Social Cognition (AQA A Level Psychology): Exam Questions

Conrad and Leonard are brothers. Conrad has autism whereas Leonard does not have autism. One day they are playing ball with their father in the garden. When their father goes inside to answer the telephone, Leonard hides the ball in a bucket. Leonard giggles and says to Conrad, “Where do you think Dad will look for the ball?”.

Use your knowledge of theory of mind and the Sally-Anne study to explain Conrad’s likely response.

In a study of perspective-taking, a psychology student used a group of 9-year-old children. Each child was shown two pictures.

• Picture 1 showed an older child being unkind to a little boy.

• Picture 2 showed an older child being kind to a little boy.

The student asked the children to judge how sad the little boy would feel in each picture on a scale of 1–10.

The student decided to test for a significant difference between the judgements of the two pictures. He proposed using an unrelated t-test to analyse the data.

Suggest a more appropriate statistical test of difference for the student to use with this data. Explain two reasons for your choice based on the description of the study.

Outline and evaluate theory of mind as an explanation for autism.

Discuss theory of mind and Selman’s levels of perspective-taking in the development of social cognition.

In a study of perspective-taking, a psychology student used a group of 9-year-old children. Each child was shown two pictures.

• Picture 1 showed an older child being unkind to a little boy.

• Picture 2 showed an older child being kind to a little boy.

The student asked the children to judge how sad the little boy would feel in each picture on a scale of 1–10.

Discuss Selman’s research on perspective-taking. Refer to the likely outcome of the student’s study in your answer.

Outline and briefly discuss the role of the mirror neuron system in social cognition.

Outline theory of mind as an explanation for autism.

Explain one strength of theory of mind as an explanation for autism.

Explain two limitations of theory of mind as an explanation for autism.