IB Psychology SL Paper 2 Practice Paper | 10 Option ERQs, 100 Marks, 1 Hour

(Abnormal psychology) (a) Outline four commonly used criteria for judging behaviour as abnormal in clinical psychology, and explain why one criterion alone is not enough. (b) Compare the roles of the DSM and the ICD classification systems in diagnosis. (c) Evaluate the positive and negative effects of diagnostic labels on patients.

Answer: (a) The four criteria are statistical infrequency (deviation from the statistical norm), deviation from social norms, failure to function adequately (unable to cope with daily life, work and relationships), and deviation from ideal mental health (Jahoda’s self-acceptance, growth, autonomy and so on). One criterion is not enough because statistical rarity may mean excellence rather than disorder; social norms change with culture and time; failure to function depends on circumstances such as bereavement or unemployment; and the ideal standard is so demanding that most people would fail it.
(b) The DSM is published by the American Psychiatric Association and uses symptom lists and duration thresholds for operational diagnosis; it is widely used in research and insurance. The ICD is published by the World Health Organization, covers all diseases, and is used internationally, especially for legal and public health purposes. The two are similar but differ in detail and coding, so the version must be named when comparing them.
(c) Positives: a shared language, better communication and research, access to treatment and resources, and reduced self-blame. Negatives: stigma and discrimination, self-fulfilling prophecy, over-generalisation that ignores individual differences, and neglect of social and cultural factors. Marking: 4 marks for the four criteria, 3 marks for the comparison, 3 marks for the evaluation.

(Abnormal psychology) (a) Explain the biological explanation of anxiety disorders, referring to genetics and neurotransmitters. (b) Explain the cognitive explanation of anxiety disorders, referring to catastrophising and selective attention. (c) Evaluate the claim that the biological explanation is more valid than the cognitive one.

Answer: (a) Biological: family and twin studies show a moderate heritability for anxiety disorders; underactive GABA systems and dysregulation of serotonin and noradrenaline are linked to panic and generalised anxiety; an over-reactive amygdala lowers the threshold for threat detection; the fight-or-flight response is triggered too readily.
(b) Cognitive: catastrophising interprets a mild bodily sensation such as a racing heart as imminent death; selective attention scans for threat cues while ignoring safety signals; safety behaviours and avoidance negatively reinforce and maintain the anxiety; Beck’s cognitive triad stresses negative appraisals of the self, the world and the future.
(c) Evaluation: the biological account offers measurable mechanisms and a basis for drug treatment, but cannot explain why the same physiology becomes anxiety in only some people; the cognitive account explains individual differences and leads directly to CBT but relies on self-report and is hard to verify objectively. They are complementary: the diathesis-stress model, combining genetic vulnerability with environmental stress and cognitive appraisal, has the greatest explanatory power. Marking: 3 marks (a), 3 marks (b), 4 marks (c).

(Abnormal psychology) (a) Describe three core techniques of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for depression. (b) Compare CBT and drug treatment in effectiveness, relapse rate and side effects. (c) Discuss why research often finds CBT combined with medication better than either alone.

Answer: (a) Cognitive restructuring: using thought records to identify automatic negative thoughts and name distortions such as over-generalisation and all-or-nothing thinking. Behavioural activation: a graded activity schedule that rebuilds pleasant and achievement activities. Behavioural experiments and homework: testing beliefs against evidence, for example setting a small task to check the prediction “if I try, I will fail”.
(b) Effectiveness: short-term outcomes for mild to moderate depression are comparable to medication, while medication acts faster in severe depression. Relapse: CBT shows lower relapse after treatment ends because patients keep transferable skills, whereas relapse risk rises when medication stops. Side effects: drugs may cause nausea, fatigue and sexual dysfunction; CBT demands time and motivation and can be uncomfortable at first when negative thoughts are confronted.
(c) Combined treatment: medication reduces symptom intensity first so the patient can engage in cognitive work; CBT supplies long-term self-management skills and reduces dependence; in severe or chronic cases the two target different mechanisms. Limitations include therapist availability, mostly short follow-up periods, and the difficulty of ruling out placebo and expectancy effects. Marking: 3 marks (a), 4 marks (b), 3 marks (c).

(Developmental psychology) (a) Explain three core claims of Bowlby’s attachment theory. (b) Describe the four attachment types identified in Ainsworth’s Strange Situation and their behavioural features. (c) Evaluate the claim that early attachment type determines relationships for life.

Answer: (a) Three claims: attachment is an innate adaptive mechanism, with infants using crying, smiling and following to keep the caregiver near; attachment quality depends on sensitive caregiving and forms an internal working model between about six months and two years; attachment involves a critical period, so early separation or unstable care has long-term effects.
(b) Secure: distressed at separation, quickly comforted at reunion and returns to exploration. Avoidant: little crying at separation, ignoring or avoiding the caregiver at reunion. Ambivalent or resistant: extremely distressed, seeking and pushing away the caregiver at reunion, hard to soothe. Disorganised: contradictory, unorganised behaviour, often seen with abusive or highly unstable care.
(c) Evaluation: longitudinal studies link early attachment to later social competence, but correlation is not causation; the internal working model can change through later stable relationships such as partners, mentors or therapy; cultural differences shape caregiving and the meaning of security; temperament, poverty and stress matter too. Marking: 3 marks (a), 4 marks (b), 3 marks (c).

(Developmental psychology) (a) Name the four stages of Piaget’s cognitive development and their main achievements. (b) Use a conservation experiment to explain the limits of pre-operational thinking. (c) Evaluate criticisms of Piaget’s stage theory.

Answer: (a) Sensorimotor stage (0-2 years): knowing the world through senses and actions, developing object permanence. Pre-operational stage (2-7 years): rapid language and symbolic development but egocentric and irreversible thinking. Concrete operational stage (7-11 years): conservation, classification and seriation, but limited to concrete materials. Formal operational stage (11 years and over): hypothetical-deductive and abstract reasoning.
(b) In the conservation task, the same amount of water is poured from a short wide glass into a tall narrow one. The pre-operational child focuses on height alone (centration), ignores width, lacks reversibility (cannot imagine pouring it back) and lacks conservation, so answers that there is more water.
(c) Criticisms: young children’s abilities are underestimated, since simplified tasks show partial conservation by four years; stage boundaries are less clear than claimed, with abilities appearing domain by domain rather than all at once; cross-cultural studies show the influence of schooling and cultural tools; social interaction and language are neglected, as Vygotsky argued. Marking: 4 marks (a), 3 marks (b), 3 marks (c).

(Developmental psychology) (a) Explain the content of Erikson’s adolescent crisis of identity versus role confusion. (b) Use Marcia’s four identity statuses to describe how adolescents differ when choosing subjects and careers. (c) Discuss the roles of family and peers in identity formation.

Answer: (a) The crisis requires adolescents to integrate past identifications, abilities and social expectations into a coherent self-concept. Exploration followed by commitment produces a sense of identity; failure to integrate brings role confusion, unclear goals, over-conformity to peers or withdrawal.
(b) Foreclosure: accepting parents’ choices of subjects and career without exploration. Diffusion: neither exploring nor committing, indifferent about the future. Moratorium: actively exploring through subject choices, internships or travel without a settled commitment. Achievement: commitment reached after exploration.
(c) Family: an authoritative style with warmth and rules provides a secure base for exploration, while over-control or coldness pushes adolescents towards foreclosure or diffusion. Peers: provide belonging and comparison, but also conformity pressure. School and community placements such as internships and volunteering supply the field for exploration. Marking: 3 marks (a), 4 marks (b), 3 marks (c).

(Health psychology) (a) Explain how chronic stress affects physical health through the HPA axis. (b) Describe a research design that could measure the relationship between stress and immune function. (c) Evaluate the claim that stress directly causes illness.

Answer: (a) The HPA axis: the hypothalamus releases CRH, stimulating the pituitary to release ACTH, and the adrenal cortex releases cortisol. Acutely this mobilises energy and raises blood pressure and blood glucose; chronically high cortisol suppresses immune function, increases visceral fat, affects the hippocampus and memory, raises cardiovascular risk and disrupts sleep, producing a vicious circle.
(b) A public-speaking or mental-arithmetic task can serve as an acute stressor, with heart rate, salivary cortisol and blood pressure measured before and after; alternatively, high and low stress groups can be compared on questionnaire scores such as the Perceived Stress Scale, wound healing speed or susceptibility to a common cold virus, with sleep, smoking and age controlled.
(c) Evaluation: stress is mostly a risk factor rather than a single sufficient cause; individuals differ greatly under the same stressor according to appraisal, social support and coping; correlational studies cannot establish causation, so longitudinal or intervention designs are needed; “directly causes” ignores genes, behaviour such as smoking and diet, and access to care. Marking: 4 marks (a), 3 marks (b), 3 marks (c).

(Health psychology) (a) Explain the five main components of the Health Belief Model. (b) Apply the model to suggest three intervention strategies to reduce sedentary behaviour among adolescents. (c) Evaluate the model’s limitations in explaining long-term health behaviour.

Answer: (a) The five components are perceived susceptibility (believing one could develop the illness), perceived severity (how serious the consequences are), perceived benefits (gains from changing behaviour), perceived barriers (costs and difficulties) and cues to action (external triggers such as a doctor’s advice or a school notice); some versions add self-efficacy.
(b) Strategies: present data linking sitting to cardiovascular risk to raise susceptibility and severity; run a class challenge of standing for two minutes every hour with recorded progress to lower barriers and raise self-efficacy; post classroom reminders with peer prompts as cues to action and show fitness-test improvements after two weeks as a visible benefit.
(c) Limitations: the model is overly rational and ignores emotion, habit and addiction; intention does not equal behaviour, and social and environmental constraints such as homework load and facilities are underestimated; components overlap and are hard to measure separately; it explains maintenance of behaviour poorly and needs the Theory of Planned Behaviour or self-determination theory alongside. Marking: 4 marks (a), 3 marks (b), 3 marks (c).

(Psychology of human relationships) (a) Use social exchange theory to explain attraction and relationship maintenance. (b) Explain the role of equity in intimate relationships and what research has found. (c) Evaluate the claim that maintaining a relationship is purely a calculation of rewards and costs.

Answer: (a) Social exchange theory treats relationships as exchanges where rewards such as companionship, support, status and attractiveness minus costs such as time, money and conflict give an outcome. The comparison level decides satisfaction and the comparison level for alternatives decides whether to leave; attraction rises when rewards exceed expectations.
(b) Equity: relationships are more stable when each partner’s inputs and outcomes are in similar proportion. Both being under-benefited and being over-benefited lower satisfaction, although over-benefited partners tend to feel uneasy and restore equity by compensating; long-term imbalance is linked to more conflict and higher risk of breakup.
(c) Evaluation: the theory explains short-term choice and satisfaction well but reduces relationships to calculation and ignores unconditional giving, commitment and identity fusion; cultures differ in their expectations of reciprocity; attachment style and emotion regulation also shape partners’ behaviour. Marking: 4 marks (a), 3 marks (b), 3 marks (c).

(Psychology of human relationships) (a) Explain the three processes in Social Identity Theory. (b) Use a group-conflict situation to explain how prejudice develops. (c) Suggest and evaluate two ways of reducing group conflict.

Answer: (a) The three processes are social categorisation, dividing people into “us” and “them”; social identification, deriving self-esteem from group membership; and social comparison, maintaining a positive distinctiveness through intergroup comparison, which produces in-group favouritism and out-group derogation.
(b) In an inter-school competition students describe opponents as cheats and rude, attribute their own mistakes to the referee and opponents’ success to luck; competition for resources such as venues and funding increases hostility, and lack of contact leaves stereotypes unchallenged.
(c) Method one: superordinate goals and cooperative tasks, for example a joint campus project that both teams must complete, shown to reduce hostility and build cross-group friendships. Method two: extended contact under Allport’s conditions of equal status, common goals, cooperation and institutional support, such as mixed service learning groups. Evaluation: effects depend on the quality of implementation, since contact under unequal status or without support can strengthen prejudice, and gains are often short-lived unless institutionalised. Marking: 3 marks (a), 3 marks (b), 4 marks (c).