One thing that makes writing about “ethical considerations” difficult in IB Psychology is when the question asks to write about “one” specifically. As we usually write about ethical guidelines (informed consent, debriefing, right to withdraw, etc.) it’s hard to identify just one as these are all interconnected. This is where using one of the three considerations that came out of …
Key Study: Animal research on neuroplasticity (Rosenzweig and Bennett, 1961)
Background Info For a long time it was widely believed that our brain’s growth happened at a fixed rate. Many people thought that by the time we were about 4 – 6 years old, our brains had stopped developing and we were either going to be smart, dumb or average and that this wouldn’t change in our lives. However, research …
Socio-cultural Etiology of PTSD: Socioeconomic status
When you are writing an essay on etiologies, keep it simple to begin with. Find one basic etiology (brain abnormalities, appraisals or socioeconomic status) and explain how and why that’s linked with PTSD. Use simple studies to begin with, and then later in your essay explore the interactions of bio, cog and socio-cultural influences. Etiology – Socioeconomic status A common finding …
Cognitive Etiology of PTSD: Appraisals
Updated July 2020 You can prepare for Paper 2 – Abnormal Psychology – by getting ready to answer any question from just the “Etiologies of abnormal psychology” topic. If you are using this strategy, you need to make sure you can explain biological, cognitive and sociocultural etiologies. Etiology – Cognitive appraisals (and re-appraisals) Cognitive Appraisal: In the context of PTSD, …
Biological Etiology of PTSD: Abnormalities in the brain
Updated, July 2020 After teaching my unit on PTSD (Chapter 4), I found that my students developed a really good understanding of how PTSD is not explainable by a single etiology, but rather it is the product of multiple-interacting factors. While this is great, it does mean that when the question asks about “one” specific etiology, they found it difficult …
Key Study: Mate preference across cultures (Buss, 1989)A cross-cultural study on attraction and mate preference
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” This classic saying means that we all have a different opinion about what is beautiful. When it comes to romantic relationships, is this really the case? A common field of study for psychologists is attraction and mate preference: what do people look for in a husband, wife, or lover? Buss’s classic study shows …
Key Studies: Reconstructive memory
False Memories and the Misinformation Effect Background Information Elizabeth Loftus is a prominent memory researcher whose work has had significant impacts on the legal system in the United States. She is often called on to testify in legal cases against eye-witness testimony. In the past, if an eyewitness claimed that they saw someone commit a crime they would almost definitely …
Key Study: The Primacy and Recency Effects (Glanzer and Cunitz, 1966)
The following has been adapted from IB Psychology: A Student’s Guide Evidence for MSM: Serial position effect (primacy and recency effects) The serial position effect (aka primacy and recency effect) is a cognitive phenomenon whereby people tend to remember the first (primacy) and last (recency) items in a series. This provides evidence for the MSM: people tend to remember the first items …
Key Study for the Dual Processing Model (Thinking and Decision Making)
The following is adapted from: “IB Psychology: A Revision Guide.” Tversky and Kahneman spent many years studying people’s thinking and decision making. As a result, they devised a dual processing model that attempts to explain two systems people use when processing information: system one and system two. The system used to process information can affect our decision making. System one …
Genetic similarities – twin and kinship studies on antisocial behaviour and aggression
Clarifications to the new IB Psychology guide (first exams May 2019) has said that students might be asked specifically about twin and/or kinship studies to discuss “genetic similarities.” This blog post can be used as supplementary information if required. How and why twin studies are used in psychology Twin studies gather groups of monozygotic (MZ – identical) and dizygotic (DZ – …