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Methods: Edexcel A‑Level Psychology questions

Every Edexcel A-Level Psychology exam question on 2.2 Methods, 2016–2025, with its mark scheme and examiner’s report.

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946 questions

  1. Q5(a)

    June 2025 · Paper 1

    1 mark2.2 Methods
    The whole paper ↗
    June 2025 Paper 1, question 5(a): State the fully operationalised dependent variable (DV) from Jenny’s experiment. (1) 5 Jenny investigated the influence of semantic similarity on the accuracy o

  2. Q5(b)

    June 2025 · Paper 1

    3 marks2.2 Methods
    The whole paper ↗
    June 2025 Paper 1, question 5(b): Using the data in Table 1, draw a bar chart to represent the data from Jenny’s experiment. (3) 5 Jenny investigated the influence of semantic similarity on the

  3. Q6

    June 2025 · Paper 1

    4 marks2.2 Methods
    The whole paper ↗
    June 2025 Paper 1, question 6: Colin wanted to investigate long-term memory damage. He decided to conduct a case study on a patient with long-term memory damage who had been involved in a mot

  4. Q8

    June 2025 · AS Paper 1

    4 marks2.2 Methods
    The whole paper ↗
    June 2025 AS Paper 1, question 8: Explain two strengths of using case studies of brain-damaged patients when researching memory. 1 2

  5. Q9(a)

    June 2025 · AS Paper 1

    1 mark2.2 Methods
    The whole paper ↗
    June 2025 AS Paper 1, question 9(a): Calculate the median number of words written in the description of the cartoon on the day the cartoon was watched. (1) 9 Nyasha recruited British children to ta

  6. Q9(b)

    June 2025 · AS Paper 1

    4 marks2.2 Methods
    The whole paper ↗
    June 2025 AS Paper 1, question 9(b): Nyasha used a Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test to analyse her data. Complete Table 3 and calculate the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test for Nyasha’s data. (4) Number of Num

  7. Q9(c)

    June 2025 · AS Paper 1

    2 marks2.2 Methods
    The whole paper ↗
    June 2025 AS Paper 1, question 9(c): Explain one improvement Nyasha could make to her experiment. (2) 9 Nyasha recruited British children to take part in a memory experiment. She showed the childre

  8. Q8

    June 2024 · Paper 1

    8 marks2.2 Methods
    The whole paper ↗
    June 2024 Paper 1, question 8: Evaluate the use of experimental methods when researching memory. (8)

  9. Q6(a)

    June 2024 · AS Paper 1

    1 mark2.2 Methods
    The whole paper ↗
    June 2024 AS Paper 1, question 6(a): Calculate the range for the list of words grouped in a meaningful way (condition A). (1) 6 Sebastian conducted an experiment to see whether information being or

  10. Q6(b)

    June 2024 · AS Paper 1

    4 marks2.2 Methods
    The whole paper ↗
    June 2024 AS Paper 1, question 6(b): Sebastian decided to analyse his data using a Mann‑Whitney U test. Complete Table 3 and calculate the Mann‑Whitney U test for Sebastian’s data. You must give yo

  11. Q6(c)

    June 2024 · AS Paper 1

    2 marks2.2 Methods
    The whole paper ↗
    June 2024 AS Paper 1, question 6(c): Explain one improvement Sebastian could make to his experiment. (2) 6 Sebastian conducted an experiment to see whether information being organised in a meaningf

  12. Q8

    June 2024 · AS Paper 1

    8 marks2.2 Methods
    The whole paper ↗
    June 2024 AS Paper 1, question 8: Evaluate laboratory experiments as they are used in cognitive psychology. (8)

  13. Q8

    June 2023 · AS Paper 1

    4 marks2.2 Methods
    The whole paper ↗
    June 2023 AS Paper 1, question 8: Explain two weaknesses of using case studies of brain‑damaged patients when researching memory. 1 2

  14. Q9(a)

    June 2023 · AS Paper 1

    1 mark2.2 Methods
    The whole paper ↗
    June 2023 AS Paper 1, question 9(a): From the total number of students in group 1, calculate the percentage of students who scored higher than 20 in the test. (1) 9 Stefan is a psychology teacher w

  15. Q9(b)

    June 2023 · AS Paper 1

    1 mark2.2 Methods
    The whole paper ↗
    June 2023 AS Paper 1, question 9(b): The student participants in Stefan’s sample consisted of twelve females and four males. Calculate what fraction of Stefan’s sample were female. You must express

  16. Q9(c)

    June 2023 · AS Paper 1

    4 marks2.2 Methods
    The whole paper ↗
    June 2023 AS Paper 1, question 9(c): Stefan wanted to analyse his data using a Mann‑Whitney U test. Complete Table 4 and calculate the Mann‑Whitney U test for Stefan’s data. You must give your answ

  17. Q9(d)

    June 2023 · AS Paper 1

    1 mark2.2 Methods
    The whole paper ↗
    June 2023 AS Paper 1, question 9(d): Stefan was concerned about making a Type I error when analysing the results of his investigation. Define what is meant by a Type I error. (1) 9 Stefan is a psyc

  18. Q9(e)

    June 2023 · AS Paper 1

    2 marks2.2 Methods
    The whole paper ↗
    June 2023 AS Paper 1, question 9(e): Explain one improvement Stefan could have made to his investigation. (2) 9 Stefan is a psychology teacher who is investigating the influence of note‑taking on t

  19. Q12

    June 2023 · AS Paper 1

    12 marks1.2 Methods2.2 Methods
    The whole paper ↗
    June 2023 AS Paper 1, question 12: Evaluate the use of interviews and field experiments when conducting research in psychology. (12)

  20. Q4(a)

    June 2022 · Paper 1

    2 marks2.2 Methods
    The whole paper ↗
    June 2022 Paper 1, question 4(a): State the fully operationalised independent variable (IV) and dependent variable (DV) in Lei’s investigation. (2) 4 Lei investigated the effect of word length o
All 60 questions on Methods, as a list
  1. June 2025, Paper 1, Q5(a) (1 mark): State the fully operationalised dependent variable (DV) from Jenny’s experiment. (1) 5 Jenny investigated the influence of semantic similarity on the accuracy o
  2. June 2025, Paper 1, Q5(b) (3 marks): Using the data in Table 1, draw a bar chart to represent the data from Jenny’s experiment. (3) 5 Jenny investigated the influence of semantic similarity on the
  3. June 2025, Paper 1, Q6 (4 marks): Colin wanted to investigate long-term memory damage. He decided to conduct a case study on a patient with long-term memory damage who had been involved in a mot
  4. June 2025, AS Paper 1, Q8 (4 marks): Explain two strengths of using case studies of brain-damaged patients when researching memory. 1 2
  5. June 2025, AS Paper 1, Q9(a) (1 mark): Calculate the median number of words written in the description of the cartoon on the day the cartoon was watched. (1) 9 Nyasha recruited British children to ta
  6. June 2025, AS Paper 1, Q9(b) (4 marks): Nyasha used a Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test to analyse her data. Complete Table 3 and calculate the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test for Nyasha’s data. (4) Number of Num
  7. June 2025, AS Paper 1, Q9(c) (2 marks): Explain one improvement Nyasha could make to her experiment. (2) 9 Nyasha recruited British children to take part in a memory experiment. She showed the childre
  8. June 2024, Paper 1, Q8 (8 marks): Evaluate the use of experimental methods when researching memory. (8)
  9. June 2024, AS Paper 1, Q6(a) (1 mark): Calculate the range for the list of words grouped in a meaningful way (condition A). (1) 6 Sebastian conducted an experiment to see whether information being or
  10. June 2024, AS Paper 1, Q6(b) (4 marks): Sebastian decided to analyse his data using a Mann‑Whitney U test. Complete Table 3 and calculate the Mann‑Whitney U test for Sebastian’s data. You must give yo
  11. June 2024, AS Paper 1, Q6(c) (2 marks): Explain one improvement Sebastian could make to his experiment. (2) 6 Sebastian conducted an experiment to see whether information being organised in a meaningf
  12. June 2024, AS Paper 1, Q8 (8 marks): Evaluate laboratory experiments as they are used in cognitive psychology. (8)
  13. June 2023, AS Paper 1, Q8 (4 marks): Explain two weaknesses of using case studies of brain‑damaged patients when researching memory. 1 2
  14. June 2023, AS Paper 1, Q9(a) (1 mark): From the total number of students in group 1, calculate the percentage of students who scored higher than 20 in the test. (1) 9 Stefan is a psychology teacher w
  15. June 2023, AS Paper 1, Q9(b) (1 mark): The student participants in Stefan’s sample consisted of twelve females and four males. Calculate what fraction of Stefan’s sample were female. You must express
  16. June 2023, AS Paper 1, Q9(c) (4 marks): Stefan wanted to analyse his data using a Mann‑Whitney U test. Complete Table 4 and calculate the Mann‑Whitney U test for Stefan’s data. You must give your answ
  17. June 2023, AS Paper 1, Q9(d) (1 mark): Stefan was concerned about making a Type I error when analysing the results of his investigation. Define what is meant by a Type I error. (1) 9 Stefan is a psyc
  18. June 2023, AS Paper 1, Q9(e) (2 marks): Explain one improvement Stefan could have made to his investigation. (2) 9 Stefan is a psychology teacher who is investigating the influence of note‑taking on t
  19. June 2023, AS Paper 1, Q12 (12 marks): Evaluate the use of interviews and field experiments when conducting research in psychology. (12)
  20. June 2022, Paper 1, Q4(a) (2 marks): State the fully operationalised independent variable (IV) and dependent variable (DV) in Lei’s investigation. (2) 4 Lei investigated the effect of word length o
  21. June 2022, Paper 1, Q4(b) (4 marks): Complete Table 2 and calculate the Mann-Whitney U for the results of Lei’s investigation. (4) Condition A: monosyllabic words Condition B: polysyllabic words Nu
  22. June 2022, Paper 1, Q4(c) (1 mark): Using the Mann-Whitney U value that you calculated for 4(b), determine whether Lei’s data were significant at p ≤ 0.05 for a directional (one-tailed) hypothesis
  23. June 2022, AS Paper 1, Q7(a) (1 mark): Calculate the mean number of country names recalled correctly from list 2. You must give your answer to one decimal place. (1) 7 Gwen conducted an experiment to
  24. June 2022, AS Paper 1, Q7(b) (1 mark): Calculate the mode for the number of country names recalled correctly from list 2. (1) 7 Gwen conducted an experiment to investigate whether the length of words
  25. June 2022, AS Paper 1, Q7(c) (3 marks): Gwen decided to use the standard deviation as a measure of dispersion for her data. Calculate the standard deviation for the number of country names recalled co
  26. June 2022, AS Paper 1, Q7(d) (2 marks): Explain one improvement that could be made to Gwen’s experiment. (2) 7 Gwen conducted an experiment to investigate whether the length of words influences the nu
  27. June 2022, AS Paper 1, Q8 (4 marks): Jane has asked for your help to design a laboratory experiment to find out if listening to music whilst revising affects people’s ability to recall facts. Descr
  28. November 2021, Paper 1, Q5(a) (2 marks): Describe how Ken would gather a stratified sample for his research. (2) 5 Ken is planning to research whether the time of day has an impact on working memory pr
  29. November 2021, Paper 1, Q5(b) (2 marks): To test working memory processing speed, Ken intends to ask his participants to complete a series of mathematical calculations in the morning. They will then re
  30. October 2020, Paper 1, Q7(a) (4 marks): Complete Table 1 and calculate the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test for Charles’s study. (4) Participant Recall Recall Difference Rank Rank if Rank if after an with n
  31. October 2020, Paper 1, Q7(b) (1 mark): Using the Wilcoxon T value that you calculated for 7(a), determine whether Charles’s data were significant at p≤0.025 for a directional (one-tailed) hypothesis.
  32. October 2020, Paper 1, Q8 (8 marks): Assess whether case studies of brain-damaged patients are an effective method for investigating human memory. (8)
  33. October 2020, AS Paper 1, Q6(a) (1 mark): Identify the independent variable (IV) in the experiment conducted by Bernadette. (1) 6 Bernadette carried out an experiment to investigate whether noise affect
  34. October 2020, AS Paper 1, Q6(b) (4 marks): Bernadette used a repeated measures design in her experiment. Explain one strength and one weakness of using a repeated measures design. (4) 6 Bernadette carrie
  35. October 2020, AS Paper 1, Q6(c) (4 marks): Bernadette decided to carry out a statistical test on her data. She used a Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test. Complete Table 1 and calculate the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks
  36. October 2020, AS Paper 1, Q6(d) (2 marks): Explain one improvement Bernadette could have made to her experiment. (2) 6 Bernadette carried out an experiment to investigate whether noise affects concentrat
  37. June 2019, AS Paper 1, Q5(c) (2 marks): Case studies of brain-damaged patients have been used when researching memory. Explain one strength of using case studies of brain-damaged patients when researc
  38. June 2019, AS Paper 1, Q7(a) (1 mark): Calculate the percentage of landmarks correctly recalled by Participant C. (1) 7 Elizabeth conducted a laboratory experiment to investigate the impact of brain
  39. June 2019, AS Paper 1, Q7(b) (2 marks): Elizabeth repeated her experiment with a second group of participants who did not have brain damage. She compared the results from the two experiments. Explain
  40. June 2019, AS Paper 1, Q8 (4 marks): Ricky is planning to conduct a field experiment to test recall accuracy of a story. He wants to find out if accuracy decreases over time. Ricky has asked for yo
  41. June 2018, Paper 1, Q5(a) (1 mark): Calculate the mean number of words retrieved by the mathematics and geography students and complete Table 1 with your answers. You must give your answers to one
  42. June 2018, Paper 1, Q5(b) (2 marks): Explain which statistical (inferential) test Mr Robinson would have used to analyse the data. (2) 5 Mr Robinson has asked geography students and mathematics stu
  43. June 2018, Paper 1, Q5(c) (2 marks): Explain one strength of Mr Robinson using quantitative data in his experiment. (2) 5 Mr Robinson has asked geography students and mathematics students to take p
  44. June 2018, AS Paper 1, Q8(b) (1 mark): Calculate the range for the number of recall errors made by female participants. (1) 8 George tested the accuracy of memory using a fairy tale story about a pri
  45. June 2018, AS Paper 1, Q8(c) (1 mark): Calculate the ratio of male to female participants in George’s study. (1) 8 George tested the accuracy of memory using a fairy tale story about a princess. He r
  46. June 2018, AS Paper 1, Q8(d) (2 marks): Explain one improvement that could be made to George’s study. (2) The mean number of errors in recall by males and females are shown in Table 4. Mean number of
  47. June 2018, AS Paper 1, Q8(e) (2 marks): Explain one conclusion that George could make from the data in Table 4. (2) 8 George tested the accuracy of memory using a fairy tale story about a princess. He
  48. June 2018, AS Paper 1, Q9(a) (1 mark): Define what is meant by ‘objectivity’. (1) 9 You have been asked to design a field experiment to investigate whether poor working memory in children affects the
  49. June 2018, AS Paper 1, Q9(b) (4 marks): Describe the procedure you could use in your field experiment. (4) 9 You have been asked to design a field experiment to investigate whether poor working memory
  50. June 2017, Paper 1, Q5(a) (2 marks): Calculate the range of scores Louise gathered in both conditions of her study and complete Table 2 above. (2) 5 Louise is interested to see whether there is a d
  51. June 2017, Paper 1, Q5(b) (4 marks): Calculate the standard deviation for the number of pictures recalled by children with dyslexia. Show your working and give your answer to two decimal places. (4
  52. June 2017, Paper 1, Q6 (8 marks): Experiments within psychology, such as that carried out by Baddeley (1966b), have aided our understanding of cognitive functions. Assess the usefulness of using
  53. June 2017, AS Paper 1, Q6(a) (4 marks): Explain the terms ‘independent variable’ and ‘dependent variable’, using Sarah’s research as an example. (4) 6 Sarah would like to research whether 15 acoustica
  54. June 2017, AS Paper 1, Q6(b) (3 marks): The mean results of Sarah’s experiment are shown in Table 2. Mean number of acoustically Mean number of acoustically similar words recalled dissimilar words rec
  55. June 2017, AS Paper 1, Q6(c) (1 mark): State one conclusion from Sarah’s results. (1) 6 Sarah would like to research whether 15 acoustically similar words will be easier to recall than 15 acousticall
  56. June 2017, AS Paper 1, Q7 (8 marks): Henry Molaison (HM) was a patient who had a brain injury as a result of a surgical procedure to help him with epileptic seizures. As a result he suffered with s
  57. June 2016, AS Paper 1, Q6(a) (3 marks): State a fully operationalised directional (one-tailed) hypothesis for Jared’s experiment. (3) 6 Jared decided to investigate how many household objects could be
  58. June 2016, AS Paper 1, Q6(b) (3 marks): Describe an appropriate participant design that Jared could use for this experiment. (3) 6 Jared decided to investigate how many household objects could be reca
  59. June 2016, AS Paper 1, Q6(c) (3 marks): Table 1 shows the results of Jared’s experiment. Condition 1 Condition 2 Number of items recalled Number of items recalled when rehearsal is not when rehearsal
  60. June 2016, AS Paper 1, Q9 (12 marks): Ed and Najeeb are researching the effects of individual tutorials on student wellbeing. Ed wants to carry out a laboratory experiment and collect quantitative d

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