Social Cognition (AQA A Level Psychology): Exam Questions

20 mins3 questions
1
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4 marks

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.

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1
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8 marks

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.

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2
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8 marks

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

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