AO2 COMMENTARY

1. The AO2 SKILLS AO2 COMMENTARY • Good commentary should be plentiful (i.e. thorough) rather than restricted to one or two throwaway points. • Good commentary means effective rather than ineffective commentary. THEORY OF THE DAY Psychology A2 The social learning theory claims that all aggressive behaviour is lear as a result of observing aggre models. Childre who see a model being reinforced

2. This suggests that… So we can see that… This would imply… A consequence would be… An advantage of this is… An alternative explanation could be… This is supported by… This is challenged by… Not everyone reacts the same way, for example… There may be cultural variations… This has been applied to… THE AO2 ‘VOCABULARY’

3. There is substantial research evidence to support the claim that violence is a reaction to the deprivation imposed by institutions such as prisons. For example, McCorkle et al. (1995) found that overcrowding in prisons significantly increased peer violence among inmates. This knowledge has been successfully applied in the treatment of violent offenders in a UK prison (Wilson, 1990s). He lowered overcrowding and other environmental ‘pollutants’ (noise and heat) associated with prison deprivation, achieving a significant decrease in violence.However,, research in this area has not produced reliable results, with other studies in prisons (e.g. Nijman, 1997) failing to decrease violence levels with lower levels of overcrowding. This suggests that deprivation alone cannot fully account for institutional aggression in prison populations.

4. Warbuton (2012) When toast is dropped, it always lands butter side down Smith (2013) Boys’ printers are more likely to break down when an essay is due in than are girls’ printers. Sod’s law "Anything that can go wrong, will" McCartney (1967) In Pepperland, things only go wrong for bad people Branson (2011) Found that whatever can go right does go right

5. SUPPORTING RESEARCH GENDER DIFFERENCES Sod’s law "Anything that can go wrong, will" CULTURAL DIFFERENCES NON-SUPPORTING RESEARCH

6. RESEARCH EVIDENCE

7. SUPPORTING RESEARCH This supports the claim… …that attraction is an influential factor in attraction, and therefore important in the formation stage of a romantic relationship. Montoya et al. (2008) carried out a meta-analysis of studies of similarity and attraction and found that the effect of similarity on attraction was large and significant.

8. NON-SUPPORTING RESEARCH Tidwell et al. (2012) studied participants attending a speed-dating event who interacted with members of the opposite sex for 4 min each. Data revealed that perceived, but not actual, similarity predicted romantic attraction. This challenges the claim that… Actual similarity is important when beginning a relationship, and it may be more important in maintaining a relationship instead.

9. WHAT DOES IT SHOW? Supporting research – adds credibility to a claim, makes it more likely to be true, increases the reliability of an observation, and demonstrates that this behaviour occurs in other settings and with other people (ecological validity) Non-supporting research Challenges the credibility of a claim, makes it less likely to be true, shows an observation to be unreliable, and demonstrates that this behaviour does not occur in other settings (lack of ecological validity)

10. GENDER DIFFERENCES

11. GENDER DIFFERENCES IN AGGRESSION IDA Males and females may react differently with respect to… Campbell (1999) argues that ”Lower rates of aggression by women reflect not just the absence of masculine risk-taking but are part of a positive female adaptation driven by the critical importance of the mother's survival for her own reproductive success.” Therefore explanations of aggression may not be universal and so are gender biased. Phoolan Devi

12. WHAT DOES THEY SHOW? Gender differences – suggest that males and females may react differently with respect to this behaviour, therefore shows that an explanation may not be universal (i.e. doesn’t apply to everybody in the same way) Gender similarities – suggest that males and females may react the same with respect to this behaviour, therefore shows that an explanation is more likely to be universal (i.e. applies to everybody in the same way)

13. CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

14. CULTURAL DIFFERENCES/BIAS IDA There are cultural differences in this behaviour… • Ma (1996) Studied online relationships among American and East Asian students. • Both tended toward more rapid self-disclosure in online compared to face to face relationships. • This happened quicker and to a greater degree in the American students. • A consequence of this is that… research using members of one culture may tell us little about relationships in other cultures and so is gender biased.

15. CULTURAL SIMILARITIES • Jankowiak and Fischer (1992) argued that romantic love is a pan-human characteristic. They searched for evidence of romantic love in a sampling of hunting and gathering societies. • They found clear evidence of passionate love in 147 of the 166 tribal cultures. In only one society was there no compelling evidence of romantic love.

16. WHAT DO THEY SHOW? IDA Cultural differences Suggest that an explanation or research finding is not universal (i.e. does not apply to all human beings in the same way). Consequence is that research in one culture tells us very little of how members of another culture might behave with respect to this behaviour (cultural bias).

17. WHAT DO THEY SHOW? Cultural similarities Suggest that an explanation or a research finding may be universal (applies to all human beings in the same way). A consequence of this is that the behaviour in question may have biological rather than cultural origins.

18. Much of the psychology you have studied has VALUE through its applications. Use ‘This research has been applied to…’to introduce the application and say why this is valuable. This research has been applied to… increasing our understanding of why the presence of guns in the environment increases aggression. Klinesmith et al. (2006) found increases in salivary testosterone in male college students who were allowed to interact with a gun for just 15 minutes. APPLICATIONS IDA

19. APPLICATIONS IDA Most violence occurs in environments that are hot, noise polluted (e.g. shouting, banging cell doors) and overcrowded. Wilson (1990s) – changed levels of noise, heat and crowding at HMP Woodhill, led to a dramatic decrease in violent conduct.

20. WHAT DOES IT SHOW? Applications – show that research has value because it can predict and change behaviour in the real world. This is also a demonstration of its external validity

21. THREE POINT RULE…. Identify your criticism (“What is it?”) Justifyit (“How do I know that?”) Elaborateit (e.g. “Why is this a good or bad thing?”) ‘What do I know, how do I know it, and so what?’ WHY? Because it takes you from ‘reasonable’ to ‘effective’ (which may be the difference between a Grade C and a Grade A) MAKING IT EFFECTIVE GRADE A

22. This is Grade A performance

23. EFFECTIVE AO2 The three point rule What is the criticism? Where is the evidence for that criticism? Why is this a good (or bad) thing for the material being criticised? Weak AO2 This study can be criticised because it lacks ecological validity, which is a bad thing. Strong AO2 This study is limited … …it lacks ecological validity, …because attempts to replicate the findings in other settings (e.g. Smith, 2009) have been unsuccessful, … which means that the findings cannot be generalised beyond this situation..

24. EFFECTIVE AO2 The three point rule What is the criticism? Where is the evidence for that criticism? Why is this a good (or bad) thing for the material being criticised? Weak criticism An advantage of this study is that it has ecological validity, which is a good thing. Strong criticism This study is a good one… …because it has ecological validity, …because attempts to replicate the findings in other settings (e.g. Jones, 2009) have been successful, … which means that the findings can be generalised beyond this situation..