General past paper questions

Question 1

Describe two assumptions of the cognitive approach. (4)

Answer 1

Information is processed through the same route in all humans input process output in a similar way to how information is processed by a computer. People have individual differences in their cognitive processing such as attention, language, thinking and memory. These processes can help to explain behaviour and emotion.

Question 2

Outline the debate about individual and situational explanations in psychology. (2)

Answer 2

The individual side refers to behaviour from factors within the person.
The situational side refers to behaviours from factors in the external environment.