Ethics: past paper questions
Real questions on ethics
The newest 20 of 160 written questions. Open one to see it on the real paper.
- 9990/21 · October/November 2025 · Q8c[2]
Explain one ethical problem caused by the children believing that Dr East is a playground assistant.
See it on the paper → - 9990/21 · October/November 2025 · Q9c(ii)[4]
Dr Okami needs to follow the guideline of ‘species’. Explain two ways that Dr Okami‘s choice of animal will be affected by following this guideline.
See it on the paper → - 9990/21 · October/November 2025 · Q9c(iii)[2]
Dr Okami needs to follow the guideline of ‘minimising harm’. Suggest why this guideline is relevant to Dr Okami’s study. Section B Answer all questions.
See it on the paper → - 9990/22 · October/November 2025 · Q6a(i)[2]
Explain one ethical reason why Dr Raj refers to his participant as Mr J.
See it on the paper → - 9990/22 · October/November 2025 · Q6a(ii)[2]
Mr J can recall most of his life events, including negative ones. Explain the ethical guideline Dr Raj should follow when studying Mr J because he can remember negative life events.
See it on the paper → - 9990/22 · October/November 2025 · Q7b(i)[2]
Explain why it is important to ask both the children and their parents/guardians for consent in this study.
See it on the paper → - 9990/22 · October/November 2025 · Q7b(ii)[2]
Suggest one suitable way that Lorna could ask for consent from the children.
See it on the paper → - 9990/23 · October/November 2025 · Q7b[2]
Suggest how Pedro could tell the children that they have the right to withdraw from his study in a way that they will understand.
See it on the paper → - 9990/41 · October/November 2025 · Q6b[2]
Suggest one ethical guideline that applies to the children in the study you outlined in part (a).
See it on the paper → - 9990/42 · October/November 2025 · Q5a[4]
Describe two ways that ethical guidelines were followed in this study.
See it on the paper → - 9990/43 · October/November 2025 · Q6b[2]
Suggest one ethical guideline that applies to the children in the study you outlined in part (a).
See it on the paper → - 9990/43 · October/November 2025 · Q6c[4]
Explain two weaknesses of using parents/guardians to collect data about improving the adherence of children in their care. Do not refer to ethics in your answer. Organisational Psychology Answer all questions if you have studied this option.
See it on the paper → - 9990/21 · May/June 2025 · Q2a[1]
Outline what is meant by ‘consent’.
See it on the paper → - 9990/21 · May/June 2025 · Q2b[2]
Suggest why obtaining consent would have been important in this study.
See it on the paper → - 9990/21 · May/June 2025 · Q7c[2]
Suggest how Dr Smith could follow one ethical guideline in relation to animals, other than ‘species’.
See it on the paper → - 9990/21 · May/June 2025 · Q8a(ii)[2]
Explain one problem about ethics that Josie could have with one of her measures of tidiness.
See it on the paper → - 9990/22 · May/June 2025 · Q7c(i)[2]
Suggest one way that social desirability could affect Inma’s results.
See it on the paper → - 9990/22 · May/June 2025 · Q7c(ii)[2]
Suggest how Inma might reduce the effect of social desirability on her results.
See it on the paper → - 9990/22 · May/June 2025 · Q8b(i)[2]
Explain one reason why timing the duration of eye contact could break one ethical guideline.
See it on the paper → - 9990/22 · May/June 2025 · Q8b(ii)[2]
Explain one reason why asking participants, ‘Are you excited or scared at parties?’ could break one ethical guideline. You must use a different ethical guideline from your answer to part (b)(i).
See it on the paper →
What examiners said
This one-mark question asked candidates to suggest one ethical reason, other than housing, why it is important that the monkeys are comfortable in the environment in which they are housed when they are not being tested. There were no real issues with responses to this question with many using the ethical issue of pain and distress which was creditworthy. Physical harm was also creditworthy. Where...
— Examiner report, February/March 2025, 9990/22 Q8(a)(i) (Cambridge)
Well answered by many. Full mark responses referred to psychological harm in some detail. Most common responses were that children are vulnerable and need to be protected. Weaker responses gave brief answers and commonly just stated that children needed to be protected from harm. A very few candidates were able to develop this point though most referred to protecting children from harm. Some respo...
— Examiner report, February/March 2025, 9990/32 Q6(b) (Cambridge)
The majority of responses could identify a potential issue of using children in the study by Baron-Cohen et al. Common choices included ethical issues, a child’s limited vocabulary or that children can become easily bored by repetitive tasks. Stronger responses could then elaborate on the problem and provide an example from the study to explain why children would be a problem if used as the sample...
— Examiner report, October/November 2023, 9990/11 Q3 (Cambridge)
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