Q&A from AQA: Biopsychology - Shift Work & Jet Lag

Below you will find a question and response from AQA in relation to: Biopsychology - Shift Work & Jet Lag

Question

Can students specifically be asked questions on shift/work or jet lag, as it's not explicitly named in the specification?

Response

"You are correct in saying that the terms 'shift work' and 'jet lag' no longer appear on the Specification so these cannot be asked about directly i.e. the terms cannot appear in a question. Similarly, the term ‘disruption’ no longer appears on the Specification in relation to biological rhythms. However, it would not seem unreasonable to expect some awareness of the effects of disruption of biological rhythms. If students are learning what the rhythms are, presumably they would be aware of 'normal' behaviours associated with these rhythms, then it would seem relevant that students should also know what happens when the rhythms go awry for whatever reason. Examples given in various texts include manipulation of exogenous factors such as light (zeitgebers) in studies of sleep deprivation.

In relation to the examples on Exampro, it should be noted that in order to maintain access to a range of content in the early days of the new Specification, some of the examples from past papers for the Legacy Specifications have been retained for teacher use. These have been retained where content would still be legitimate, but have not been specially written with the new Specification content in mind; any questions in this area would need to be phrased somewhat differently. As an example of how this might occur please refer to Specimen Assessment Materials 1, Q07, A Level Paper 2."

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