Category: SAQ

Smart IB Psychology Short Answer Questions

1/11/2015

Helping IB Psychology students nail their three IB Psychology examination short answer response questions

Writing the 8 out of 8 IB Psychology SAQ response is challenging and opinions differ as to how it is best achieved. Though a standard introduction, conclusion or evaluation is not an absolute requirement the response does need to be focused.
Find below my personal list of handy hints that I share with my IB Psychology students:

Make sure you understand the command term and know the difference between explain or discuss or whatever you might be asked to demonstrate your understanding of the IB Psychology learning outcome
Define the keywords in the IB Psychology SAQ and integrate the definitions into a “In other words…” sentence.
Make sure you use the words from the question in your answer at least two or three times. If the IB Psychology SAQ is about physiology use this word rather than brain or body.
Use studies to support your explanations. Give a brief summary of the study and then explain why this is relevant.
Take every opportunity to evaluate the study but do not just outline every strength and limitation, only the relevant ones. For example there is no need to discuss ethical considerations with the Davidson meditation study from the BLOA but the small sample size is relevant as it makes generalising his finding that cognition can change brain physiology more limited.
Aim for a short introduction and conclusion. These can be just one sentence in length. If you are asked about two hormones or two studies or two neurotransmitters make sure you have two body paragraphs.

Of course, IB Psychology has taken all of the hard work and guesswork out of writing the perfect IB Psychology examination answers, both SAQs and ERQs. Have a look at our two key IB Psychology resources.

A perfect IB Psychology SAQ exam anser

Explain how emotion may affect one cognitive process

A flashbulb memory is a highly detailed, exceptionally vivid 'snapshot' of the moment and circumstances in which a piece of surprising and consequential (or emotionally arousing) news was heard. The ‘flashbulb’ terminology indicates the event will be registered like a photograph; i.e., it will be accurate in detail. The defining feature an FBM is not the memory of the event, but memory of its reception context – the circumstances of the news’ reception.

It is assumed that they are highly resistant to forgetting; i.e., the details of the memory will remain intact and accurate because of the emotional arousal at the moment of coding. For example, some individuals can report in exceptional exactly when and how they heard the news of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the USA in 2001, as well as exactly what they were doing at the time and their exact feeling and reactions in response to the news – i.e., an exceptionally detailed and vivid memory almost twenty years after the fact. There is a posited relationship between strong emotion at the time of encoding and the exceptional details of these memories.

Brown and Kulik (1977) – research on FBM

Aim: To investigate whether shocking events are recalled more vividly and accurately than other events.

Procedure: 80 US participants were asked questions about 10 events. Nine of the events were mostly assassinations or attempted assassinations of well-known American personalities (e.g., JF Kennedy, Martin Luther King). The tenth was a self-selected event of personal relevance and involving unexpected shock. Examples included the death of a friend or relative or a serious accident.
Participants were asked to recall the circumstances they found themselves in when they first heard the news about the 10 events. They were also asked to indicate how often they had rehearsed (overtly or covertly) information about each event.

Results and conclusion:

Participants had vivid memories of where they were, what they did, and what they felt when they first heard about a shocking public event
The participants also said they had FBMs of shocking personal events
The results indicated that FBM is more likely for unexpected and personally relevant events. This lead the researchers to suggest ‘the photographic nature of FBM’
Brown & Kulik suggest that FBM is caused by the physiological emotional arousal (e.g., activity in the amygdala).

Evaluation: The reliance on retrospective data questions the reliability of this study. People tend to interpret an event from their current perspective. Research indicates that although FBM is emotionally vivid it is not necessarily accurate in regard to details. Neisser is particularly critical towards the idea of FBMs, as certain memories are very vivid precisely because they are rehearsed and discussed after the event. Any piece of information that is repeatedly reviewed and rehearsed is going to be remembered in much better detail – which most models of memory predict.

However, findings from this study are clearly consistent with Brown & Kulik’s theory. Additional support comes from a study by Conway et al. (1994) who studied FBMs of both UK and non-UK citizens of the unexpected resignation of a famous (or infamous) British Prime Minister – Margaret Thatcher. Data was collected at several points including a few days after the resignation and after 11 months. They found that 85% of UK citizens and considerably fewer non-UK citizens had an FBM at 11 months.

Author: Derek Burton – Passionate about IB Psychology

Go with the flow ...

29/6/2015

IB Psychology examiners love clear and accurate flow charts. Just make sure you refer to them in your answers!

A good, logical flowchart in IB Psychology is worth a thousand words. Admittedly, the following statement is contentious, but essentially all human behaviour and cognition is predicated on a cause and effect relationship, and as such, a flow chart can set this relationship out clearly for your IB Psychology examiners. Remember (and pity!) that the typical IB Psychology examiner, by the time they reach your exam script answer, has likely waded through multitudes of poorly organised, difficult to decipher, grammatically poor, off the point, and horribly incorrect answers. They will also have come across some stunners - why don't you show them you are in the same league and as deserving of that IB Psychology 7? The added bonus is that organising IB Psychology theory and biological, cognitive and behaviorual processes and models into a coherent series of steps, not only wows the examiner, but makes the concept yu are explaining that much easier to remember and reproduce in your IB Psychology exams.

Just beware, diagrams and illustrations that you use in your IB Psychology answers need to be referred to in the text you write (i.e., "... as can be seen in figure 1., the ..."). Those marking the IB Psychology exams are not required to search backwards and forwards through your written response and guess when, where and how the perfectly good flowchart they see before them, ties in with the answer you have provided. So, signpost it.

A model short answer response to the IB Psychology Socio-cultural Level of Analysis learning outcome: Explain Social Learning Theory, is provided below. This model IB Psychology examination answer incorporates the correct use of a flowchart.

IB Psychology SAQ exam question: Explain Social Learning Theory

Bandura (1977) suggested social learning theory (SLT) as an extension of existing learning theories (classical and operant conditioning). SLT is based on the assumption that people learn behaviours, attitudes, emotional reactions and norms through direct experiences but also through observing other humans (models).

We learn consequences of behaviour from watching what happens to other humans (vicarious reinforcement). Once such information is stored in memory it serves to guide further actions. People are more likely to imitate behaviour that has positive consequences. Social learning can be direct via instructions (e.g., role models and no direct instructions).

Figure 1 below, outlines the important factors that facilitate social learning.

Figure 1. Important factors in social learning

Relevant study – Bandura and Ross (1961): Experimental investigation on learning aggression from a model.

Aim: To see if children would imitate the aggression of an adult model and whether they would imitate same-sex models more than opposite-sex models.

Procedure:

Participants were 36 boys and 36 girls from the Stanford University nursery school (mean age 4.4) who were divided into three groups matched on levels of aggressiveness before the experiment.
One group saw the adult model behave aggressively towards bobo doll, one group saw the model assemble toys, and the last group served as the control.
The children were further divided onto groups so that some saw same sex models and some saw opposite sex models.
The laboratory was set up as a play room with toys and a bobo doll. The model either played with the toys or behaved aggressively towards the bobo doll. After seeing this, the children were brought into a room with toys and told not to play with them in order to frustrate them. They were the taken into a room with toys and a bobo doll where they were observed for 20 minutes through a one-way mirror.

Results:

Children who had seen an aggressive model were significantly more aggressive (physically and verbally) towards the bobo doll. They imitated the aggressive behaviour of the model but also showed other forms of aggression.
Children were also more likely to imitate same-sex models. Boys were more aggressive overall than girls.
Conclusions:
This key study supports social learning theory. Aggressive behaviour can be learned through observational learning.
It is not possible to conclude that children always become aggressive when they watch violent models (e.g., on television or at home). Generally, research supports that children tend to imitate same-sex models more and this is also the case for adults.

Evaluation:

The laboratory experiment is low on ecological validity. The aggression here is artificial and there may be demand characteristics. The children were very young and it has been criticised for ethical reasons.

Author: Derek Burton – Passionate about IB Psychology

IB Psychology Exam Questions

30/3/2015

Only the foolish leave the IB Psychology exams early

Your extended response answers will determine your final total mark

The IB Psychology exams consist of either Extended Response Questions (ERQs) or Short Answer Questions (SAQs). An ERQ is a 22 mark question and an SAQ is an 8 mark question in Papers 1 and 2. HL Paper 3 questions are worth just 10 marks each, but students are still required to show good knowledge and critical thinking to achieve the full 10 marks here (see an earlier post about Paper 3 answers here).

Your ability to write effective essay questions is tested to the limit in each of the three IB Psychology exams:

Paper 1 requires you to answer one ERQ and three SAQs, thus half your marks are weighted on your sole essay answer.
Paper 2 is only assessed through ERQs.
Paper 3 are a messy hybrid, three SAQs that require you to show critical thinking as well as knowledge, thus, they are worth 10 marks each.

We have previously explained that there are no surprises in the IB Psychology examinations, you will know exactly the full range of ERQ questions that can be asked (see this previous post). An ERQ can never be based on a lower level learning outcome. For example the IB Psychology Sociocultural level of analysis has the learning outcome: "Explain 'emic' and 'etic' concepts." This will never be upgraded in the IB Psychology Paper 1 exam to a "Discuss 'emic' and 'etic' concepts" or "Evaluate research into 'emic' and 'etic' concepts".

However, the SAQs can be derived from a higher order learning outcome. For example, in the Cognitive Level of Analysis we have the learning outcome: "Evaluate two models or theories of one cognitive process." Now this can be asked as an ERQ or downgraded to an SAQ by changing the command term. To make this an 8 mark SAQ the command term 'evaluate' can be substituted for 'explain' or 'analyse', for example. Now the SAQ may become: "Explain one model of a cognitive process."

It is important that the student doesn't become too hung up on the three SAQs in the IB Psychology Paper 1 exam. The focus should always be on learning and practicing perfect model ERQs answers. If you they know the ERQ, the SAQ can easily be adapted.

To illustrate this in action, consider the IB Psychology SCLOA learning outcome: "Discuss factors influencing conformity." An obvious candidate for an ERQ in the exam. Once the model ERQ has been learned and practiced then, come exam time, the student will be ready if this is needed to be approached in different ways for a compulsory SAQ. There are a few ways the examiners could set this question. We provide model answers for the three most likely scenarios. The key to full marks here is to know one study well and to be able to explain the three major social influence processes, which the student will be able to do if he or she has learned the model ERQ answer.

Below we have three model SAQs based on the one higher order learning outcome follow; look for the different 'tweaks' based on the same information:

1. Explain one factor that influences conformity.
Conformity can be defined as adjusting one's behaviour or thinking to match those of other people or a group standard. There are three major social influence processes which have been proposed to explain conformity, and these are informational influence, normative influence and referent informational influence. All of these explanations are, and some to a large extent, based on the influence of social norms. Social norms are group-held beliefs about how members should behave in a given context. Sociologists describe norms as informal understandings that govern society’s behaviours, while psychologists have adopted a more general definition, recognising smaller group units, like a team or an office, may also endorse norms separate or in addition to cultural or societal expectations, thus, group norms can be seen as a smaller subset of social norms. The psychological definition emphasises social norms' behavioural component, stating norms have two dimensions: how much behaviour is exhibited and how much the group approves of that behaviour.

We are subjected to informational influence when we accept the views and attitudes of others as valid evidence about how things are in a particular situation. Having an accurate perception of reality is, of course, essential for our efficient functioning in our environment. Others are often viewed as valid sources of information, especially in situations where we cannot test the validity of our perceptions, beliefs and feelings.

Informational influence seems to be the most likely explanation for Sherif’s (1935) research findings. He investigated the formation of group norms and conformity in an ambiguous situation (Sherif, 1935). This study relies on the autokinetic effect – an optical illusion that makes a stationary light appear to move when seen in complete darkness. Participants were led to believe that the experiment was investigating visual perception and told that the experimenter was going to move the light, something that was never done. The participants had to make 100 judgements as to how far the light, placed on the far wall of a darkened room, seemed to have moved.

To start with, participants made their judgements alone. Their estimates fluctuated for some time before converging towards a standard estimate, a personal norm. Such personal norms varied considerably between participants. In further sessions of 100 trials on subsequent days, the participants were joined by two other participants. They took turns in a random order to call out their estimates of the light’s movements. In this group condition, participants’ estimates soon reflected the influence of estimates from the others in the group. Eventually a common group norm emerged, a social norm, which was the average of the individual estimates. Different groups formed different group norms. Interestingly, the participants denied that their estimates were influenced by the other group members. During a third phase of the study, participants performed the task alone again; their estimates showed a continued adherence to the social norm established during the group session.

Here, because reality was ambiguous, participants used other people’s estimates as information to remove the ambiguity. Informational influence tends to produce genuine change in people’s beliefs thus leading to private conformity. Sherif’s work is important because it demonstrates how, at least in ambiguous settings, social norms can develop and become internalised (that is, function without the need of the actual presence of others). However, informational influence cannot be the only explanation for conformity, because conformity can be observed in situations where there is no ambiguity.

2. With reference to a study, explain conformity.
Conformity can be defined as adjusting one's behaviour or thinking to match those of other people or a group standard. There are lots of reasons why people conform, including the desire/need to fit in or be accepted by others and maintaining order in one’s life.

There are three major social influence processes which have been proposed to explain conformity, and these are informational influence, normative influence and referent informational influence. All of these explanations are, and some to a large extent, based on the influence of social norms. Social norms are group-held beliefs about how members should behave in a given context.

We are subjected to informational influence when we accept the views and attitudes of others as valid evidence about how things are in a particular situation. Having an accurate perception of reality is, of course, essential for our efficient functioning in our environment. Others are often viewed as valid sources of information, especially in situations where we cannot test the validity of our perceptions, beliefs and feelings.

Normative influence is another explanation of conformity. Normative influence underlies our conformity to the expectations of others. This type of influence is based on the need to be liked and accepted by others (the need to belong is one of the fundamental human motivations). In fear of social disapproval and rejection, we often behave in ways that conform to what others expect of us with little concern about the accuracy of beliefs we express or the soundness of our actions.

SIT theorists have developed the referent informational influence hypothesis, and this forms the basis of SIT explanations of conformity. From an SIT perspective, conformity is not simply a matter of adhering to just any social norms; it is more likely to do with adhering to a person’s ingroup norms. We conform out of a sense of belongingness and by doing so we form and maintain desired social identities. It follows from this that we are far more likely to conform to the norms of groups we believe we belong to and identify with.

Informational influence seems to be the most likely explanation for Sherif’s (1935) research findings. He investigated the formation of group norms and conformity in an ambiguous situation (Sherif, 1935). This study relies on the autokinetic effect – an optical illusion that makes a stationary light appear to move when seen in complete darkness. Participants were led to believe that the experiment was investigating visual perception and told that the experimenter was going to move the light, something that was never done. The participants had to make 100 judgements as to how far the light, placed on the far wall of a darkened room, seemed to have moved.

To start with, participants made their judgements alone. Their estimates fluctuated for some time before converging towards a standard estimate, a personal norm. Such personal norms varied considerably between participants. In further sessions of 100 trials on subsequent days, the participants were joined by two other participants. They took turns in a random order to call out their estimates of the light’s movements. In this group condition, participants’ estimates soon reflected the influence of estimates from the others in the group. Eventually a common group norm emerged, a social norm, which was the average of the individual estimates. Different groups formed different group norms. Interestingly, the participants denied that their estimates were influenced by the other group members. During a third phase of the study, participants performed the task alone again; their estimates showed a continued adherence to the social norm established during the group session.

3. Explain the strengths and limitations of one study on conformity
Informational influence seems to be the most likely explanation for Sherif’s (1935) research findings. He investigated the formation of group norms and conformity in an ambiguous situation (Sherif, 1935). This study relies on the autokinetic effect – an optical illusion that makes a stationary light appear to move when seen in complete darkness. Participants were led to believe that the experiment was investigating visual perception and told that the experimenter was going to move the light, something that was never done. The participants had to make 100 judgements as to how far the light, placed on the far wall of a darkened room, seemed to have moved.

To start with, participants made their judgements alone. Their estimates fluctuated for some time before converging towards a standard estimate, a personal norm. Such personal norms varied considerably between participants. In further sessions of 100 trials on subsequent days, the participants were joined by two other participants. They took turns in a random order to call out their estimates of the light’s movements. In this group condition, participants’ estimates soon reflected the influence of estimates from the others in the group. Eventually a common group norm emerged, a social norm, which was the average of the individual estimates. Different groups formed different group norms. Interestingly, the participants denied that their estimates were influenced by the other group members. During a third phase of the study, participants performed the task alone again; their estimates showed a continued adherence to the social norm established during the group session.

Here, because reality was ambiguous, participants used other people’s estimates as information to remove the ambiguity. Informational influence tends to produce genuine change in people’s beliefs thus leading to private conformity. Sherif’s work is important because it demonstrates how, at least in ambiguous settings, social norms can develop and become internalised (that is, function without the need of the actual presence of others). However, informational influence cannot be the only explanation for conformity, because conformity can be observed in situations where there is no ambiguity.

The strengths of Sherif’s study include the fact that it was pioneering and still remains one of the most influential experiments in social psychology today. It has generated a large amount of research, especially in the role of group norms on conformity behaviour. The study clearly demonstrates how a group norm can be established and then continues to influence a person’s judgement even when the social influence of the group is no longer present.

A minor limitation to this experiment surrounds the ethics of the deception involved. Participants were not informed about the purpose of the experiment (informed consent) but this was not the norm at the time of Sherif’s experiments, and the deception was arguably slight and necessary to avoid demand characteristics. Participants were debriefed at the end as to the true intents and purposes of the experiment. The major limitation is its lack of ecological validity. The task was artificial and ambiguous, and it is arguable that such ambiguous situations would never occur in real life situations. A possible counter argument to this criticism is that cognitive ‘anchoring’ can occur in our social groups. We have a tendency to use anchors or reference points to make decisions and evaluations, and sometimes these lead us astray. For example, if someone in my ingroup of girls informed me that 99% of teenage boys have body odour problems, then my perception of outgroup members on this domain will be influenced upwards towards this high initial anchor. Further, it turns out that we do not need the situation to be ambiguous for conformity to group norms to be observed.

Of course, IB Psychology has taken all of the hard work out of your model answer preparation. We have the complete IB Psychology ERQ model answers, across both Paper 1 and Paper 2 exams, as well as the complete collection of model answers to the SAQ questions likely to be asked in the Paper 1 exam.

We know you don't need reminding, but you should be well into your revision programme now. C'mon that IB Psychology 7!

Author: Derek Burton – Passionate about IB Psychology

Quality Not Quantity

28/12/2014

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It's not how much you write in the IB Psychology exams, it's what you write

Students are always asking me how much they should be writing to answer a particular IB Psychology exam question. My response is always the same. Enough to meet the requirements of the particular IB Psychology command term (which I've covered in a previous post) and enough to provide sufficient information to answer the question ... but no more than that! Any unnecessary, extra time a student spends on one of their IB Psychology exam questions is time that she doesn't have to spend answering another examination question. And I have never met a student yet, in my long, long, long IB Psychology teaching career who has come out of an exam with that magical and elusive 7 saying that she had plenty of time to spare (therefore the exam paper doodling).

To prove this point, take a look at two sample responses to short answer questions (SAQs) asked in past IB Psychology examinations (Paper 1, SL and HL). One response is an SAQ associated with the Cognitive Level of Analysis, the other, the Socio-Cultural Level of Analysis. You will see that full marks in SAQs can usually be gained with less than a page of writing, easily.

The Cognitive Level of Analysis question: WITH REFERENCE TO ONE RESEARCH STUDY, EXPLAIN HOW ONE BIOLOGICAL FACTOR MAY AFFECT ONE COGNITIVE PROCESS

Biological factors, such as hormones, can affect the cognitive process of memory. Hormones are chemical messengers secreted by cell or gland. These messengers are sent out from one part of the body to affect cells in other parts of the body. Hormones are often released directly into the bloodstream.

One study done on this was by Newcomer. Newcomer wanted to test the role of glucocorticoids on memory. Glucocorticoids are chemicals that can stop inflammation. As Meany had found, exposure to high levels of glucocorticoids lead to a decrease in memory in rats and atrophy of the hippocampus. Newcomer wanted to see if this was also true in human beings. He wanted to test the effect of cortisol, a stress hormone secreted by the adrenal glands, on verbal declarative memory. The hippocampus plays the role of transferring declarative memories from STM to LTM. Cortisol appears to lead to hippocampal cell death.

Newcomer ran a double-blind test in which participants either were given a high dose of cortisol (similar to a high level of stress), a low dose of cortisol or a placebo over a period of four days. The participants were asked to read a piece of prose. After the four days, they were asked to recall the data from the prose. Newcomer found that those who had been given high levels of cortisol had the worst recall of the text. When they stopped taking the pills, their memory levels returned to normal. Newcomer concluded that cortisol has a negative effect on the transfer and retrieval of STM to LTM.

The Socio-Cultural Level of Analysis question: DESCRIBE ONE THEORY OF HOW STEREOTYPES ARE FORMED

One theory that explains how stereotypes are formed is through either experience or society and then confirmation bias. Stereotypes are schema that people have of other people. These usually form from experiencing a certain event multiple times or from what society tells you to think. One study on the formation of stereotypes was done by Rogers & Frantz. They aimed to see if the amount of time that somebody was in Rhodesia (today Zimbabwe) would affect their stereotypes of the locals. They studied European settlers in Rhodesia. They gave participants a test where multiple segregation and discrimination laws were listed, showing how much better the whites were treated in Rhodesia than the blacks. They then asked them how much they wanted things to either stay the same or change. The results were that the longer somebody had lived in Rhodesia, the less they wanted things to change and the more they liked the status quo. This shows that the longer someone had been living there, the higher amount of the stereotypes he had towards the locals.

Those that wanted the change the most were the ones that had been there the least amount of time. This indicates that stereotypes form over time. When new European settlers came to Rhodesia they had no idea what to think and had no stereotypes toward the Africans. Because of this, they looked to others to see what to think. This is called informational social influence. They conformed to the ideas and stereotypes already existing in the White European community. They did this in order to connect to their “in-group.” Once learning these stereotypes, they then experience confirmation bias. This is when they only see and remember things that fit into the stereotype or schema that they now had of the locals and ignored the things that went against these stereotypes. This is how their stereotypes got stronger. One theory of the formation of stereotypes is that people look to others they consider their in-group to see what to think. Then through confirmation bias these stereotypes increase in intensity. The more time the Europeans had been in Rhodesia, the more they felt ok with discrimination against the locals and the stronger their stereotypes were.

Download the Model Answers here to share with your students or use for your IB Psychology examination revision.

Author: Derek Burton – Passionate about IB Psychology

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Examination fish hooks

31/8/2014

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Some nasty little surprises lying in wait to hook the unwary

Another IB Psychology student caught by surprise

Imagine writing what you think is the perfect response to a short answer question in your IB Psychology examination only to have a single sentence of your answer penalise you 50 per cent of the marks on offer. There are some very odd requirements that IB Psychology examiners must follow, and this can be infuriating for inexperienced IB Psychology teachers and unwary students.

A frequently posed exam question relates to the principles that govern each of the three levels of analysis: The Biological, Cognitive and Socio-Cultural levels of analysis. There are always three different principles that govern each of these levels of analysis. For example, in the Biological Level of Analysis the three principles are: (i) there are biological correlates of behaviour, (ii) animal research can provide insight into human behaviour, and (iii) human behaviour is, to some extent, genetically based. The exam question that is often asked will ask you to outline, describe or explain one or two of these principles (e.g., Outline two principles that govern the Biological Level of Analysis.).

Now students being students, and human nature being human nature, we have a need to show our examiners how intelligent we are; exams are our time to showcase the knowledge we have accumulated over the last two years. So we begin our short answer responses ... "There are three principles that govern the Biological Level of Analysis, and these are (i) there are biological correlates of behaviour, (ii) animal research can provide insight into human behaviour, and (iii) human behaviour is, to some extent, genetically based. ... " before going on to outline the second and third of these stated principles. Here the examiner face palms herself. Literally. The IB Psychology examination board has decided in their infinite wisdom that the first two principles that are mentioned in a student responses are the ones they have to be graded on. Thus the student picks up zero marks for the first principle because she hasn't outlined it, and zero marks for the third principle as the examiners consider it superfluous - the examiner has to focus on the first two principles mentioned in the response. A response worthy of the full 8 marks gets hammered down to a 3 or a 4. Yes, very, very pedantic!

Below, we present a model short answer question (SAQ) response that will be awarded the full 8 marks.

IB Psychology: The Biological Level of analysis
A model short answer question (SAQ) response to the examination question: Outline principles that define the biological level of analysis.

SAQ: Outline principles that define the biological level of analysis
Biological psychology is a branch or type of psychology that brings together biology and psychology to understand behaviour and thought. Biological psychology looks at the link between biology and psychological events such as how information travels throughout our bodies (neural impulses, axons, dendrites, etc.), how different neurotransmitters effect behaviours. There are three principles that define the biological level of analysis which will each be covered, in turn.

Principle 1: There are biological correlates of behaviour. This means that there are physiological origins of behaviour such as neurotransmitters, hormones, specialised brain areas, and genes. The biological level of analysis is based on reductionism, which is the attempt to explain complex behaviour in terms of simple causes.

Principle 1 demonstrated in: Newcomer et al. (1999) performed an experiment on the role of the stress hormone cortisol on verbal declarative memory. Group 1 (high dose cortisol) had tablets containing 160 mg of cortisol for four days. Group 2 (low dose cortisol) had tablets with 40 mg of cortisol for four days. Group 3 (control) had placebo tablets. Participants listened to a prose paragraph and had to recall it as a test of verbal declarative memory. This memory system is often negatively affected by the increased level of cortisol under long-term stress. The results showed that group 1 showed the worst performance on the memory test compared to group 2 and 3. The experiment shows that an increase in cortisol over a period has a negative effect on memory.

Principle 2: Animal research can provide insight into human behaviour. This means that researchers use animals to study physiological processes because it is assumed that most biological processes in non-human animals are the same as in humans. One important reason for using animals is that there is a lot of research where humans cannot be used for ethical reasons.

Principle 2 demonstrated in: Rosenzweig and Bennet (1972) performed an experiment to study the role of environmental factors on brain plasticity using rats as participants. Group 1 was placed in an enriched environment with lots of toys. Group 2 was placed in a deprived environment with no toys. The rats spent 30 or 60 days in their respective environments before being killed. The brains of the rats in group 1 showed a thicker layer of neurons in the cortex compared to the deprived group. The study shows that the brain grows more neurons if stimulated.

Principle 3: Human behaviour is, to some extent, genetically based. This means that behaviour can, to some extent, be explained by genetic inheritance, although this is rarely the full explanation since genetic inheritance should be seen as genetic predisposition which can be affected by environmental factors.

Researchers interested in the genetic origin of behaviour often use twins so that they can compare one twin with the other on a variable such as intelligence, depression or anorexia nervosa.
Identical twins (monozygotic twins – MZ) are 100% genetically identical as they have developed from the same egg. They therefore act as a control for each other. Fraternal twins (dizygotic twins – DZ) have developed from two different eggs. They share around 50% of their genes so they are no more similar than siblings.
Twin research never shows a 100% concordance rate so it is believed that genes are a predisposing factor rather than the cause of behaviour. Therefore it is also important to consider what environmental factors could influence the expression of the genetic predisposition.

Principle 3 demonstrated in: Bouchard et al. (1990) performed the Minnesota twin study, a longitudinal study investigating the relative role of genes in IQ. The participants were MZ reared apart (MZA) and MZ reared together (MZT). The researchers found that MZT had a concordance rate of IQ of 86% compared to MZA with a concordance rate of IQ of 76%. This shows a link between genetic inheritance and intelligence but it does not rule out the role of the environment.

Author: Derek Burton – Passionate about IB Psychology

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Don't Panic! - SAQs are Easy

30/6/2014

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Describe one interaction between cognition and physiology in terms of behaviour.
The example used comes from the IB Psychology Abnormal option with regard to anxiety disorders. The sample SAQ should be awarded full marks. However, remember that Paper 2 IB Psychology examination questions will never be asked as SAQs, you only answer one 22 mark ERQ.

One way in which cognition and physiology interact in behaviour has been seen in studies of panic attacks. Clark (1996) argues that panic attacks are the result of a catastrophic misinterpretation of stimuli. When there is an environmental stimulus - for example, a loud noise - the heart may begin to beat faster in response. This is a result of the activation of the sympathetic nervous system, preparing the body for possible fight or flight. When the heart begins to beat faster, the person may then begin to think "why is my heart beating faster?"

Clark's theory is that people whose schema interpret bodily changes as dangerous or "scary," will begin to interpret the increase in heart-rate negatively. This then leads to a further increase in heart-rate, which then increases the concern. This is a positive feedback loop. The physiology affects the cognition and the cognition affects the physiology, resulting in a panic attack.

Telch & Harrington (1992) did a study with a group of university students. Each student was given a written test to see their level of anxiety with regard to health and wellness. All participants took part in two trials. In the first trial, they were asked to breathe room air. In the second trial, they were asked to breathe air with high levels of CO2. The participants were told that the air would make them feel relaxed. In the "room air" group, no one felt aroused, in spite of their score on the anxiety test. However, when asked to breathe in CO2, in the low anxiety group 5% experienced high arousal whereas 52% of the high anxiety group did. In other words, it was the interaction of high anxiety schema and physiological responses to stimuli that lead to the panic response.

panic attack! - It's not pretty

Author: Derek Burton – Passionate about IB Psychology

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Structure, Order, Routine.

10/3/2014

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The totalitarian classroom

This post explores the 'totalitarian approach' to achieving the prefect IB Psychology exam answer. There are no surprises in the IB Psychology examinations. Each learning outcome has an equal chance of being assessed in the exam. Each learning outcome is either an exact or near match to the examination question.

In our classroom, each learning outcome we explore is always followed by preparing a model answer which can then be memorised for class assessments, mocks and actual IB Psychology exams. And voilà, great answers can be easily written in exams. This is the secret to success in IB Psychology - prepare great model answers and then memorise these for exams.

Sounds easy? It's not quite rocket science, but it's certainly not a walk in the park. Two things need to be in place:

Knowledge. Student's need to know how to write a perfect SAQ and ERQ. They need to practice writing these. And they need access to good feedback from the IB Psychology teacher in order to make incremental improvements in the quality of the model answers they produce.
Time. It is hopeless to try and prepare models answers three weeks before examinations. Prepare each answer in response to the learning outcome being studied at that time. Spend revision time memorising these, not doing the hard work which needs to have been previously completed.

She should have listened to her Psychology teacher

Structure. Order. Routine. These are the keys to having the knowledge and time requirements under Control. Thus, the totalitarian approach to achieving the prefect IB Psychology exam answer is very effective.

Time: Plan for incorporating this model answer preparation time into your teaching schemes. Insist that these are completed to the very highest standards (i.e., have the very highest expectations of your students). Allow them some class time to ask questions of you as they complete a perfect answer to each short answer or extended response question.

Knowledge: The IB psychology examiners are looking for certain requirements to be met (command terms, knowledge, definitions, research studies, critical thinking and organisation, etc.). They are looking for these same requirements across any SAQ or ERQ. The mark level descriptors for all SAQ questions are the same. The mark level descriptors for all ERQ questions are the same.

Drilling my Psychology students

Using a template to enable students to think about what they need to include in their responses and how they need to structure these is a great idea. They will soon be in the habit of planning their answers, and knowing how their planning is directly relevant to achieving a great mark.

You won't be able to fool the IB Psychology examiner

I use the two templates below in my Psychology classroom. I set up the first ERQ and SAQ templates for my students to give them an idea of what I expect. After that they're on their own - they will need to complete their own templates for each answer they are preparing.

In fact, I believe that this skill is so important to success in IB Psychology that I refuse to mark an answer without a well completed template attached. I bounce them straight back with a zero attached. Nazi!

ERQ answer template - PDF

SAQ Answer Template - PDF

Feel free to use these templates in your own classroom, or students, for preparing your own model answers.

ERQ Model Answer Template

SAQ MODEL ANSWER TEMPLATE

Author: Derek Burton - Passionate about IB Psychology

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The Secret 7

2/3/2014

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The insider's guide to achieving the elusive 7 in IB Psychology.

Less than four percent of IB Psychology higher level students will be awarded a grade of 7. In fact, only 3.75% of HL Psychology students in the May 2013 examinations were awarded that highest maximum possible mark.

Never fear, IB Psychology is here to help. Achieving the IB Psychology 7 is not exactly rocket science. A little known fact that teachers either don't know or don't choose to share with their students is that you know exactly how questions will be asked in the IB Psychology examinations in each and every paper - Paper 1, Paper 2 and Paper 3.

You can prepare perfect models answers: 8/8 for the three short answer questions ), and 22/22 for the extended response questions (ERQs). Practice these answers until you can reproduce them in exam conditions and you will find yourself walking into those exams with a head full of answers you can replicate across any of the questions being asked.

"You already know the questions for the IB examinations!", I hear you gasp. Yes, we know exactly which questions can be asked. We just don't know which of the possible selection will actually turn up in the exam on the day.

No other IB subject affords students and teachers this luxury ... shhhh! It's our little secret.

IB Psychology: We love you Number 7!

The IB Psychology Exam Questions are the Learning Outcomes

The IB Psychology Guide has all of the exam questions listed, topic by topic.

The IB Psychology Guide (the official IBO guide to the IB Psychology syllabus) lists all of the Learning Outcomes associated with each section of the course – the Levels of Analysis and the Options (and even the HL Qualitative Research Methodologies. These learning outcomes guide us as teachers as to what we need to be teaching our students. And, if you don’t for some reason or another, trust your IB Psychology teacher then you can monitor what should be being taught in the IB Psychology classroom.

What is great about the IB Psychology course is that the learning outcomes match the examination questions. For example, you are required in the Biological Level of Analysis to learn – With reference to relevant research studies, to what extent does genetic inheritance influence behaviour?

The November 2012 IB Psychology exam had the extended response question (i.e., the big 22 mark question that requires answering) – With reference to psychological research (theories and/or studies), to what extent does genetic inheritance influence behaviour? [22 marks]. We hope that you can see the pattern!

IB Psychology exam questions closely match the learning outcomes in the course, so closely that they more often than not, appear word-for-word in the examinations. If not word-for-word, then they are very, very close matches. For example, again in the November 2012 examination the short answer question (8 marks) is asked at the Cognitive Level of Analysis: Explain how one biological factor may affect one cognitive process. [8 marks]. The corresponding learning outcome is: Explain how biological factors may affect one cognitive process (for example, Alzheimer’s disease, brain damage, sleep deprivation).

The clear links between the IB Psychology learning outcomes and the examination questions also applies to the Options. In May 2013 the learning outcome: Discuss the use of eclectic approaches to treatment, was slightly tweaked with the command term being changed to ‘Evaluate’: Evaluate the use of eclectic approaches to treatment. Clearly the strengths and limitations of an eclectic approach to treatment would be covered in a ‘Discuss’ learning outcome.

Do you need more convincing? Higher Level Paper 3, May 2013 again. The examination question: Explain two ethical considerations relevant to this study. [10 marks], is taken directly from the learning outcome, Discuss ethical considerations in qualitative research.

You can prepare and memorise perfect model answers to the learning outcomes and then regurgitate them in exams. This is the Secret of the 7: Prepare and memorise model answers to the learning outcomes AND produce a great IA.

You have two years to do this. There can be no excuse for not having your model answers perfected, practiced and memorised after two whole years.

To further illustrate this point. The May 2013 IB Psychology examination questions – Papers 1, 2 and 3 – are listed below. Next to these are their associated learning outcomes. Judge for yourself the closeness of the match and how beneficial it would have been to have walked into these exams with answers prepared and memorised for the learning outcomes. We could have prepared tables for all of the IB Psychology examinations to further support this point, but we do have classes to teach and lesson to prepare!

All of the IB examination questions from the May 2013 exams are stated below. Next to them are the learning outcomes.

Summary Notes PDF Download

Author: Derek Burton - Passionate about IB Psychology

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The First Commandment of IB Psychology

21/2/2014

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Know thy command terms.

In search of perfect answers to your IB Psychology examination questions? You will need to start with the command term. "Outline two principles that define the cognitive level of analysis" will be answered differently from "Explain the two principles that define the cognitive level of analysis." Outline and Explain are both examples of command terms that can be used in short answer exam questions. That difference needs to be apparent in your answer to each question - you can be sure that the beady little eyes of the IB examiner will be scrutinising your answer for this information.

When answering IB Psychology exam questions it is important to identify the command term in each question. These will determine how you should answer the question. Command terms such as 'explain', 'outline', ‘examine’, 'to what extent', and so on carry different meanings and this should be reflected in your answers.

The command term in an examination question is very important. It provides two things the examiner is looking for and specifically awarding (or penalising!) you marks for. The first is structure. Are you structuring you answer according to the command term to answer the question? Secondly, has your answer ‘effectively addressed the command term’?

Below is one of the markband descriptors IB Psychology examiners are using to mark you Short Answer Questions (i.e. those three 8 mark questions in the Paper 1 exam). Not addressing the command term will limit your maximum mark to 6 marks, instead of the full 8 had your answer effectively addressed the command term.

The first commandment of IB Psychology

Your flashcard set is proving to be a great way to get my students practicing their command terms.
- Jane Freeeman, 1st year IB Psychology teacher

Every IB Psychology examination question has a command term

In the long answer Extended Response Questions (ERQs), those 22 mark essay questions in the Paper 1 and 2 HL and SL IB Psychology exams, examiners are looking for and marking command term application in two of the criteria they are assessing.

If the command term is incorrectly addressed in your answer, you will be limited to a maximum of 6 marks for Criterion B (maximum possible 9 marks) and to a maximum of 2 marks in Criterion C (with a maximum possible 4 marks that can be awarded. That is an enormous 5 marks you are giving up for each Extended Response Question in the exams. And you will need to answer three ERQs if you are a HL IB Psychology student, and two if studying at SL. Another 2 marks across three SAQs will be forfeited in the HL and SL Paper 1 exam.

Conclusion: If you do not learn your command terms and practice tailored answers to the IB examination questions according to the command term requirement you will be foregoing many marks and at least an entire grade boundary in your total IB Psychology score, possible two. Knowing your command terms could easily elevate your IB Psychology Diploma mark from a 5 to a 7 to ensure maximum success, or from a 3 to a 4 to avoid certain failure. Thus, the first rule of IB Psychology is: KNOW THY COMMAND TERMS.

The tables below summarises how you should use the command terms when you are answering questions and how they apply to particular questions. I will actively look for a particular structure associated with the command term to be present in a student's answer when assessing their SAQ or ERQ answer. If their knowledge and comprehension is outstanding and the critical thinking deep and analytical, I still will not award full marks if I believe the command term has not been addressed. Harsh!

There are 15 IB Psychology command terms in total. Only seven of these can be used to ask the extended response exam questions.

Command terms associated with assessment objective 1: Knowledge and comprehension

Command terms associated with assessment objective 2: Application and analysis

Command terms associated with assessment objective 3: Synthesis and evaluation

Important information about IB Psychology command terms:

In the learning outcomes (see syllabus content) the command terms are associated with assessment objectives 1, 2 or 3 and indicate the depth of understanding that is required of students in relation to each item of content. The grouping of command terms under assessment objectives reflects the cognitive demand of each term and is related to Bloom’s taxonomy.

A command term used in an examination question will be:
The same as that specified in the related learning outcome, or
Another command term associated with the same assessment objective, or
A command term of less cognitive demand.

For example, if a learning outcome begins with the command term “explain”, an examination question based on this learning outcome could contain the command term “explain”, another command term associated with assessment objective 2 (such as “analyse”), or a command term associated with assessment objective 1 (such as “describe”), but not a command term associated with assessment objective 3 (such as “evaluate”).

This means: A lower level learning outcome (e.g. ‘Explain one study related to localization of function in the brain’ will never be asked as a 22 mark ERQ in the IB Psychology examinations. It means you can plan your ERQ answers in advance and think about how you can adapt each answer if it is asked with a different command term. Don't delay. Start practicing today.

Notes on Command Terms: PDF Download

Author: Derek Burton – Passionate about IB Psychology

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Smart IB Psychology Short Answer Questions

A perfect IB Psychology SAQ exam anser

Go with the flow ...

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Quality Not Quantity

Examination fish hooks

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panic attack! - It's not pretty

Structure, Order, Routine.

ERQ Model Answer Template

SAQ MODEL ANSWER TEMPLATE

The Secret 7

The IB Psychology Exam Questions are the Learning Outcomes

The First Commandment of IB Psychology

Command terms associated with assessment objective 1: Knowledge and comprehension

Command terms associated with assessment objective 2: Application and analysis

Command terms associated with assessment objective 3: Synthesis and evaluation

IB DipLOMA PsychologY:

Archives

Categories

A perfect IB Psychology SAQ exam anser

panic attack! - It's not pretty

ERQ Model Answer Template

SAQ MODEL ANSWER TEMPLATE

The IB Psychology Exam Questions are the Learning Outcomes

Command terms associated with assessment objective 1: Knowledge and comprehension

Command terms associated with assessment objective 2: Application and analysis

Command terms associated with assessment objective 3: Synthesis and evaluation

IB DipLOMA Psycho﻿logY:

Archives

Categories

IB DipLOMA PsychologY: