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Year 9 Psychology revision questions

Year 9 is the awkward bridge year: still Key Stage 3 in school life, but already starting GCSE habits. This page gives free Year 9 Psychology practice from GradeNinja's own bank - 52 auto-marked questions across 1 Year 9 topic set.

What Year 9 revision should do

The aim is not to cram GCSE papers early. It is to make the first GCSE topics feel normal: short retrieval practice, clear corrections, and enough repetition that classwork sticks before Year 10 gets busy.

Use these as ten-minute checks after a lesson or before homework. If you miss one, read the explanation, then come back tomorrow and answer it cold.

How GradeNinja pitches it

Year 9 questions are pulled from late Key Stage 3 and foundation GCSE bridge material. They should feel harder than Year 8, but they are not meant to be full Year 11 exam questions.

Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix80 questions

Best way to use this page

Answer first, then reveal. The useful bit is the retrieval attempt, not reading the answer. If a topic keeps going wrong, paste the homework or Google Classroom text into GradeNinja's Classroom import tool and turn it into a focused pack.

Year 9 Psychology practice questions

Real questions from GradeNinja's own bank, with the answer and the explanation the app gives. Tap to reveal.

Question 1 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
What is the "multi-store model of memory" (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968)?
  1. A theory that memory is stored throughout the brain equally
  2. A model proposing sensory, short-term and long-term memory as three separate stores
  3. The idea that memory is reconstructed each time it is recalled
  4. A model of how emotions affect what we remember
Show the answer

A model proposing sensory, short-term and long-term memory as three separate stores

Atkinson and Shiffrin proposed memory passes through sensory memory, short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM), each with different capacities and durations.

Question 2 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
Jahoda's criteria for ideal mental health include which of the following?
  1. Absence of any negative emotion
  2. Self-actualisation and autonomy
  3. Conformity to social norms
  4. Statistical rarity of behaviour
Show the answer

Self-actualisation and autonomy

Marie Jahoda identified six criteria for ideal mental health including positive self-attitude, self-actualisation, autonomy, accurate perception of reality, environmental mastery, and resistance to stress.

Question 3 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
A researcher wants to test whether caffeine improves reaction time. Reaction time is the:
  1. Independent variable
  2. Dependent variable
  3. Control variable
  4. Confounding variable
Show the answer

Dependent variable

The dependent variable (DV) is what is measured — here, reaction time. The independent variable (IV) is caffeine intake (what is manipulated).

Question 4 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
Content analysis is a research method used to:
  1. Analyse qualitative data (eg text, images, media) by systematically coding it into quantifiable categories
  2. Calculate correlation coefficients between two variables
  3. Randomly allocate participants to conditions
  4. Measure reaction times in a lab experiment
Show the answer

Analyse qualitative data (eg text, images, media) by systematically coding it into quantifiable categories

Content analysis turns qualitative material into quantitative data by defining categories and counting how often they appear, allowing patterns to be compared numerically.

Question 5 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
A directional (one-tailed) hypothesis predicts:
  1. That there will be a difference but not the direction
  2. The direction of an expected difference or relationship
  3. That there will be no difference between conditions
  4. That results will be statistically significant
Show the answer

The direction of an expected difference or relationship

A directional hypothesis specifies both that a difference or relationship exists AND the direction of that difference (e.g., "Group A will score higher than Group B").

Question 6 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
In Asch's original conformity study, what task were participants asked to do?
  1. Recall a list of words
  2. Estimate the weight of objects
  3. Match the length of lines
  4. Identify colours under dim lighting
Show the answer

Match the length of lines

Asch's study used an unambiguous perceptual task: participants judged which of three comparison lines matched a standard line. Despite the obvious correct answer, many still conformed.

Question 7 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
In the multi-store model, which store has unlimited capacity and a potentially permanent duration?
  1. Sensory register
  2. Short-term memory
  3. Long-term memory
  4. Working memory
Show the answer

Long-term memory

Long-term memory (LTM) is considered to have unlimited capacity and a potentially permanent duration. Information can remain stored for a lifetime.

Question 8 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
In Milgram's (1963) obedience study, what percentage of participants delivered the maximum 450V shock?
  1. 25%
  2. 45%
  3. 65%
  4. 90%
Show the answer

65%

65% of Milgram's participants delivered the maximum 450V shock, demonstrating shockingly high levels of obedience to an authority figure.

Question 9 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
Which hormone is released by the adrenal cortex during prolonged stress and suppresses the immune system?
  1. Adrenaline
  2. Insulin
  3. Cortisol
  4. Serotonin
Show the answer

Cortisol

Cortisol is a glucocorticoid released during chronic stress that mobilises energy but suppresses immune function. Chronically elevated cortisol is associated with increased susceptibility to illness.

Question 10 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
Which definition of abnormality states that a behaviour is abnormal if it is rare in the population?
  1. Failure to function adequately
  2. Statistical infrequency
  3. Deviation from social norms
  4. Deviation from ideal mental health
Show the answer

Statistical infrequency

Statistical infrequency defines abnormality as behaviour that is rare or uncommon in the general population, often measured using statistical distributions such as the normal distribution.

Question 11 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
Dweck's theory of mindset distinguishes between:
  1. Visual and auditory learners
  2. A fixed mindset and a growth mindset
  3. Assimilation and accommodation
  4. Internalisation and compliance
Show the answer

A fixed mindset and a growth mindset

Dweck proposed people hold implicit beliefs about whether ability is fixed and unchangeable, or can grow with effort, and that this belief affects motivation and resilience.

Question 12 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
In Milgram's original obedience study (1963), what percentage of participants delivered the maximum 450V shock?
  1. 25%
  2. 45%
  3. 65%
  4. 85%
Show the answer

65%

In Milgram's baseline study, 65% of participants (26 out of 40) delivered the maximum 450V shock labelled "XXX", despite the learner's protests — a finding that shocked the world.

Question 13 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
Baddeley and Hitch's working memory model replaced the idea of a unitary STM. What is the name of the component that coordinates the other slave systems?
  1. Phonological loop
  2. Episodic buffer
  3. Visuo-spatial sketchpad
  4. Central executive
Show the answer

Central executive

The central executive is the attentional controller of working memory. It allocates resources to the phonological loop, visuo-spatial sketchpad, and episodic buffer.

Question 14 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
Atkinson and Shiffrin's multi-store model proposes three memory stores. Which is the correct sequence information travels through?
  1. Long-term memory → short-term memory → sensory register
  2. Sensory register → long-term memory → short-term memory
  3. Sensory register → short-term memory → long-term memory
  4. Short-term memory → sensory register → long-term memory
Show the answer

Sensory register → short-term memory → long-term memory

In the multi-store model information flows: sensory register (brief store of sensory input) → STM (limited capacity, ~18-30 s) → LTM (unlimited, long-lasting) via rehearsal.

Question 15 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
Which monocular depth cue occurs when nearer objects partially block the view of objects behind them?
  1. Texture gradient
  2. Linear perspective
  3. Superimposition (overlap/interposition)
  4. Retinal disparity
Show the answer

Superimposition (overlap/interposition)

Superimposition (interposition/overlap): when one object covers part of another, the covered object is perceived as further away. Retinal disparity is a binocular cue, not monocular.

Question 16 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
Short-term memory (STM) can typically hold about how many 'chunks' of information at once?
  1. 2 to 3
  2. 7 (plus or minus 2)
  3. 20 to 25
  4. Unlimited
Show the answer

7 (plus or minus 2)

Psychologist George Miller (1956) found that STM holds roughly 7 ± 2 items. That is why phone numbers are usually 7 digits — and why chunking (grouping digits) helps.

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Common questions

Are these Year 9 Psychology questions GCSE level?

They are bridge questions: harder than early Key Stage 3, but not pitched as full Year 11 GCSE exam papers. The point is to prepare the habits and core knowledge early.

Can I use Google Classroom homework with GradeNinja?

Yes. Use Classroom import in the app: paste the Google Classroom post, homework email or assignment brief and it turns the topics into practice questions and flashcards.

How often should a Year 9 revise Psychology?

Short and often. Ten minutes after a lesson or a few times a week is more useful than one long session before a test.

Is GradeNinja free for Year 9?

Yes, signing up is free. GradeNinja has Year 9 bridge content plus the wider question bank across 28 subjects.

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