Assessment and exam practice.

Try this with Psychology

1. Check the task format, time limit and permitted materials with your school.
2. Start with one timed section or task and record where you spent the most time.
3. Review errors before attempting another section. Separate missing knowledge from timing problems.

View Psychology resources on ATARMAXXING ↗

Practice paper focus areas

• Exam 1 — Asch conformity (1951) — group size, confederates, normative vs informational influence; Milgram obedience (1963) — agency theory, situational factors; Stanford Prison Experiment — Haney, Banks and Zimbardo (1973)
• Exam 2 — Unit 3 Topic 1: Localisation of brain function, nervous system anatomy, synaptic transmission, neurotransmitters, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease; Unit 3 Topic 2: Visual perception, retinal reception, psychological/social/cultural influences, named illusions, cross-cultural studies; Unit 3 Topic 3: Working memory model (Baddeley and Hitch 1974), levels of processing (Craik and Lockhart 1972)
• Exam 3 — Visual perception and cross-cultural influences on the Muller-Lyer illusion (Unit 3 Topic 2); Localisation of brain function and synaptic transmission (Unit 3 Topic 1); Working memory model and levels of processing (Unit 3 Topic 3)
• Exam 4 — Levels of processing (Craik and Lockhart, 1972) — shallow rhyming vs deep semantic encoding and recall accuracy; Working memory model (Baddeley and Hitch, 1974) — phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, central executive, episodic buffer; Brain localisation and neurotransmitter function — Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, synaptic transmission
• Exam 5 — Bystander effect (Latane and Darley, 1968/1970) — diffusion of responsibility, audience inhibition, social influence; Prosocial and antisocial behaviour — media influences on aggression; Social influence — conformity (Asch, 1951), obedience (Milgram, 1963), Stanford Prison Experiment (Haney, Banks and Zimbardo, 1973)
• Exam 6 — Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) — central and peripheral routes to persuasion (Petty and Cacioppo); Tri-component attitude model (cognitive, affective, behavioural); Cognitive dissonance (Festinger)
• Exam 7 — Unit 3 Topic 1: Nervous system, neurotransmitters, brain function, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease; Unit 3 Topic 2: Visual perception, illusions, cross-cultural studies; Unit 3 Topic 3: Working memory model (Baddeley and Hitch, 1974), levels of processing (Craik and Lockhart, 1972)
• Exam 8 — Milgram obedience paradigm and proximity conditions; Social influence: conformity (Asch), obedience (Milgram), group processes (Stanford Prison Experiment); Bystander effect (Latane and Darley) and prosocial/antisocial behaviour
• Exam 9 — Visual perception and cross-cultural depth cues (Hudson paradigm); Localisation of brain function and neural transmission; Memory models: working memory (Baddeley & Hitch) and levels of processing (Craik & Lockhart)
• Exam 10 — Stanford Prison Experiment (Haney, Banks and Zimbardo, 1973) — situational vs dispositional explanations of behaviour; Social influence: conformity (Asch, 1951) and obedience (Milgram, 1963); Group processes: deindividuation, role adoption, authority
• Exam 11 — Bystander effect and prosocial behaviour (Latane and Darley, 1968/1970); Diffusion of responsibility, audience inhibition, social influence mechanisms; Group size effects on intervention rates
• Exam 12 — Parkinson's disease — dopamine depletion in substantia nigra, motor symptoms (tremors, rigidity, postural instability); Localisation of brain function — basal ganglia, cerebellum, motor cortex; Synaptic transmission — neurotransmitter roles, receptor binding, inhibitory/excitatory signalling
• Exam 13 — Classical conditioning: CS, UCS, CR, UCR, acquisition, generalisation, discrimination; Stimulus generalisation applied to bell anxiety scenario; Watson and Rayner Little Albert study
• Exam 14 — Unit 3 Topic 1: Brain localisation, nervous system, synaptic transmission, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease; Unit 3 Topic 2: Visual perception, retinal processing, psychological/social/cultural influences, named illusions, cross-cultural studies; Unit 3 Topic 3: Working memory (Baddeley & Hitch 1974), levels of processing (Craik & Lockhart 1972)
• Exam 15 — Working Memory Model (Baddeley & Hitch, 1974) — phonological loop, articulatory suppression, dual-task methodology; Levels of Processing (Craik & Lockhart, 1972) — depth of processing, elaborative rehearsal; Brain localisation and neurotransmitter function — Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, synaptic transmission
• Exam 16 — Unit 3 Topic 1: Localisation of brain function, nervous system, synaptic transmission, neurotransmitters, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease; Unit 3 Topic 2: Visual perception, retinal reception, psychological/social/cultural influences, named illusions, cross-cultural studies; Unit 3 Topic 3: Working memory (Baddeley & Hitch 1974), levels of processing (Craik & Lockhart 1972)
• Exam 17 — Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) — peripheral vs central route processing; Tri-component attitude model (cognitive, affective, conative); Cognitive dissonance (Festinger)
• Exam 18 — Observational learning / Bandura's social learning theory — model consequence conditions (reward, punishment, vicarious reinforcement/punishment); Classical and operant conditioning compared with social learning; Working memory model (Baddeley and Hitch 1974) and levels-of-processing (Craik and Lockhart 1972)
• Exam 19 — Cognitive dissonance and attitude change (Festinger; tri-component model; ELM); Localisation of brain function; synaptic transmission; neurotransmitters (Parkinson's, Alzheimer's); Visual perception; illusions; cross-cultural influences
• Exam 20 — Localisation of brain function and neurotransmitter roles (Unit 3 Topic 1); Visual perception and cross-cultural influences (Unit 3 Topic 2); Working memory model (Baddeley and Hitch) and levels of processing (Craik and Lockhart) (Unit 3 Topic 3)