Q&A from AQA: Evaluation in Biopsychology

Below you will find a question and response from AQA in relation to: Evaluation in Biopsychology

Question

Can students be asked an essay question on the fight or flight response in the biopsychology topic?

Response

"Due to the factual nature of most of the Biopsychology content we would not expect to see that much straightforward evaluation as might be expected in the more theoretical areas of the Specification. Indeed, it is difficult to conceive of a traditional ‘Describe and evaluate...’ type question on the fight or flight response and adrenalin. Any AO3 material in relation to this sort of content would probably be more analytical and interpretive rather than straightforward evaluation."

Comment

I like the phrase ‘it is difficult to conceive’. So, while a ‘describe and evaluate’ question is unlikely and an analytical or interpretative AO2 question is more likely, we can’t be certain.

I don’t think that ‘describe and evaluate the fight or flight response’ is that difficult to conceive, and there’s plenty of excellent evaluation points that could be raised in relation to this question.

Teacher Resources

Just in case one of those 'difficult to conceive' questions does come up, it's better to be prepared: