In the new course students need to be able to discuss how and why research methods are used for every topic. They might, therefore, get exam questions that look like this: Outline the use of one research method used to study the link between genes and behaviour. The most common method used in studies on genetics and behaviour in my …
What is an “approach?”
The “Levels of Analysis” are out, and so are “Perspectives”, so now we have “approaches to understanding human behaviour.” But what does this mean? In short, it doesn’t matter. It’s just a term used to separate the IB Psychology course into meaningful units. I would define the approaches as a description of behaviours, as well as a set of variables …
New Syllabus: Major Changes
The IB has published the new subject guide, teacher support material and specimen exam papers. You can find all this information on the OCC. In my mind, here are the big changes: Learning Outcomes removed (Read more…) Options time reduced to 20 hours SL and HL now do the same Internal Assessment Paper 3 includes quantitative possibility HL have extensions …
Work Smarter, Not Harder: Improve Exam Results
Work smarter, not harder: Improving exam results with a themantic approach Wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t have to worry about exam results, and instead we could just focus on getting our students interested and engaged with what they’re learning about? Thankfully I think adopting a themantic approach to teaching the IB Psych’ course can do both. There are …
Why change to a themantic approach?
Why change to a themantic approach? Here are four of the key benefits I can see in switching to a themantic approach: It reduces the amount of content knowledge the students need to remember Less content means more time for developing critical thinking and other skills (e.g. writing, research, communication, collaboration, etc.) It increases depth of knowledge and understanding It increases options …
Attribution Errors: An Introduction
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 …
What is a psychological theory?
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
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’s the difference between outline and describe?
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 …
Evaluating Psychological Research (Studies and Theories)
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 …