If you’re an old fogey like me the name Rebecca Black probably won’t mean much. And to be honest, to kids in high school today in 2020 it might not mean much either. But she was the most googled person in 2011 and she can teach all of us a lot about an important psychological concept – resilience. In 2011, …
The best topics for Paper 2
The IB Psychology guide is a little, shall we say, clunky. One benefit of the clunkiness of the guide is that we can exploit some of the oversights to our advantage. For example, there’s guaranteed one exam question per topic in Paper 2. This means you only need to study one topic per option (SL write one essay on one …
Exam Topics in IB Psychology Paper Two – Overview
The most important thing to know when studying for the IB Psychology exams are the topics. The IB Guide published by the IB has these listed. Unfortunately, the guide is a bit confusing in its layout and it’s not easy to see quickly and easily what the topics are. That’s why I put them in this post. Download the following …
How to study for Paper 2 in IB Psychology
Revising or Paper 2 in IB Psych can be challenging because it’s not always clear what the questions will be. Unlike the Paper 1 topics, Paper 2 topics are bit more ambiguous. However, the same requirements as Paper 1 essays are still needed. This means we can approach studying for Paper 2 in a similar way as Paper 1, we …
Exam Topics in IB Psychology Paper One
The most important thing to know when studying for the IB Psychology exams are the topics. The IB Guide published by the IB has these listed. Unfortunately, the guide is a bit confusing in its layout and it’s not easy to see quickly and easily waht the topics are. That’s why I put them in this post. Download the following …
Key Study: Schema Theory & the Superwoman Self-schema
Schema theory is one of the most important theories in cognitive psychology, but it can also be one of the more difficult theories to understand. The best way, I’ve found, to understand schema theory is to look at as many real-life examples as possible. In this post, we’ll look at a fascinating example – the AfricanAmerican Superwoman self-schema. A schema …
How to study for Paper 1 in IB Psychology3 Steps to Prepare for Section B: Essays
In yesterday’s post, I explained 7 simple steps for studying for Paper 1, Section A (SAQs) in IB Psychology. Now it’s time to look at how we can use that foundation to prepare for Section B – the essays. Studying for Paper 1 in IB Psychology is simple, but it’s not easy. Make sure you start your revision a few …
How to study for Paper 1 in IB Psychology7 Simple Steps to Prepare for Section A: SAQs
One of the most common questions I get asked is, “How should I study for the IB Psychology exams?” Unfortunately, it’s also one of the hardest questions to answer. In this post, I’ll do my best to plan out some really simple steps that might help for Paper 1. We’ll start easy and get harder so no matter what your …
Power Distance and Plane Crashes: The Gladwell Hypothesis
I recently read Malcolm Gladwell’s excellent book “Outliers.” In this book, Gladwell gives an interesting psychological explanation for why some countries have higher rates of plane crashes than others. The “Gladwell Hypothesis,” as it has come to be known, suggests that plane crashes can be explained by looking at cultural values. In particular, the cultural dimension of “power distance.” Power …
3 Easy Lesson Ideas: Reflecting on the IB Psych Course
As many of us come to the end of our IB Psychology courses, it’s important to take some time to reflect on everything we’ve learned. This simple lesson idea is a good way for students to do that. It also provides some feedback for the teacher. Someone once asked me, “what’s the highest aspiration you have for your teaching?” It …