Emic and Etic Concepts: An Introduction

Travis DixonSocial and Cultural Psychology

GLT: Using one or more examples, explain “emic” and “etic” concepts.  Emic Concepts: Accounts, descriptions and explanations used to understand culturally specific behaviours. READ MORE: Key studies and emic concepts in THIS BLOG POST Etic Concepts: An explanation used to understand a culture in scientific terms by comparing the culture to others and addressing the universals of human behaviour. Levine’s …

Attribution Errors: An Introduction

Travis DixonUncategorized

Discuss two errors in attributions. Self-Serving Bias Fundamental Attribution Error It is important that you can define both of these attribution errors. It is also important that you are using, and that you understand terms like situational and dispositional factors. These are important to understand throughout the whole socio-cultural level of analysis. Self-Serving Bias: When we attribute our success to disposition …

Compliance: An Introduction

Travis DixonSocial and Cultural Psychology

Compliance is the act of obeying a request. It’s different to conformity, which involves changing your behaviour to fit in with a group. Compliance occurs when one person makes a direct request on another and they comply with that request. There are a number of techniques people use to get compliance from others. Here are a few. The five compliance …

What is a psychological theory?

Travis DixonUncategorized

In the IB Psychology course there are a range of theories that students need to be familiar with. But it’s easy to dive straight into the complex assignments like evaluating these theories, and to overlook asking the simple questions. Here are just some of the theories that may be relevant* to the IB Psych’ course: Social Learning Theory Social Identity …

Example SAQ: Describe SIT

Travis DixonUncategorized

Social Identity Theory (SIT) is a theory that was proposed by Tajfel and Turner in the 1970s and that attempts to explain intergroup behaviours. More specifically, an original aim of SIT was to help explain situational factors in behaviour. The theory consists of four interrelated concepts: social categorization social identity social comparison and positive distinctiveness. These concepts outline the various …

What is Social Identity Theory?

Travis DixonSocial and Cultural Psychology

The following is a brief description of Tajfel and Turner’s SIT. Updated March, 2021 What is Social Identity Theory? Social Identity Theory (SIT) is a theory proposed by Tajfel and Turner that attempts to explain intergroup behaviour, and in particular, conflict, prejudice and discrimination. The theory was an elaboration on Sherif’s Realistic Conflict Theory (RCT). RCT’s major claim was that …

What’s the difference between outline and describe?

Travis DixonAssessment (IB), Uncategorized

There is none. Quite simply, in an exam sense there is no difference between outline and describe and so if you’re worried about “meeting the demands of the command term” and trying to understand the nuances between these, don’t bother. There is one difference – the definition. A “detailed” (describe) account versus a “brief” (outline) account. But if you think …

Biological Research Methods Example Essay (ERQ)

Travis DixonAssessment (IB), Biological Psychology, Research Methodology

The following is an example essay about research methods used in the biological approach. It is by no means a perfect essay, but it would score well (14-16/22). The use of a human study instead of Rosenzweig would be one improvement, for example.  Example Essay: Research Methods Biological Approach to Understanding Behaviour Paper One. Part B: Discuss how and why …

IB Psychology Past Exam Papers

Travis DixonAssessment (IB)

Updated, July 2020 Past Psych specimen papers are available on the IB OCC website. If you’re a student, your teacher will be able to access these. You can also purchase these from the IB Online Store.  See examples of Past Paper One questions in this video See examples of Past Paper Two questions in this video See examples of Paper …

Evaluating Psychological Research (Studies and Theories)

Travis DixonAssessment (IB), Uncategorized

The term “research” in IB Psychology refers to theories and studies. It is absolutely essential to develop the skill of being able to THEORIES (Link) The above link will take you to a page that has some good guidelines on how to go about evaluating a psychological theory. STUDIES (Link) There are lots of ways to evaluate psychological studies. The …