Disclaimer: These questions are not IB “official” questions and are written with our best guess as to what the probable exam questions may look like. Not every possible question is covered but rather a wide sample of questions has been asked so you can get an idea of the types of questions that may appear.

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• Biological approach core exam bank (link)
• Cognitive approach core exam bank (link)
• Sociocultural approach core exam bank (link)

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Abnormal Psychology

Exam Questions

TOPIC	Content	Essay Questions
Factors Influencing Diagnosis		Discuss one or more factors that might influence diagnosis. Evaluate one or more studies related to factors influencing diagnosis.
	Normality versus abnormality	Discuss one or more concepts of normality versus abnormality.
	Classification systems	Discuss one or more classification systems. Discuss how the use of classification systems may influence diagnosis.
	The role of clinical biases in diagnosis	Discuss the role of clinical bias in diagnosis. Discuss how clinical bias may influence diagnosis.
	Validity and reliability of diagnosis	Discuss the validity and reliability of diagnosis. Discuss how one or more factors may influence the validity and/or reliability of diagnosis.
Etiology of Abnormal Psychology		Discuss one etiology of abnormal psychology. Contrast two etiologies of abnormal psychology. Evaluate one study related to the etiology of abnormal psychology. Evaluate one or more studies related to the etiology of one disorder.
	Explanations for disorders	Evaluate one explanation for one disorder. Contrast two explanations for one disorder. Discuss two explanations for one disorder.
	Prevalence rates and disorders	Discuss the prevalence rates of one or more disorders. Discuss the prevalence rates of one disorder.
Treatment of Disorders		Evaluate one or more studies related to the treatment of disorders.
	Biological treatments	Evaluate one biological treatment for one disorder. Evaluate one study relevant to one biology treatment of disorders.
	Psychological treatments	Evaluate one psychological treatment for one disorder. Contrast one biological treatment with one psychological treatment for disorders.
	The role of culture in treatment	Discuss the role of culture in the treatment of disorders.
	Assessing the effectiveness of treatment(s)	Discuss one or more ways psychologists can assess the effectiveness of treatment. Evaluate the effectiveness of one treatment for disorders.

Approaches (Bio, Cog & Socio-cult)

If questions about the three core approaches are asked they will be based on the three “topics” for the abnormal option (diagnosis, etiologies and treatments).

Factors Influencing Diagnosis*

• Discuss how one or more sociocultural factors may influence diagnosis.

*It is unlikely students will be asked about biological factors in relation to factors influencing diagnosis.

The difficulty in predicting exam questions for the diagnosis topic is one reason why the etiology or treatment topics are more appealing for exam preparation.

Etiology of Abnormal Psychology

• Discuss the biological approach to understanding the etiology of abnormal psychology.
• Discuss the cognitive approach to understanding the etiology of abnormal psychology.
• Evaluate the sociocultural approach to understanding the etiology of abnormal psychology.
• Contrast the biological and cognitive approaches to understanding the etiology of abnormal psychology.

Treatment of Disorders

• Discuss the biological approach to the treatment of disorders.
• Evaluate the biological or cognitive approach to the treatment of disorders.
• Contrast two approaches (biological, cognitive or sociocultural) to the treatment of disorders.

Research Methods & Ethical Considerations

Questions about research methods and ethics will be based on the three “topics” for the for the abnormal option (diagnosis, etiologies and treatments).

Research Methods

Essay Questions

• Evaluate the use of one research method used to study factors influencing diagnosis.
• Discuss approaches to research in the study of factors influencing diagnosis.*
• Evaluate the use of one research method used to study the etiology of abnormal psychology.
• Evaluate one or more research methods used to study the treatment of disorders.
• Evaluate one approach to research (i.e. one research method) used to study the treatment of disorders.
• Evaluate one research method used to study the treatment of one or more disorders.

*the phrase “approaches to research” is used in the official IB Psychology guide and it means “research methods” (e.g. true experiments, correlational studies, etc.) Students should be prepared for this phrasing, but hopefully the IB exam team will use the phrase “research methods” so as not to get confused with the three approaches (bio, cog & socio-cult). 

Ethical Considerations

Essay Questions

• Discuss one or more ethical considerations related to research on factors influencing diagnosis.
• Discuss one or more ethical considerations related to research on the treatment of disorders.
• Discuss one ethical considerations related to research on the etiology of abnormal psychology.
• Discuss one or more ethical considerations relevant to one study on the treatment of disorders.

Notes

• Paper Two is essay questions only.
• SL students write one essay for one option, HL students write two essays on two options.
• There are three topics in the abnormal psychology option and there will definitely be one question per topic, which means you can safely study only one topic per option. HOWEVER, if you’re doing this then you need to be prepared to answer any possible question on that topic, including the three approaches, research methods and ethical considerations in relation to that topic.

 

Noticed a mistake? Always feel free to let me know in the comments.