OCR AS Level Psychology Past Papers

OCR AS Level Psychology (H017) is built around a unique core studies approach: rather than organising content by topic area, the specification uses a selection of landmark empirical studies as entry points into psychology's major debates, methods, and themes. Students develop deep knowledge of a set of classic and contemporary studies and use them as evidence when addressing broader psychological questions. Component 1: Core Studies in Psychology (H017/01, 2 hours, 75 marks) assesses detailed knowledge of the AS Level core studies. These studies span biological, cognitive, developmental, social, and individual differences perspectives. Examples include: Milgram's obedience research (situational factors in destructive obedience), Asch's conformity studies (normative and informational social influence), Bandura's Bobo doll studies (social learning theory and the role of observation and reinforcement), Loftus and Palmer's research on eyewitness testimony and leading questions, Baron-Cohen, Leslie, and Frith's work on theory of mind in autism (the Sally-Anne task), and Sperry's split-brain research on hemispheric specialisation. For each study, students must know the aim, method, sample, procedure, results, and conclusions, and be able to critically evaluate the study's methodology (validity, reliability, ethical issues, sample representativeness, and generalisability). Component 2: Psychological Themes through Core Studies (H017/02, 1 hour 30 minutes, 60 marks) draws on the same studies but addresses four overarching themes: issues and debates in psychology (determinism versus free will, nature versus nurture, reductionism versus holism, individual versus situational explanations, and ethical issues), approaches in psychology (cognitive, biological, behaviourist, psychodynamic, and humanistic approaches), research methods (experimental, correlational, observational, case study, and self-report methods — including their strengths and limitations), and perspectives on core studies.