Digital vs. Print Reading: Which one’s better?

Travis DixonCognitive Psychology, IB Psychology HL Extensions, Revision and Exam Preparation

Are you trying to study with your laptop and smartphone? You might even argue that you need your phone to study because that’s how you read your textbook. You might even be reading this digitally if your school has shifted to digital texts in favour of old-fashioned textbooks. In this post, we’ll see what the research says about reading digitally …

Note taking: Is typing or handwriting better?

Travis DixonCognitive Psychology, IB Psychology HL Extensions, Revision and Exam Preparation

IB students are the iGen, so you probably can’t imagine working without a laptop. This begs the question – is it better to take notes by hand on paper or typing on a laptop? Let’s review the research. Let’s first look at Mueller and Oppenheimer’s now famous study “the pen is mightier than the keypad:” In this quasi-experiment, 67 students …

Globalization & Behaviour Part Three
Immigration and Terrorism

Travis DixonAbnormal Psychology, IB Psychology HL Extensions, Social and Cultural Psychology

It seems like a simple question – how does globalization influence behaviour? But the explanation is actually quite tricky since globalization itself is a rather abstract concept. Because of this, we need to find concrete examples. In the first two posts in this series we focused on changes in cultural dimensions and television through Westernization (see links below).  This final …

Globalization & Behaviour Part Two
Does Western TV cause eating disorders?

Travis DixonAbnormal Psychology, IB Psychology HL Extensions, Social and Cultural Psychology

How does globalization influence behaviour? First we need to understand what globalization is and how it occurs. In the second post in this series, we review the definition of globalization and examine another potential example of its influence on human behaviour – through Western TV, the thin ideal and eating disorders. Globalization is often referred to as Westernization because the …

How does globalization influence behaviour?
Part I: The rise of Japanese individualism and its effects on happiness

Travis DixonIB Psychology HL Extensions, Social and Cultural Psychology

A simple way to understand how globalization has influenced human behaviour is to look at how some cultures values have changed over time. It is important to note that globalization is often referred to as Westernization, as the result is most frequently cultures adapting more Western values.  In the first post in this globalization series, we are going to look …

Exam Question Bank: HL Extension SocCult – Globalization

Travis DixonIB Psychology HL Extensions, Revision and Exam Preparation, Social and Cultural Psychology

One, two or all three essay questions in Paper 1, Section B will be based on the extension topics. Sociocultural Approach: Globalization Remember that the extension questions are created by combining the HL extension topics with the three topics in each of the approaches.  Sociocultural extension topics: “The influence of globalization on individual behaviour.” How globalization may influence behaviour The …

Exam Question Bank: HL Extension Cog – Technology & Cognition

Travis DixonCognitive Psychology, IB Psychology HL Extensions, Revision and Exam Preparation

One, two or all three essay questions in Paper 1, Section B will be based on the extension topics. Cognitive Approach: Technology and Cognition Remember that the extension questions are created by combining the HL extension topics with the three topics in each of the approaches.  Cognitive extension topics: “Cognitive processing in the digital world.” The influence of digital technology …

Exam Question Bank: HL Extension Bio – Animal Studies

Travis DixonBiological Psychology, IB Psychology HL Extensions, Revision and Exam Preparation

One, two or all three essay questions in Paper 1, Section B will be based on the extension topics. Biological Approach: Animal Research Remember that the extension questions are created by combining the HL extension topics with the three topics in each of the approaches.  Biological extension topics: “The role of animal research in understanding human behaviour” The value of …

Key Study: Childhood stress and its effects on serotonin (an animal experiment), (Gardner et al. 2009)

Travis DixonBiological Psychology, IB Psychology HL Extensions, Key Studies

This animal experiment by Gardner et al. (2009) could explain links between stress early in life when we’re kids and our behaviour as adults. The use of rats in this study allows the researchers to manipulate and measure IVs and DVs in ways that would be impossible in human subjects. The study provides possible explanations for why early life stress …

The negative effects of digital technology on cognition #2 (with key studies): TV, attention and working memory

Travis DixonCognitive Psychology, IB Psychology HL Extensions, Key Studies

Technology’s Negative Effects on Memory Numerous studies have investigated the effects of watching television on working memory and executive functions because kids in developed countries tend to watch a lot of television. Watching TV for long periods of time might be harmful for cognition because it doesn’t require us to use our working memory, unlike other activities like reading, doing …