GCSEPsychologyAQAExam QuestionsResearch MethodsData Handling: Computation & Descriptive Statistics

Data Handling: Computation & Descriptive Statistics (AQA GCSE Psychology): Exam Questions

Exam code: 8182

43 mins13 questions
1a
1 mark

Read the following information.

In a study into false memory, a researcher asked adult participants to discuss different events from their childhood. The participants’ families gave the researcher information about these events.

One of the events was fake and involved a made-up family wedding where red wine had been spilled on the bride’s dress.

The researcher wrote down every word that the adults recalled.

He found that two fifths of the participants described details of the wedding, even though the story was made up.

Write two fifths as a decimal.

How did you do?

1b
1 mark

There were 200 participants in the study.

Calculate how many participants did not describe details of the wedding.

Show your workings

Workings:

Number of participants __________________________

How did you do?

2
1 mark

Which of the following is a reason why the range might be calculated in psychological research?

  • To decide whether a sample of participants is representative of the population

  • To find out the most common value in a set of scores

  • To see how well a group of participants has performed compared to another group

  • To tell us how widely dispersed the scores are within a set of data

Choose your answer

3
3 marks

Read the following article

A psychology researcher’s shocking findings about obedience!!!

The results of a psychology experiment show that most people will obey someone who gives them orders – even if that means giving someone else a life-threatening electric shock!!! The shocks were actually fake – but the participants didn’t know that.

The researcher carried out different versions of the experiment. He changed the method to test the effect on obedience levels. In every version, participants were ordered by the researcher to give shocks of increasing voltage. The highest possible voltage was 450.

In the original experiment, 65% of the participants were willing to give the highest shock. The participants could not see the person being ‘shocked’ but they could hear fake screams.

Obedience levels fell when the researcher wore everyday clothes instead of a lab coat.

Obedience levels were also lower when the experiment was carried out in an office instead of a scientific lab.

Only 19% of the participants were willing to give the highest shock when the orders were given by telephone rather than in person.

Table 1 shows the results from the version of the described experiment where the researcher wore everyday clothes instead of a lab coat. There were 24 participants.

Table 1 Frequency table showing the voltage of ‘electric shocks’ given by participants in the everyday clothes version

Voltage

Frequency

40

24

105

24

180

21

240

19

290

18

360

13

450

9

Calculate the percentage of participants who gave the highest possible ‘electric shock’ when the researcher wore everyday clothes instead of a lab coat.

State your answer using two significant figures and show your workings.

Workings:

Answer __________ %

How did you do?

4
1 mark

Read the following information.

A neuroscientist studied language difficulties and anxiety levels in people who have had a stroke.

Damage to the language areas of the brain can result in difficulties with speech, reading, writing and understanding what others are saying.

The neuroscientist asked 10 participants from a stroke rehabilitation centre to take part in the study. The participants were ranked on the level of language difficulties they were experiencing (1 = least difficulty; 10 = most difficulty).

Each day for 30 days, the participants recorded a daily anxiety score using the scale shown in Table 2.

Table 2 Daily anxiety scale

Very low

Low

Medium

High

Very high

Today my anxiety level is...

1

2

3

4

5

At the end of the 30 days, the neuroscientist added up the daily scores for each participant. The results are shown in Table 3.

Table 3 Each participant’s ranking of the level of language difficulties and each participant’s total anxiety scores for 30 days

Participant’s identifying number

Ranking of the level of language difficulties experienced

Total anxiety scores for 30 days

001

5

119

002

2

100

003

10

143

004

3

109

005

7

127

006

9

138

007

8

135

008

1

97

009

4

114

010

6

120

What is the median for the total anxiety scores for 30 days?

How did you do?

5a
3 marks

Read the following information.

In a sixth form centre, students have independent study lessons as well as subject lessons.

Students use the sixth form learning area during their independent study lessons. They are expected to use their study lessons to finish work related to their subjects.

Teachers are concerned that some students spend more time chatting to friends than finishing work during study lessons. A researcher is asked to investigate how students are using study lessons.

The researcher asked 30 students to fill in a questionnaire about how they spend their study lessons. They selected participants using stratified sampling.

The responses of participants to Question 1 of the questionnaire are shown in Table 2.

Table 2 Responses of participants to Question 1:

‘Do you think your progress in lessons is positively affected by the amount of time you spend doing independent study?’

YES

NO

19

11

Calculate the percentage of participants who responded YES.

State your answer using two significant figures and show your workings.

Workings:

__________________%

How did you do?

5b
2 marks

Participants were also asked to estimate the amount of time they spent working and chatting to friends during a typical 70 minute study lesson.

The mean estimates for 30 participants are shown in Table 3.

Table 3 Mean estimated amount of time spent working and chatting to friends during a typical 70 minute study lesson for 30 participants.

Activity

Mean estimated time (in minutes)

Time spent working during a typical 70 minute study lesson.

60

Time spent chatting to friends during a typical 70 minute study lesson

10

What is the ratio of time spent working compared to time spent chatting to friends?

Write this ratio in its simplest form.

Answer_________________

How did you do?

6a
1 mark

The ‘One day at a time’ research study asked people with a diagnosed mental health problem to regularly answer the question ‘What did you find difficult to deal with today?’

On 6 days, spread throughout the year, people were asked to write about their day.

An analysis of the answers was carried out and the difficulties most commonly mentioned by the participants were identified.

Many participants mentioned more than one of these common difficulties.

The results are shown in Table 2.

Table 2 Difficulties most commonly mentioned by females and males.

Difficulties

Number of females who mentioned difficulty

Number of males who mentioned difficulty

Physical health issues

143

70

Relationship issues

95

43

Experiences of mental health services

105

60

Sleep issues

126

71

Experiencing stigma about their mental health problem

128

67

Work issues

97

One result is missing from Table 2.

Which of the following is the most likely estimate of the missing result?

Use the results from the rest of the table to help with your decision

  • 15

  • 45

  • 75

  • 105

Choose your answer

6b
3 marks

The questionnaire was answered by 671 females.

What percentage of females mentioned experiencing stigma about their mental health problem as a difficulty they had to deal with in their day?

State your answer using three significant figures and show your workings

Workings:

Answer ______________%

How did you do?

7a
2 marks

Read the item and then answer the questions that follow.

The results of the experiment are shown in Table 2 below.

Table 2: Total number of errors made by participants in Condition A and Condition B

Participant number

Condition A

Condition B

1

3

10

2

4

12

3

6

9

4

5

8

5

8

12

6

2

14

7

5

12

8

4

11

9

7

12

10

6

11

Total

50

The mean number of errors for Condition A is 5. Calculate the mean number of errors for Condition B. Show your workings.

Workings:

Answer____________________________________

How did you do?

7b
2 marks

The range for Condition A is 6. Calculate the range for Condition B. Show your workings.

Workings:

Answer________________________________________________________

How did you do?

7c
6 marks

Using the means and the ranges, what conclusions could the psychologist draw from this experiment? Explain your answer

How did you do?

8
2 marks

Read the item and then answer the questions that follow

A researcher conducted a study into obedience. An actor told people to pick up litter in a local park. The actor’s appearance was altered. In Condition A the actor wore a uniform and in Condition B he wore casual clothes. The actor told 40 people to pick up litter in each condition. The number of people who picked up litter in each condition was recorded.

Table 1: The number of people who did or did not pick up litter

Condition A

Condition B

Picked up litter

22

8

Did not pick up litter

18

32

In Condition B, 20% of people picked up litter. Calculate the percentage of people who picked up litter in Condition A. Show your workings

Workings:

Answer________________________________________________________

How did you do?

9
2 marks

Read the item and then answer the questions that follow.

A doctor works with patients who have had a stroke. Each patient has an fMRI scan which shows the stroke has caused damage to part of the visual pathway in the brain. The doctor is able to offer treatment to patients, either eye surgery or eye exercises.

Table 3: Number of patients offered eye surgery or eye exercises.

Eye surgery

Eye exercises

11

9

What percentage of patients were offered eye exercises as a treatment? Show your workings

Workings:

Answer________________________________________________________

How did you do?

10a
1 mark

Read the following information.

A memory researcher investigated the capacity of short-term memory using an eight-item digit span test.

There were 10 participants in total.


Three participants recalled fewer than five digits, while seven participants recalled five or more digits.


The ratio of participants recalling fewer than five digits to those recalling five or more digits was 3 : 7.

The number of digits correctly recalled by each participant was 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 7

Express the number of participants that recalled fewer than five digits as a fraction.

How did you do?

10b
3 marks

Calculate the mean number of items recalled in the digit span test.

Show your workings.

How did you do?

11a
2 marks

Professor Sharma is conducting an experiment to test whether eating chocolate before a psychology test affects the results students achieve.

Half of the 40 students were randomly allocated to condition A: eating 50 g of milk chocolate 30 minutes before the test. The other half were allocated to condition B: eating no chocolate before the test.

The test score (out of 100) was recorded for all students.

The highest score achieved in the psychology test was 88 and the lowest score was 52.

Calculate the range of scores.

How did you do?

11b
2 marks

Table 3 shows the results from the study.

Table 3 Mean psychology test scores for participants who ate chocolate and those who ate no chocolate

Eating chocolate before the test (Condition A)

No chocolate before the test (Condition B)

72

66

Outline one conclusion that could be drawn from this result.

How did you do?

12
3 marks

Read the following article.

A psychology teacher’s findings about conformity

A psychology teacher carried out an experiment to investigate conformity. Students were asked to complete a difficult maths test in groups.

In some groups, there were many students, while in other groups, there were only a few students.

The teacher found that students were more likely to change their answers when they were in larger groups.

In other versions of the experiment, the teacher changed who the other students were. In some groups, the majority were described as maths experts, while in others they were described as general students.

The teacher found that students were more likely to agree with the majority when the group were maths experts.

Table 1 shows the results from the version of the experiment where the group size was small (2 participants). There were 24 trials in total.

Table 1 Frequency table showing the number of conformist responses in the small group condition over 24 trials.

Group size

Number of conformist responses

Small (2)

9

Calculate the percentage of conformist responses in the small (2) group.

State your answer using two significant figures and show your workings.

How did you do?

13a
1 mark

Read the following information.

A neuropsychologist carried out an observational study to investigate language function in patients who had suffered neurological damage to Wernicke’s area.

10 patients with Wernicke’s aphasia (difficulty understanding speech) were assessed on their speech comprehension difficulty using a rating scale (1 = low difficulty; 10 = high difficulty).

The scores were: 3, 5, 5, 6, 7, 7, 9, 10, 10, 10.

What is the mode score for the speech comprehension difficulty ranking?

How did you do?

13b
1 mark

Which measure of central tendency shows the middle value if the speech comprehension scores are placed in order?

  • Mean

  • Median

  • Mode

  • Range

Choose your answer