A Level Psychology: Specialist Options — Practice Questions

These are original practice questions written in the style of Cambridge A Level Psychology (9990) assessment objectives. They are not taken from any past paper and are not endorsed by Cambridge International. Questions are written to be adaptable to whichever two specialist options your own course teaches — confirm with your teacher which options apply to you.

Use these questions alongside the Specialist Options study guide and revision notes.

Section A

1. Name the four specialist options available on this syllabus. [4]

2. State how many of the four options a typical course studies, and via which two papers. [2]

3. Name the four core approaches from AS Level that each specialist option applies to its specific context. [4]

Section B

4. A candidate assumes their course has taught all four specialist options and revises accordingly. Explain why this assumption is risky, and what the candidate should have done instead. [2]

5. A candidate answering a Clinical Psychology question presents a single classification system as though it were the only accepted way to diagnose a disorder, with no discussion of any alternative or limitation.

(a) Explain why this answer is unlikely to reach the top mark band. [2] (b) Suggest what the candidate should have included instead. [2]

6. A question asks a candidate to explain why an advertising campaign successfully increased sales, using a named psychological concept.

(a) Explain why an answer discussing “consumer behaviour in general” would be weaker than one applying a specific concept to the campaign described. [2] (b) Suggest one type of psychological concept (from persuasion or decision-making) that could be applied to such a scenario. [1]

7. A patient does not follow medical advice given by their doctor. A candidate explains this using a cognitive approach, focused on how the patient perceives their own risk of illness.

(a) Explain why this is a stronger answer than simply stating “the patient didn’t care.” [2] (b) Suggest one limitation of relying only on this cognitive explanation. [2]

8. A company introduces a bonus scheme, but productivity does not increase. A candidate applies Herzberg’s two-factor theory to explain this.

(a) Explain how Herzberg’s theory accounts for why a purely financial incentive might fail to increase productivity. [2] (b) Suggest one limitation of applying Herzberg’s theory to this scenario. [2]

9. Explain why a specialist-option question might ask a candidate to suggest and evaluate a research method for studying a claim within that option, rather than only testing theoretical knowledge. [2]

10. Explain why two candidates at different schools, both sitting Cambridge A Level Psychology (9990), might revise completely different specialist-option content despite taking the same qualification. [3]

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Answers

1. Clinical Psychology, Consumer Psychology, Health Psychology, and Organisational Psychology [4].

2. Two of the four options, studied via Paper 3 and Paper 4 (one option per paper) [2].

3. Biological, Cognitive, Learning and Social [4].

4. This assumption is risky because a school studies only two of the four options, and which two is a curriculum decision made locally rather than fixed by the syllabus [1]; the candidate should confirm with their teacher exactly which two options their own course covers before revising [1].

5. (a) This answer is unlikely to reach the top mark band because strong Clinical Psychology answers discuss more than one classification or treatment approach and weigh their relative strengths, rather than presenting a single model as uncontested [2]. (b) The candidate should have discussed at least one alternative classification system or treatment approach and evaluated the strengths and limitations of each relative to the other [2].

6. (a) A general discussion of consumer behaviour does not demonstrate the ability to apply a specific psychological concept to the actual scenario given, whereas applying a named concept (such as a specific persuasion technique or decision-making bias) directly to the campaign shows the applied understanding the question is testing [2]. (b) For example, a persuasion technique (such as social proof) or a decision-making bias (such as anchoring) [1].

7. (a) This is a stronger answer because it applies a specific psychological framework — how the patient’s own risk perception shapes their behaviour — directly to the scenario, rather than offering an unexplained, common-sense statement with no psychological basis [2]. (b) For example, a purely cognitive explanation may understate the role of social or economic barriers (such as family attitudes or cost) that also influence whether the patient follows medical advice [2].

8. (a) Herzberg’s theory classifies pay as a hygiene factor, which can prevent dissatisfaction but does not, on its own, generate genuine motivation; genuine motivation instead requires motivators such as recognition or job enrichment, which explains why a purely financial incentive like a bonus scheme might fail to increase productivity [2]. (b) Herzberg’s theory was developed from research in specific occupational contexts, so its findings may not generalise fully to all types of workplace or culture [2].

9. Because each specialist option is assessed alongside Research Methods applied to that specific context, so the syllabus expects candidates to be able to suggest and evaluate how a claim within the option could actually be studied, not just recall the option’s theoretical content in isolation [2].

10. Because any of the four specialist options can, in principle, be studied for either Paper 3 or Paper 4, and which two options a school chooses to teach is a local curriculum decision, not fixed by the syllabus itself; two schools could therefore reasonably choose two entirely different pairs of options while both preparing candidates for the same qualification [3].

A note on exam technique for this topic

Across all four specialist options, the same underlying pattern separates strong answers from weak ones: apply a specific named approach, concept or theory directly to the scenario given, then evaluate it by naming a genuine limitation, rather than describing the applied context in general terms or presenting a single explanation as complete on its own. Because each option is also assessed alongside Research Methods, revision should not treat theoretical content and methodology as separate topics — be ready to suggest and evaluate how a claim within your chosen option could actually be investigated, since this is tested as consistently here as in the core AS Level papers. Before doing any past-paper practice, confirm which two of the four options your own course actually teaches, since practising the wrong option wastes revision time regardless of how well-written the questions are.