- A
diners at closely spaced tables would react more negatively
- B
diners at closely spaced tables would be more satisfied than those with more space
- C
table spacing would have no effect on diners
- D
diners would prefer to sit as close as possible to strangers
Show answer
Answer: A. Personal space theory predicts that invasion of space causes discomfort, so closer tables should produce more negative responses.
3. In a study in the style of Weinstein (1980), students rate their own chances of various events compared with other students. What would be the typical finding?
- A
students rate negative events as more likely for themselves than for the average student, and positive events as less likely
- B
students rate their own chances of negative events as lower than average, and of positive events as higher
- C
students rate their chances of both positive and negative events as identical to those of others
- D
students rate positive events as less likely for themselves, and negative events as less likely
Show answer
Answer: B. Because not everyone can be below average, this shows unrealistic optimism, a bias in judging personal risk.
4. A team member is anxious about errors, checks work meticulously and insists on meeting deadlines. Which Belbin team role is this?
- A
completer finisher
- B
co-ordinator
- C
teamworker
- D
resource investigator
Show answer
Answer: A. Completer finishers are conscientious and attentive to detail, and make sure work is finished to a high standard on time.
5. Most trials of cognitive therapy have been carried out in Western countries with adults who volunteer for therapy. What is the main issue this raises?
- A
the therapy must be equally effective in all cultures because it is scientific
- B
the findings may not generalise to other cultures, ages or non-volunteers
- C
volunteers are not able to give informed consent to the treatment
- D
the therapy cannot be used in the everyday life of ordinary people
Show answer
Answer: B. Generalisation depends on how representative the sample is. Cultural differences in beliefs about mental health may affect how well a therapy works.
6. Which is a weakness of a taste study that collects ratings from students in a laboratory?
- A
ratings are objective, so they cannot be biased by participants’ expectations
- B
a lab setting and student sample limit ecological validity and generalisation
- C
a laboratory setting removes all problems of validity, since everything is controlled
- D
a student sample represents all consumers exactly
Show answer
Answer: B. Lab-based ratings from a narrow sample may not reflect real shopping behaviour, and taste ratings are subjective.
7. In acupuncture, the practitioner
- A
inserts thin needles into specific points of the body
- B
delivers mild electrical pulses through pads on the skin
- C
injects a strong opioid painkiller
- D
uses a mirror to show the intact limb
Show answer
Answer: A. Acupuncture uses needles at particular points, and one suggestion is that it triggers the release of endorphins. Evidence for its effect is mixed.
8. In a firm, staff have a right to privacy, free speech and a grievance procedure to challenge unfair treatment. Which of Walton's conditions does this reflect?
- A
social integration
- B
safe and healthy working conditions
- C
constitutionalism in the work organisation
- D
immediate opportunity to use and develop human capacities
Show answer
Answer: C. Constitutionalism is the protection of employees' rights to privacy, free speech and fair treatment.
9. A critic points out that identical twins are often treated much more alike than non-identical twins. How does this affect the interpretation of twin studies?
- A
it shows that identical twins do not share all of their genes with each other
- B
it proves that the genetic explanation is completely correct and needs no more evidence
- C
the higher identical-twin concordance may partly reflect similar environments
- D
it means the concordance rates found for non-identical twins are not valid
Show answer
Answer: C. The equal environments assumption is questioned: if identical twins share more similar experiences, environment may inflate the apparent genetic effect.
10. A café owner wants to increase sales of a new, high-margin salad. According to research on position and choice, where should it be listed?
- A
in the middle of a long list
- B
after all the desserts
- C
in very small print at the bottom of the page
- D
first in its section of the menu
Show answer
Answer: D. Because items at the start of a list are chosen more (primacy), a first-place listing increases the chance of selection.
11. Holmes and Rahe's Social Readjustment Rating Scale ranks events by
- A
life change units, which are added up to predict the risk of illness
- B
the number of minor daily hassles which a person experiences in a week
- C
the person's Type A or Type B personality, as shown by a questionnaire
- D
only the negative events which have happened in a person's life recently
Show answer
Answer: A. Each life event is given a score reflecting the amount of readjustment it needs. The higher the total in a year, the greater the risk of illness.
12. A team has agreed its rules and roles, members now trust each other and feel a strong sense of cohesion. Which stage of Tuckman's model is this?
- A
norming
- B
forming
- C
storming
- D
adjourning
Show answer
Answer: A. Agreed standards, cooperation and cohesion characterise norming.
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