471 exam-style questions with answers and explanations, organised by the official syllabus. Try the samples below, then practise the full bank free.
The case study of patient HM (Scoville & Milner, 1957) most directly demonstrated the role of which structure in forming new long-term memories?
Answer: The hippocampus
HM had his medial temporal lobes, including the hippocampus, removed bilaterally to treat epilepsy. Afterwards he could not form new long-term declarative memories (anterograde amnesia) but retained procedural learning, showing the hippocampus is critical for consolidating new explicit memories.
Sharot et al. (2007) used fMRI to study 9/11 memories and found that greater amygdala activation during recall was linked to:
Answer: Participants who were closer to the World Trade Center
Sharot et al. (2007) scanned people who had been in Manhattan during the 9/11 attacks. Those who had been closer (downtown) reported more vivid 'flashbulb' memories and showed greater amygdala activation when recalling the event, linking emotional arousal and the amygdala to vivid memory.
In Selye's (1956) General Adaptation Syndrome, what is the correct order of the three stages of the stress response?
Answer: Alarm, resistance, exhaustion
Selye's (1956) General Adaptation Syndrome describes alarm (initial fight-or-flight arousal), resistance (the body adapts and copes with the stressor), and exhaustion (resources deplete, increasing vulnerability to illness) as the sequence of the stress response.
Distinguish the concepts: which term refers to the shared norms, values and practices transmitted between members of a group, whereas the other refers to how strongly a society emphasises individual goals over group goals?
Answer: Culture and cultural dimensions
Culture is the shared, transmitted system of norms and values; a cultural dimension (e.g. individualism–collectivism) describes where a society sits on a measurable value continuum.
In an IB Psychology Paper 1 short-answer question (SAQ), which command term is most commonly used and requires giving a brief account including reasons or causes?
Answer: Explain
SAQs use lower-order command terms such as Explain, Describe, or Outline; higher-order terms like Evaluate and Discuss are reserved for essays.
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