If you’re a student using ChatGPT for other AI for your research paper, please read this carefully – it could save your bacon. If you’re a teacher struggling to convince your students of the perils of AI-driven research, this post might help. A few weeks ago I was writing about cultural differences in morality. I spent hours trying to find …
RETRACTION: I was wrong – You DO need to teach all four contexts
The benefit of publishing ideas is you get them tested. Thanks to John Crane who recently showed me I’d overlooked two important aspects of the Paper 1 and Paper 2 assessments (and for Christopher for posting the question). Paper 1B and 2B are linked to the contexts (developmental, learning, health and relationships). This means if a student didn’t learn about …
SL in One Year – It’s PossibleSample One Year Course Outline
This is a sample course outline that shows how you can cover everything in a logical order. The units are from this textbook. Sample Two Year Course Outline Travis’ IB Psychology Course Outline – SL in One Year This is a one year SL course. The IB recommends 150 hours. Please know I have never taught SL in one year, …
In Defense of Memorization
When Winston Churchill was at Harrow School he memorized all 70 stanzas of the poem “Horatius at the Bridge.” Highlands Latin School in Kentucky now gives students “The Winston Churchill Award” for anyone that can do the same. But memorization is a sin in modern education, I hear you say. Why on earth would well-meaning teachers be encouraging memorization? With …
Key Studies: “Weapon focus” and its effects on eye-witness memories (Loftus, 1987)
From decades of research we know that memory is not a passive cognitive process, but it is an active reconstructive one. As Elizabeth Loftus says, memory is not like a tape recorder that records things accurately and plays it back for us, but it’s more like a wikipedia page that anyone can go in and change. Loftus should know as …
Key Study: Bandura’s Bobo Doll (1963)
Introduction In one of his earlier research studies (1961), Bandura showed that children exposed to an aggressive model would later copy those same aggressive behaviours, even if the child was in a different setting. This supports the idea that behavior can be learned through observation, which is the major claim of Social Learning Theory (SLT). TV and films have become …
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 …
The MAOA (“Warrior”) Gene and Violence
In IB Psychology you need to be able to explain at least one example of how behaviour could be influenced by genetic factors. In this post, we’ll look at why a variation of the MAOA gene (a.k.a the “warrior gene”) could be linked with antisocial behaviours like aggression. There are two explanations: a simple one and a complex one. We’ll …
Lesson Idea: Neuroplasticity
This activity is designed to accompany the Criminology lesson 2.7b: Childhood and Brain Development. A good way to learn about neuroplasticity is to compare your performance on something you’re a master at, with something with which you’re a novice. Find someone in your class with whom you can share talents – they’ll try to teach you something you’ve never tried …
How does testosterone influence aggression?
Understanding how testosterone can influence aggression can be a little tricky, so this post is designed to provide extra help. This post is designed to support the materials in Topic 2.4 of our textbook, IB Psychology: A Student’s Guide. Common Errors Here is what an over-simplified (and incorrect) explanation for testosterone and aggression might look like: So in writing, this …
Criminology Support Pack: Now Available
BUY YOURSELF SOME TIME WITH OUR TEACHER SUPPORT PACK. You can get your full teacher support pack HERE! This pack for Criminology contains: Complete unit plan with learning outcomes, key terms and lesson overviews 9 x topic plans with learning outcomes 25 x individual lesson plans following our C.H.A.C.E.R framework 10 x individual activity handouts Links to complete online resources …
Key Studies: The effects of mindfulness and meditation on the brain (Desbordes et al. 2012, and Lazar et al. 2005)
These two studies can be used to discuss: The use of technological techniques Neuroplasticity Experimental methods (quasi and true experiments) to study: The brain cognitive processes Lazar et al. (2005) There have been numerous studies that have compared the brains of Tibetan monks who have thousands of hours of practice in meditation with normal controls. These studies regularly show …
Lesson Idea: Understanding conclusions from studies
For years I underestimated just how complex psychology studies are at first glance for brand new IB Psychology students, so I’ve made a deliberate effort in my new course to have a real gradual introduction into studies. For this activity, I like to have students in groups of three to four. They are given four studies from the criminology unit …
5 reasons why the linear approach is a bad idea!
Planning an IB Psychology course can be stressful, even for the most experienced teachers. It’s not surprise then that it can also be incredibly daunting for new teachers. One of your sources of stress may be thinking about which approach to take: do I teach linear or thematic? In this post I’ll outline five reasons why I think the linear …
Key Study: Testosterone and aggression in rats (Albert et al. 1986)
The material here was originally published in IB Psychology: A Student’s Guide. Males are more aggressive than females in almost every species. Why is this? One possible reason could be in the influence of the male sex hormone, testosterone. Testosterone is produced in the testes of males, which could be why males are more aggressive than females. While it is also …
Key Study: Serotonin, tryptophan and the brain (Passamonti et al., 2012)
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that has been correlated with numerous behaviours, including impulsive aggression, antisocial behaviour and violence. One reason for this correlation could be the effect that depleted serotonin levels could have on important parts of the brain when we perceive emotional stimuli. To test the effects of serotonin depletion on the brain, Passamonti et al. (2012) asked one …
Teaching Tip: How to cut content and increase understanding
When it’s time to teach the new course, if you’re a bit savvy in your curriculum design you can exploit overlaps, cut content, and best of all – enhance student understanding of psychology. How do we do all this? In this post I’ll walk you through some helpful hints and show you the value of constructing relationship chains. Keeping it Simple …
Key Study: Decision Making, Iowa Gambling and the vmPFC (Bechara et al., 2000).
Context Before reading about this study it’s important to recap the dual processing model of judgement and decision making. According to Kahneman (and others) we have two systems of processing information. System one is fast and unconscious, while system two is slower and considers more factors. The system of processing we use will affect our judgement, which in turn will …
Why teach themantically?
Why teach thematically? If you think about it, teaching by the core approaches (or levels of analysis) in a linear way IS a thematic approach – the themes are biology, cognition and socio-culture, and then the themes are abnormal psych, health, etc. These themes tie together topics so by the end of the unit students have a broad conceptual understanding. …
The Story of Phineas Gage
Important Note: Phineas Gage is an interesting way to learn about the relationship between the frontal lobe and our behaviour. However, there are many other studies that we use in this course to demonstrate important concepts like localization of brain function. Therefore, Gage should not be used in exam answers. The story… Phineas Gage was a railroad worker who was …
Lesson one on how to “explain” a study…
This post is written to accompany the lesson on Phineas Gage and the frontal lobe in “IB Psychology: A Student’s Guide.” Unit: Criminology Topic 1: The Brain and Behaviour Lesson (a): “The Frontal Lobe The guiding question for this lesson is designed to give you some practice at explaining the results of a study. The question is: “How does Phineas Gage’s case suggest …
What is the themantic approach?
What is the themantic approach? The traditional and by far the most common way of teaching IB Psychology is to teach it in a linear way,., i.e. teach each approach (level of analysis) and the options topics separately. So, for instance, the course begins with Research Methods, then moves into the BLA (or approaches, as they’re now called), the CLA. And …
Key Study: Moral Dilemmas – The Trolley and the Footbridge
Note: This was in a first draft of our textbook IB Psychology: A Student’s Guide but was later removed because of it’s complexity in nature, and the fact that it doesn’t thread as well as other studies on system one and two decision making. Morality and Decision Making The prefrontal cortex plays a crucial role in executive functions, also known as …
Key Study: Moral judgement and the prefrontal cortex (Ciaramelli, et al)
This study helps to explain how dysfunction in the prefrontal cortex might make people more susceptible to violent and/or impulsive behaviours. Similar to the VHIS, Ciaramelli et al investigated the differences between moral judgements in people with damage to their prefrontal cortex and healthy controls. Their study cites existing research that suggests people with damage to their PFC have “high levels of …
Key Study: Testosterone,the Brain and Aggression (Goetz et al, 2014)
Background Information Many studies have shown that testosterone can influence levels of aggression. But there haven’t been many studies that show exactly how testosterone may cause aggressive behaviours. The amygdala is a part of the brain associated with emotional response and it prepares our body for fight or flight. Goetz et al hypothesized that testosterone might influence the activity (or reactivity) of the …
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