Welcome to Psychology

1. Welcome to Psychology International Baccalaureate Group 3: Psychology Course Guide September 2010- May 2012

2. Welcome! • Congratulations! You have completed your GCSEs and hopefully enjoyed a long, hot (and sometimes wet!) summer. You have made an important choice this year, to study IB and the choose psychology as your Group 3 subject. • We aim to ensure you are convinced that you made the correct choice.

3. This year, you will develop understanding and skills in the following areas... • the three levels of analysis is psychology; • the socio-cultural level, • the cognitive level and • the biological level We will explore how these three interact to provide an integrative approach to the understanding of human experience and behaviour

4. Let’s look at an example • Depressive illness can be explained using all of these levels of analysis. • From a biological perspective • From a cognitive perspective • And from the socio cultural perspective, which would examine gender differences in prevalence of depressive illness in different cultures, life events, • Obviously what we consider to be the aetiology of the illness will affect the way in which it is subsequently treated.

5. In addition to..... • psychological theories, research, terminology, concepts, studies and methods • how psychological knowledge is generated through studying a range of psychological methodologies, designing and reporting psychological investigations, analyzing and interpret data • the skills of analysis, interpretation and evaluation • ethical issues in Psychology, including the ethical implications of psychological research • ways in which psychological research can be applied at the individual and community level

6. Course Structure and Assessment Paper 1: The Core The core comprises of the three levels of analysis in psychology; biological level, cognitive level and socio-cultural level. The biological level of analysis demonstrates what all humans share, whereas the cognitive and socio-cultural levels of analysis reveal the immense diversity of influences that produce human behaviour and mental processes. Section A comprises three questions (each marked out of 8); the questions assess your understanding of each of the three levels of analysis. You must answer all the questions and should spend approximately 1 hour on this section, (i.e. 20 minutes per question). The questions will only use command terms from assessment objectives one and two, i.e. state, define, outline, describe, distinguish, apply, explain, and analyse (more about assessment objectives later!) Section B comprises essay questions and should also take approximately 1 hour. You must choose one question from a choice of three. Questions will all include assessment objective three command terms, but may also include assessment objective one and two terms as well. The essays in this section are marked out of 22. You can find the list of command terms at the end of the specification.

7. Paper 2: The Options The options paper is 1 hour for SL pupils, who only have to write one essay, and two hours for higher levels pupils who have to write two essays. Essays are marked out of 22, just like section B of paper 1. The purpose of this paper is to assess your knowledge and understanding of the options studied (assessment objectives one and two) and to give you the opportunity to demonstrate application of psychological research, analysis, synthesis and evaluation in relation to the option, (assessment objective three). Paper 2 consists of fifteen questions on the five options, three on each of the following: • Abnormal psychology, • Developmental psychology, • Health psychology, • Psychology of human relationships, • Sport psychology This will be covered in year 13!

8. The Internal Assessment This is a piece of coursework which takes the form of a simple experiment which will be assessed through a written write up. Which is internally assessed. A sample will be sent to the IB moderators to ensure that our marking is in line with the rest of the world, (externally moderated). The aim is to complete this work by the end of the summer term so it can be written up over the holidays.

9. Questions related to theory of knowledge activities that you might consider during the course include the following: • To what extent are the methods of the natural sciences applicable in the human sciences? • Are the findings of human sciences as reliable as those of natural science? • To what extent can empathy, intuition and feeling be legitimate ways of knowing in the human sciences? • Are there human qualities or behaviours that will remain beyond the scope of the human sciences? • To what extent can information in human sciences be quantified? • Do knowledge claims in the human sciences imply ethical responsibilities? • To what extent do the knowledge claims of the social sciences apply across different historical periods and cultures? • Does psychological research ever prove anything? Why do we say that results only indicate or suggest? • How are ethics involved in the study of psychology? When and how do ethical standards change? • Noam Chomsky has written, “… we will always learn more about human life and human personality from novels than from scientific psychology.” Would you agree?

10. Now to begin • Consider the following • what psychology is • what psychologists do and • why it is important in the world today • why it’s not just a load of common sense! Where would be a good place to start to find this out?