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Development of social cognition

Development of social cognition

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Question 1

Autism Intervention Study

A educational psychologist designed a study to test the effectiveness of two different psychological interventions for adolescents diagnosed with autism.

Twenty-four participants, all diagnosed with autism, took part in the study. Before the interventions began, the researcher recorded the frequency of high-anxiety verbal outbursts per week for each adolescent during structured social interactions.

The 24 participants were randomly allocated to three conditions, with 8 participants in each group:

  • Group A received 8 weeks of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) adapted for autism.
  • Group B received 8 weeks of Social Skills Training (SST).
  • Group C received no therapeutic intervention (control group).

At the end of the 8-week period, the researcher again recorded the frequency of high-anxiety verbal outbursts per week. The results showed that the average number of outbursts had decreased for both Group A and Group B compared to their baseline measurements, whereas the average for Group C remained unchanged.

Evaluate one of the active therapies for autism identified in this study.

[4]
Markscheme

Development of social cognition Questions

  1. A Level
  2. /Psychology
  3. /Development of social cognition

49 exam-style questions on AQA A Level Psychology Development of social cognition. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.

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