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Methods, ethics and descriptive evidence

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AI-assisted English content review; independent teacher approval pending.

Practice scope and review

Original, AI-authored English practice with worked guidance. Selected topics only; independent teacher review is pending. This is not a complete syllabus, official past-paper collection or predicted exam score. Check your own exam-board specification: these concepts are not certified against a particular board or exam year.

95 original questions across 15 selected topic areas. No account or payment required to practise.

Cambridge International AS & A Level Psychology (9990), examination year 2027: AI-assisted conceptual alignment to official sources, not teacher or exam-board certification. Syllabus mapping and remaining coverage.

5 questions in this topic

Exact English revisions checked in an AI-assisted academic review; independent teacher approval is still pending.

All topics

Original targeted practice for selected 2027 content; indicative answers, not complete syllabus coverage or teacher approval.

Subtopics in this topic (3)
  • Hypothesis formulation
  • Observer reliability
  • Animal ethics and descriptive displays

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Question 1Fictional adult study tests whether a specified instrumental track changes the number of words recalled after2 minutes compared with silence. Write a non-directional alternative and null hypothesis, and distinguish these from a directional hypothesis.4 indicative marks
Analyse / Explain4 indicative marksNo calculator

Fictional adult study tests whether a specified instrumental track changes the number of words recalled after2 minutes compared with silence. Write a non-directional alternative and null hypothesis, and distinguish these from a directional hypothesis.

Cambridge 2027: Direct conceptual match

Checkednon-directional/null/directional distinctions with operational conditions and no invented statistical inference.

AI-assisted placement. Independent teacher approval pending.

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Worked guidance

  1. Keep the dependent measure as words correctly recalled after the stated delay and hold task details consistent. Do not turn a non-directional hypothesis into a prediction of an increase. No significance test or calculated p-value is required to formulate these hypotheses.

Self-marking points

View marking points
  1. Non-directional alternative: word-recall scores after2 minutes differ between the specified music and silence conditions.
  2. Null: there is no population difference in the operationalised recall outcome between those conditions.
  3. A directional alternative would predict higher(or lower) recall in one specified condition, not merely a difference.
  4. An operational outcome and both comparison conditions are needed; 'music affects memory' alone is too vague for the requested statements.

Examiner tip

Choose the direction before seeing results rather than rewriting a prediction after the outcome.

Question 2Fictional consenting-adult study uses two observers to record helping in a staged low-risk lost-pen task. Define an observable helping category and propose checks on inter-observer reliability and validity without collecting identifiable conversation.4 indicative marks
Analyse / Explain4 indicative marksNo calculator

Fictional consenting-adult study uses two observers to record helping in a staged low-risk lost-pen task. Define an observable helping category and propose checks on inter-observer reliability and validity without collecting identifiable conversation.

Cambridge 2027: Direct conceptual match

Checkedoperational behaviour, independent double coding and reliability/validity distinction; no false computed agreement rate.

AI-assisted placement. Independent teacher approval pending.

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Worked guidance

  1. A category such as 'is kind' invites subjective judgement. Observable acts and an agreed window support repeatable coding. Independence matters because two observers copying each other can appear reliable without an independent check. This is a fictional low-risk design, not a replication or ethical approval of a subway-collapse study.

Self-marking points

View marking points
  1. Define helping behaviour observably, for example picking up the dropped pen and returning it within a stated observation window.
  2. Both observers independently code the same events using a shared category manual and practice examples.
  3. Compare agreement and discuss discrepant codes without changing records merely to force agreement; refine ambiguous definitions before a new collection.
  4. A highly consistent pen-return measure may not represent all helping contexts, so reliability does not establish broad validity; minimise sensitive recording and honour consent.

Examiner tip

Perfect agreement can coexist with a narrow or invalid measure.

Question 3Fictional proposal trains animals for routine non-invasive health inspection using rewards. Before approving it, compare replacing animals with a non-animal method for a preliminary question, limiting sample numbers and avoiding deprivation. Explain why an apparently positive-reinforcement label is not sufficient ethical justification.4 indicative marks
Analyse / Explain4 indicative marksNo calculator

Fictional proposal trains animals for routine non-invasive health inspection using rewards. Before approving it, compare replacing animals with a non-animal method for a preliminary question, limiting sample numbers and avoiding deprivation. Explain why an apparently positive-reinforcement label is not sufficient ethical justification.

Cambridge 2027: Direct conceptual match

Checkedreplacement,numbers,species/procedural welfare items onp22 without claiming a new animal procedure is approved.

AI-assisted placement. Independent teacher approval pending.

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Worked guidance

  1. Differentiate what must be learned from live behaviour from questions a simulation or existing observation can answer. No deprivation is needed merely to demonstrate that rewards can shape behaviour. The scenario is not Fagen's actual elephant protocol or a licence to conduct animal training research.

Self-marking points

View marking points
  1. Use a valid non-animal method for preliminary questions where it can answer them, consistent with replacement.
  2. Use a justified number sufficient for the research question, not arbitrary extra animals or too few to yield useful evidence.
  3. Housing, handling, species needs and reward schedules can affect welfare even without an explicitly painful task.
  4. Independent welfare/ethics review must weigh necessity, expected benefit and distress; the word reward alone cannot establish acceptable treatment.

Examiner tip

A method label does not settle the welfare of its implementation.

Question 4Fictional results: two recall groups have the same displayed mean, but group A's plotted scores are tightly clustered and group B's widely dispersed. Describe what the different standard deviations would indicate, choose a suitable display for the score distribution, and explain why identical means do not imply identical performance.4 indicative marks
Analyse / Explain4 indicative marksNo calculator

Fictional results: two recall groups have the same displayed mean, but group A's plotted scores are tightly clustered and group B's widely dispersed. Describe what the different standard deviations would indicate, choose a suitable display for the score distribution, and explain why identical means do not imply identical performance.

Cambridge 2027: Direct conceptual match

Checkednon-calculation SD interpretation and distribution display; no fake statistical-test requirement or fabricated participant scores.

AI-assisted placement. Independent teacher approval pending.

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Worked guidance

  1. Interpret spread rather than calculating a standard deviation, consistent with the syllabus's descriptive scope. Bar charts suit separate category summaries, while a histogram groups numerical scores. Describe the supplied clustering and avoid inventing exact scores or claiming every member of A outperformed B.

Self-marking points

View marking points
  1. B has the greater standard deviation because its scores are more spread around the mean.
  2. Identical means describe the same central location but conceal different individual variability.
  3. A histogram with defined score intervals can display the distribution of numerical recall scores; use comparable axes/bins across groups.
  4. The display alone does not prove statistical significance or the cause of a group difference; no inferential test is required here.

Examiner tip

Standard deviation and mean describe different features of a distribution.

Question 5Fictional recall datasets are A=[4,5,5,6,6,7,7] and B=[4,5,5,6,6,7,30]. Supplied summaries: A mean40/7, median6, range3; B mean9, median6, range26. Also supplied, in score units: B-minus-A changes are mean+23/7 (about3.29), median0, range+23. Interpret which summary has the largest absolute numerical change and why. Explain why deleting30 just to make the groups similar is unjustified and propose an appropriate next check. No statistical test or calculation is required.4 indicative marks
Analyse4 indicative marksNo calculator

Fictional recall datasets are A=[4,5,5,6,6,7,7] and B=[4,5,5,6,6,7,30]. Supplied summaries: A mean40/7, median6, range3; B mean9, median6, range26. Also supplied, in score units: B-minus-A changes are mean+23/7 (about3.29), median0, range+23. Interpret which summary has the largest absolute numerical change and why. Explain why deleting30 just to make the groups similar is unjustified and propose an appropriate next check. No statistical test or calculation is required.

Cambridge 2027: Direct conceptual match

Independently verified totals40/63, medians6/6, ranges3/26 and changes mean23/7, median0, range23. Range is the largest absolute change in the same score units; all summaries/changes supplied because9990 specifies interpretation rather than required statistical calculations.

AI-assisted placement. Independent teacher approval pending.

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Worked guidance

  1. Both ordered lists have6 at their middle position, so the median change is0. The upper extreme rises from7 to30 while the minimum stays4: the range rises by23, the largest absolute numerical change among the supplied summaries.
  2. Replacing one7 by30 adds23 to the total across seven scores, increasing the mean by23/7 (about3.29). Unlike the range, the mean distributes that change across all seven observations; the median remains fixed by the unchanged middle position.
  3. First check whether30 is a valid possible score for this recall task and whether entry/procedure errors occurred. If it is genuine, excluding it merely to obtain a preferred comparison would distort the evidence; report and justify any later handling transparently.

Self-marking points

View marking points
  1. Range has the largest absolute change, +23 score units, versus mean+23/7 (about3.29) and median0.
  2. The range uses extremes and the mean uses every magnitude; the median depends on ordered position.
  3. A genuine unusual observation must not be deleted merely to force similarity.
  4. Check data entry, task score limits and protocol before transparently justifying treatment of the value.

Examiner tip

Check whether an apparent outlier is an error before deciding how to handle it.

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