There is one massive change to the new IB Psychology IA rubric that I overlooked at first with my students. After moderating around 200 IAs it seems I wasn’t alone. In the old curriculum, IB Psych Internal Assessments were replications of an existing study. Surprisingly, in the new curriculum a student could technically score perfect marks without replicating an original study or even …
My best advice for new IB Psychology teachers
The following was originally posted to Facebook. It received a positive response so I thought it would be worthwhile to add as a blog post. Visit www.store.themantic-education.com for all your lesson plans, powerpoints, worksheets and pretty much everything you need to teach IB Psychology. For all the new IB Psychology teachers who are getting into a bit of a panic …
Exam Answer: Localization Short Answer QuestionAn example SAQ following a simple 7-step format
Recently I wrote a post about how to write better short answer responses (SAQs) in 7 simple steps for IB Psych’ Paper 1 and this video explains the same. But the only reason I am able to explain these frameworks with confidence is because I’ve written 100s of examples. Here’s one I’ll share with you. The example SAQ below is …
Understanding IB Psychology with 3 Easy Questions
The IB Psychology course can be a confusing beast and while the official IB Guide is there to tell us what we need to teach (as teachers) and study (as students), it’s not always clear. So I came up with a way of breaking down the IB Psychology course into three simple questions. Thinking about IB Psychology in the following …
Critical Thinking Summarized in ONE WORD!
Understanding the requirements of critical thinking can be a tricky task for students and teachers. While everyone has their own ideas about what “critical thinking” is and what it looks like in IB Psych’ exam answers, this post provides a simple and straightforward answer. I like to define critical thinking as “a critical reflection of the value and validity of one’s knowledge …
How to answer an SAQ7 Simple Steps
The following 7 steps can be taken in order to create excellent short answer responses (SARs)* for Paper 1, Section A. Scroll down for a video explaining the same concept. For teachers, this also makes giving feedback much easier. You could write an excellent short answer response by following the following 7 simple steps. 1. Restate the question This is a great …
Top 5 Mistakes in SAQs (and how to fix them)
Updated, July 2020 The secret to scoring top marks in Paper 1 in IB Psychology is in the short answer responses (SAQs) (watch how in this video). It should be very simple to write excellent SAQs, but most students make one or more of the following mistakes which costs them dearly. In this post, we look at the Top 5 …
IB Psych Results (M19): A Reflection
It’s that time of year when the results come out and some of us are over the moon, while others are left scratching our heads thinking “what did I do wrong?” The many comments about results flying around Facebook suggest that there is a bit of a divide this year with some people being very happy with their results and …
Gottman’s Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work
This is a summary of Gottman’s 7 principles from his book (Available here). Enhance Your Love Maps Basically, the more you know about each other the stronger your relationship will be. So a “love map” is basically your schema for the knowledge that you possess of your partner, include a range of details involving their hopes, dreams, fears, beliefs, …
Studying Marriage: Gottman’s Love Lab and the Four Horsemen of Divorce
John Gottman’s decades of research has uncovered four “poisonous” factors in a marriage: Criticism, Contempt, Defensiveness, Stonewalling. Based on this same research, Gottman has devised 7 principles that can help maintain or restore a healthy marriage. Background Why do so many marriages end in divorce? In the United States, the % of marriages that end is around 50%, and the rate …
Exam Question Bank: Paper 2 Human Relationships
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. Read More Abnormal Psychology exam bank …
Exam Question Bank: Paper 2: Abnormal Psychology
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. Read More Biological approach core exam …
Exam Question Bank: Paper 1: Sociocultural Approach
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. Therefore, not every possible question is covered. Read More: IB Psychology Exam Question Banks Paper 1: Biological approach (Link) Paper 1: Cognitive approach (Link) Paper 1: HL Ext Bio Animal Studies (Link) Paper 1: HL Ext …
Exam Question Bank: Paper 1: Cognitive Approach
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. Therefore, not every possible question is covered. READ MORE IB Psychology Exam Question Banks Paper 1: Biological approach (Link) Paper 1: Sociocultural approach (Link) Paper 1: HL Ext Bio Animal Studies (Link) Paper 1: HL Ext …
Cell phones at the dinner table – a qualitative observation (Radesky et al.)
Mobile phones are everywhere and they are consuming more and more of our time. Could this be having an effect on family life? The researchers who conducted this study wanted to investigate how cell phones might influence the interactions of parents and children. The researchers used a nonparticipant, covert observational method by watching a total of 55 caregivers eating with …
Exam Question Bank: Paper 1: Biological Approach
Paper One has two sections – A and B. In Section A you have three compulsory short answer questions, one from each approach (biological, cognitive and sociocultural). In Section B, you have three exam questions, also one from each approach and you answer only one. This means you should prep all core approach topics for SAQs and you can choose one …
Exam Question Bank: HL Extension SocCult – Globalization
One, two or all three essay questions in Paper 1, Section B will be based on the extension topics. Sociocultural Approach: Globalization Remember that the extension questions are created by combining the HL extension topics with the three topics in each of the approaches. Sociocultural extension topics: “The influence of globalization on individual behaviour.” How globalization may influence behaviour The …
Exam Question Bank: HL Extension Cog – Technology & Cognition
One, two or all three essay questions in Paper 1, Section B will be based on the extension topics. Cognitive Approach: Technology and Cognition Remember that the extension questions are created by combining the HL extension topics with the three topics in each of the approaches. Cognitive extension topics: “Cognitive processing in the digital world.” The influence of digital technology …
Exam Question Bank: HL Extension Bio – Animal Studies
One, two or all three essay questions in Paper 1, Section B will be based on the extension topics. Biological Approach: Animal Research Remember that the extension questions are created by combining the HL extension topics with the three topics in each of the approaches. Biological extension topics: “The role of animal research in understanding human behaviour” The value of …
Key study: “On being sane in insane place” (Rosenhan, 1973)
Rosenhan’s famous study attempted to demonstrate the unreliable nature of psychiatric diagnosis in the 1970s and how poorly patients were treated in psychiatric hospitals. While his methods were a little suspect, the study seemed to make the point Rosenhan was hoping for. Background Information One of the most influential studies conducted investigating the difficulties in defining normality and abnormality, and …
Key Study: Childhood stress and its effects on serotonin (an animal experiment), (Gardner et al. 2009)
This animal experiment by Gardner et al. (2009) could explain links between stress early in life when we’re kids and our behaviour as adults. The use of rats in this study allows the researchers to manipulate and measure IVs and DVs in ways that would be impossible in human subjects. The study provides possible explanations for why early life stress …
NEW Revision Textbook: FREE Preview Now Available
Our brand new revision book contains all the material students need to ace their IB Psychology exams. It takes the content from IB Psychology: A Student’s Guide and condenses it to a format suitable for fast, effective revision. DOWNLOAD FREE PREVIEW HERE! Delivery: 2 to 4 weeks (often much earlier, especially in Asia/Australasia) Supplements: IB Psychology – A Student’s Guide. Contents*: Introduction Biological Approach …
Key Study: Emotion and Memory of a Baseball Game (Kensinger and Schacter, 2006)
Would you remember more about a wedding or a funeral? How about how you felt when you got an F on a test compared to getting an A? The effects of different emotions on memory is what Kensinger and Schacter’s study is about as they compare real-life memories of baseball fans from the 2004 world series final game – Boston …
Exam Tips: How to write a research methods essay
Updated Feb 2021 One of the most difficult of the five types of exam questions to write about in IB Psychology is research methods. Like most other essay questions, students tend to focus on studies and miss other important aspects of the essay. In this post, I offer my best tips for how to write an excellent essay on research …
“IB Psychology: A Revision Guide” Book Now Shipping!
I’m so pleased to announce that our second textbook, IB Psychology: A Revision Guide (AVAILABLE HERE!), is now shipping and our first pre-orderers can expect their copies in the mail any day now, if they haven’t already got them. This book takes all the content from our first textbook (A Student’s Guide – here) and condenses it into 180 pages. Here are …