Difficulty Verdict

The May/June 2024 Psychology (9990) Papers 11 and 21 sit at a solid Level 4 difficulty. While they don't introduce radically new format changes, they test a level of granular detail in the core studies (particularly Dement & Kleitman and Hassett et al.) that caught many unprepared. Paper 21 introduced some tricky scenario-based questions that required high-level translation of experimental terms into real-world applications.

Where the Marks Are Won

High-value marks are heavily clustered in the longer evaluative and design questions:

  • Paper 11, Question 9(b) (8 marks): Explaining differences between sleep/dreams and another biological study, where a major chunk of marks was tied specifically to comparing their participant samples.
  • Paper 11, Question 10 (10 marks): The 2 strengths and 2 weaknesses evaluation of Fagen et al., requiring a dedicated focus on quantitative data.
  • Paper 21, Question 10 (14 marks): Designing a case study for a boy diagnosed with ASD and outlining features of validity and reliability. This single block accounts for nearly a quarter of the entire Paper 21.

Examiner Pitfalls & Crucial Warnings

Many students lose easy marks by failing to distinguish a conclusion from a result. As a rule of thumb: conclusions must be generalized summaries of the findings, not restatements of numerical data (e.g., stating that adults had a 0.95 correct identification rate in Pozzulo gets zero marks for a conclusion). Additionally, in Paper 21, students repeatedly lose marks in independent measures questions by defining it as 'different conditions' rather than focusing on the key element: different participants/groups in each condition.

Actionable Revision Strategy

To secure a top grade, you must pivot from passive reading of core studies to active methodological deconstruction. When studying any core research, memorize at least two specific quantitative measures (e.g., duration of play, or exact words in dream narratives) to satisfy Paper 1 and 2's data-driven questions. Furthermore, practice drawing complete tables from graphs with precise headers, as Paper 21 specifically penalized incomplete graph-to-table translations.