Aims and hypotheses: past paper questions
Real questions on aims and hypotheses
The newest 20 of 53 written questions. Open one to see it on the real paper.
- 9990/33 · May/June 2026 · Q6a[2]
Outline what is meant by ‘reductionism’, including an example from the study by North et al. (2003) on musical style and restaurant customers’ spending.
See it on the paper → - 9990/33 · May/June 2026 · Q6b[2]
Explain one strength of reductionism, using an example from the study by North et al. (2003) on musical style and restaurant customers’ spending.
See it on the paper → - 9990/32 · February/March 2026 · Q10a[2]
Outline the reductionism versus holism debate.
See it on the paper → - 9990/21 · October/November 2025 · Q2a[2]
State what was meant by the time frames 1, 2 and 3. Time frame 1: Time frame 3: Time frame 2:
See it on the paper → - 9990/21 · October/November 2025 · Q2b[1]
Outline the change in severity rating from time frame 1 to time frame 3, when the boy had to imagine hundreds of buttons falling on his body.
See it on the paper → - 9990/23 · October/November 2025 · Q2[1]
State whether the hypothesis, ‘attention will be better when eating than when not eating’ is a: • • • directional hypothesis non‑directional hypothesis null hypothesis.
See it on the paper → - 9990/33 · October/November 2025 · Q6a[2]
Outline what is meant by ‘determinism’, including an example from choice heuristics.
See it on the paper → - 9990/33 · October/November 2025 · Q6b[2]
Explain one strength of using the determinism side of the determinism versus free‑will debate to understand choice heuristics.
See it on the paper → - 9990/23 · May/June 2025 · Q4[2]
An investigation is testing the hypothesis that, ‘intelligence affects obedience’. State whether this is a directional or a non-directional hypothesis. Justify your answer.
See it on the paper → - 9990/31 · May/June 2025 · Q10a[2]
Outline what is meant by the nomothetic approach, including an example from a study on preferences for practitioner clothing in non-verbal communication with patients.
See it on the paper → - 9990/31 · May/June 2025 · Q10b[2]
Explain one weakness of using a nomothetic approach to understand preferences for practitioner clothing in non-verbal communication with patients.
See it on the paper → - 9990/31 · May/June 2025 · Q14a[2]
Outline what is meant by the nature versus nurture debate.
See it on the paper → - 9990/33 · May/June 2025 · Q14a[2]
Outline what is meant by the nature versus nurture debate.
See it on the paper → - 9990/42 · February/March 2025 · Q12b(ii)[4]
Explain how you used two features of this psychological knowledge to plan your study.
See it on the paper → - 9990/31 · October/November 2024 · Q2a[2]
Outline the reductionism side of the reductionism versus holism debate.
See it on the paper → - 9990/33 · October/November 2024 · Q2a[2]
Outline the reductionism side of the reductionism versus holism debate.
See it on the paper → - 9990/42 · October/November 2024 · Q11b(ii)[4]
Explain how you used two features of this psychological knowledge to plan your study.
See it on the paper → - 9990/42 · October/November 2024 · Q12b(ii)[4]
Explain how you used two features of this psychological knowledge to plan your experiment.
See it on the paper → - 9990/22 · May/June 2024 · Q3a[1]
A study has the hypothesis ‘Four-year-old children make more language mistakes than eight-year-old children.’ State whether this hypothesis is a: • directional hypothesis • non-directional hypothesis • null hypothesis.
See it on the paper → - 9990/22 · May/June 2024 · Q3b[2]
Explain the reason for your choice in part (a). ,
See it on the paper →
What examiners said
Comprehensive responses • Were able to give clear definitions of both reductionism and holism. Limited responses • Some candidates confused the debate with another, such as determinism versus free will. • Other candidates stated that reductionism is looking at only one type of explanation, such as biological approach.
— Examiner report, February/March 2026, 9990/32 Q10(a) (Cambridge)
Many answers were awarded full marks for linking their part (b)(i) answer to their part (a) plan (which is the correct way to answer this question part). However, some candidates did not refer to the three needs at all (after outlining them in (b)(i)) or did not explain how the three needs informed the questionnaires they had planned in part (a).
— Examiner report, February/March 2025, 9990/42 Q12(b)(ii) (Cambridge)
It was evident that understanding of the difference between directional and non-directional hypotheses was limited for many candidates. Some candidates identified the correct type of hypothesis but could not clearly explain the reason why or were unable to do so without repeating ‘direction’. A small number of candidates also confused the idea with correlations.
— Examiner report, October/November 2023, 9990/21 Q2(a) (Cambridge)
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