1. education
2. homework and study tips

PSYCHOLOGY AS
1
Why are they so IMPORTANT?
 Key question
18/30 marks
Pass & fail
A or E
Happiness or despair
Life or death
2
In EVERY
Part (c) question
AO1 = 6 marks
AO2 = 12 marks
3
PSYCHOLOGY AS
Knowledge &
understanding
AO1 skills
4
Kinds of AO1 question
Key terms (definitions)
 Research

– APFCC
– Research findings and conclusions

Research
– Explanations
– Theories
5
AO1 Knowledge and understanding
6 marks Accurate and reasonably detailed.
5-4
marks
Less detailed but generally
accurate.
3-2
marks
Basic.
1-0
marks
Very brief, flawed or inappropriate.
6
Detail
Explain what is meant by flashbulb
memory.
Flashbulb memories are like a
picture of an emotional event.




Is this detailed and accurate?
Is it very brief or flawed?
Does this help you understand
what flashbulb memories are?
Has it captured the key points?
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Getting enough detail
Flashbulb memories are like a picture of an
emotional event.


Flashbulb memories are a recollection of the
context when one first heard about an emotional
event.
Flashbulb memories are a detailed and enduring
picture of the context when one first heard about
an emotional event.
8
Explain what is meant by the term
flashbulb memory. (3 marks)
Identify 3 or 4 bullet points for 3 mark
question to help your memory:
–
–
–
–
detailed and enduring
context
emotional event
For example, remembering what you were
doing/where you were when you heard about the
Trade towers
9
The devil is in the
detail
• ‘Flashbulb memory is related to
emotional events .’
• More detail: ‘Flashbulb memory
is related to the context of
emotional events.’
• Even more detail: ‘Flashbulb
memories are detailed and
enduring.’
10
The devil is in the
detail
• ‘Repression is when you don’t
remember certain events.’
• More detail: ‘Repression is when
you don’t remember traumatic
events.’
• Even more detail: ‘Repression is
when you don’t remember
traumatic events for example
Williams’ study … .’
11
The devil is in the
detail
• ‘One study found that short-term
memory has a short duration.’
• More detail: ‘Peterson and
Peterson found that short-term
memory has a short duration.’
• Even more detail: ‘Peterson and
Peterson found that short-term
memory has a short duration,
e.g. seconds rather than
minutes.’
12
To provide detailed answers …
• Specify exactly what you mean
• Use focussed and/or technical
terms
• Use examples
• Cite named studies
• Squeeze your sponge
13
Accuracy
• How does one
remember things
accurately?
• What do we mean
by ‘learning’?
• Processing is the
key
Understanding
Accurate recall
Recall vs
recognition
Exam anxiety
14
The Goldilocks problem
What is the biggest problem for candidates?
1. They don’t have
enough to write.
2. Sometimes they have
too much to write.
15
Identify key points
• 6 minutes  100 words
• About 6-8 key points
• APFCC = 3-4 points
16
Bahrick et al. (1975)
17
The aims
Some studies have looked at the duration of memory
over time but have found that memories fade. It is
possible that memories actually last a lot longer than
was found in these studies. The problem is that the
information that people were asked to remember
was not very interesting, and that’s why it was
forgotten. In real life people have lots of things they
do remember over a long time, but these things tend
to be personally important. This study aimed to
investigate very long-term memory (VLTM) in a
natural setting where the things to-be-remembered
were of personal significance. The memories to be
recalled were of high school classmates. The study18
also aimed to compare verbal and visual LTM.
Key points
• Past research has found that memories
fade over time.
• This may be because they were not very
interesting.
• So this study looked at the duration of
memories that are interesting to an
individual.
• Memories that are personally significant
– of high school classmates.
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Reduce this to a list of bullet points
– Past research
– Not very interesting.
– Interesting to an individual.
– Personally significant.
• When revising check that you can remember
all your bullet points.
• And for each bullet point write a full sentence.
20
Why it works
• Ensures you learn just the right amount
(not too much or too little)
• Processing: YOU select your points and
practice ELABORATING them
– Levels of processing theory
– Processing increases understanding
– Processing and elaborating improves recall
(versus rote learning)
– Cues help recall (cue retrieval theory)
21
Six mark version of GAS
• Alarm stage: stressor perceived.
• E.g. increased heart rate, liver releases
sugar.
• Effective coping strategy
• Resistance: restore equilibrium
• Resources slowly depleted
• Prolonged stress  exhaustion
• Adrenal glands enlarged, organism tired
• Collapse and physical illness
22
PSYCHOLOGY AS
Evaluation &
commentary
AO2 skills
23
AO2 marking allocation
Commentary,
analysis &
evaluation
12-10 Informed and
effective
9-7
Reasonable
6-4
Basic
3-0
Rudimentary
or absent
Selection Range of issues and/or
& use of
evidence
material
Effective
Broad range in reasonable
depth or narrower range
in greater depth.
Not always Limited depth or narrower
effective
range in greater depth.
Basic
Superficial consideration
of restricted range.
24
SHOCK
HORROR!
There is no such
thing as AO2, only
material that is used
as AO2
25
To make AO2 effective use
THE AO2 ‘VOCABULARY’
• This suggests that…
• This is supported by…
• So we can see that…
• This is challenged by…
• This would imply…
• A consequence would
be…
• Not everyone reacts the
same way, for
example…
• An advantage of this
is…
• There may be cultural
variations…
• An alternative
explanation could be…
• This has been applied
to…
26
Orne and Holland claimed that Milgram’s study
lacked external validity because it did not relate
to events in the real world. Milgram disagreed with
this claim, and argued that it was the same
underlying psychological process (agentic shift)
operating in his laboratory studies of obedience
as was operating in many of the atrocities carried
out during the Holocaust, therefore his research
could be said to apply to the real world.
However, Mandel (1998) criticises this view and
claims that Milgram’s study was not sufficiently
similar to events in the Holocaust to justify this
conclusion. In support of this claim, Mandel
used evidence from a study of the massacre
of Jews at Jozefow in Poland. In this event,
the murderers were under minimal supervision,
and continued to carry out the killings despite
witnessing some of their peers refusing to carry
out the order. This was in direct contrast to the
findings in Milgram’s research, when the absence of
direct supervision led to lower shock levels, and
witnessing defiant peers led participants to also
defy the experimenter.
WHEN IN ROME…
• Make life easier
for the examiner
AND better for
you by…
‘Speaking AO2’
27
If you leave it out, it’s not AO2
STM has a short duration. Peterson
and Peterson found that it was less
than 18 seconds.
STM has a short duration. This was
demonstrated by Peterson and
Peterson who found that it was
less than 18 seconds.
This was a laboratory study using
nonsense words.
This study may not tell us much
about real life STM because it was
conducted in a laboratory with
nonsense words.
Statement
Effective
use of
evidence
Statement
Effective
criticism
28
‘SPEAKING AO2’
DRAWING CONCLUSIONS
• This demonstrates that you
understand exactly what a
piece of research has
accomplished.
• e.g. Considering what a study
of obedience has actually
shown.
• Use ‘This shows that…’ to
demonstrate that you
understand what the
conclusion is.
• e.g. This shows that…
…people tend to ignore
feelings of compassion
and empathy for the
victim when ordered to
behave in a destructive
way by an authority
figure.
This makes
your AO2
OBVIOUS and
therefore more
likely to earn
marks
29
‘SPEAKING AO2’
USING RESEARCH
•
•
It isn’t sufficient (or even
appropriate) to simply
describe supporting
research, it should be built
into an evaluative statement.
Use ‘This is supported
by…’ or ‘thus supporting
the view…’ to demonstrate
that you understand how this
study relates to a point of
view.
• “Evidence from Nemeth and
Brilmayer (1987) showed
that a minority of one who
refused to change his
position had little effect on
others…
• …thus supporting the view
that flexibility rather
• than consistency is important
in minority influence”.
This makes
your AO2
EFFECTIVE
and more
likely to earn
higher marks
30
‘SPEAKING AO2’
USING RESEARCH
•
•
It isn’t sufficient (or even
appropriate) to simply
describe supporting
research, it should be built
into an evaluative statement.
Use ‘This is challenged
by…’ or ‘thus challenging
the view…’ to demonstrate
that you understand how this
study relates to a point of
view.
• This is challenged
by… Mandel (1998), who
found, in his studies of real
life events during the
Holocaust, little evidence of
the types of ‘blind obedience’
proposed by Milgram.
This makes
your AO2
EFFECTIVE
and more
likely to earn
higher marks
31
‘SPEAKING AO2’
An alternative explanation
might be… that participants
went along with the
experimenter’s instructions
because they knew they were
not giving real electric shocks.
This would challenge the
claim that… people readily
engage in destructive acts
against another person simply
because they are locked into a
subordinate relationship with
an authority figure.
ALTERNATIVE
EXPLANATIONS
•
There is always an
alternative explanation for
theories or research
findings.
•
Use ‘This would
challenge…’ to
demonstrate that you
understand how this
contrasts with the theory
or research conclusion.
32
‘SPEAKING AO2’
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
•
People are different, which
challenges the view that all
people react in the same way.
•
Use ‘Not everyone reacts in
the same way…’ and use
research evidence to support
your claim.
•
How does this limit the validity
of whatever it is you are
evaluating? (e.g. it may make
the finding less universal)
• Not everyone reacts in
the same way… e.g.
some studies have found
that women are more
conformist than men
(Eagly and Carli, 1981)
because they are more
concerned with social
relationships.
But…
Masc
Fem Neutral
Males
34.15
43.05
39.65
Females
42.75
34.55
39.10
[Sistrunk & Mc David, 1971]
33
Meta-commentary
• Orne and Holland claimed
that the study lacked
internal validity
(participants didn’t really
believe they were giving
shocks and only pretended
during the study).
• Milgram disputed these
claims, arguing that
participants showed
considerable stress during
the study and in postexperimental interviews
said they believed they
were giving shocks.
This type of evaluation is a
form of debate (a bit like a
tennis match), as one point
is met by another which is
in conflict with the first.
34
‘SPEAKING AO2’
There may be cultural
variations in this
behaviour…. e.g. Bond &
Smith, (1996) found that
participants from collectivist
countries tended to show
higher levels of conformity than
participants from individualist
countries.
A consequence of this is
that… research into
conformity using members of
one culture may tell us little
about conformity in other
cultures.
CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
•
Cultural differences exist in
many different aspects of
behaviour.
•
Use ‘A consequence of this
is that…’ to demonstrate that
you understand what this
means for the research in
question (and earn extra AO2
credit)!
35
‘SPEAKING AO2’
This research has been
applied to… commercial
pilot training in the US,
where flight captains and
first officers are assessed
on the ‘obedience
dynamic’, i.e. excessive
domination (captain) or
excessive obedience (first
officer) so that accidents
attributable to this
relationship can be
minimised.
APPLICATIONS
•
Much of the psychology you
have studied has VALUE
through its applications.
•
Use ‘This research has
been applied to…’ to
introduce the application and
say why this is valuable.
36
DEPTH … ELABORATION
THREE POINT RULE….
• Identify your criticism
(“What is it?”)
• Justify it (“How do I know
that?”)
• Elaborate it (e.g. “Why is
this a good or bad thing?”)
WHY?
Because it takes you
from ‘reasonably
effective’ to ‘effective’
(which may be the
difference between a
Grade C and a Grade A)
• ‘What do I know, how do
I know it, and so what?’
37
Criticisms: The three point rule
• Name the
criticism
• Study lacked ecological validity.
• The word lists used to test memory
• Present
didn’t resemble the kinds of things
evidence to
people do in the real world and
support this
involved one kind of memory.
• Explain why
it is a
criticism
• This means you can’t generalise
the findings to memory related to
different kinds of tasks.
38
Criticisms: The three point rule
• Name the
criticism
• Study was unethical.
• Participants were not able to give
• Present
fully informed consent and
evidence to
therefore agreed to participate in
support this
something that could cause them
distress.
• Explain why
it is a
criticism
• This undermines the value of this
research because human rights
were abused.
39
Criticisms: The three point rule
• Name the
criticism
• Study was replicated.
• A similar study was conducted by X
• Present
in a different setting and produced
evidence to
similar findings.
support this
• Explain why
it is a
criticism
• This replication supports the
original findings providing external
validity.
40
INFORMED COMMENTARY
Milgram’s study is unethical.
Milgram’s study is unethical
because the participants
were psychological harmed.
The participants were
sweating and one
reportedly had an epileptic
fit.
Baumrind (1964) suggested
Milgram showed little
respect for his participants
and didn’t adequately
protect them.
An opinion but it’s
not informed
An opinion with
some justification
A little bit more
informed
Very informed
41
42
PSYCHOLOGY AS
18 Mark
questions
AO1 + AO2 skills
43
1. Have an opinion
The part (c) question
is your chance to
show that you can
think about a topic in
such a way as to
answer a slightly
more challenging
question than in the
part (a) and part (b)
questions.
Your opinions must be supported by psychological
knowledge = informed.
44
2. AO1 and AO2
Each question has an
AO1 component and
an AO2 component.
How do you know
what is AO1 and
AO2?
• Outline and evaluate….
• Discuss at least two criticisms that have been made of
research into majority influence.
• To what extent does research (theories and/or studies)
into deprivation and/or privation support the view that
such experiences are reversible?
• Consider methods of stress management in terms of
strengths and weaknesses.
45
3. Timing
18 marks = 18
minutes
18 – 3 = 15
AO1/AO2 =
5/10 minutes
46
300 words is enough
47
4. Organise your thoughts
48
5. Be balanced (and structured)
49
THREE PARAGRAPHS TECHNIQUE
1. AO1 (100 words)
2. AO2 (100 words)
AO1
AO2
3. AO2 (100 words)
e.g. ‘Outline and evaluate….’
•
Outline of theories/explanations or studies = 100
words
•
Evaluation of first theory or studies = 100 words
•
Evaluation of second theory or studies = 100 words
50
ALTERNATIVELY…
Mix and Match, but…
Get the proportions right!
1. AO1 then AO2
2. AO1 then AO2
3. AO1 then AO2
etc.
Whatever approach you take….
Remember that overall…
one third AO1
and two-thirds AO2
in all Part (c) questions
AO1
AO2
AO1
AO2
AO1
AO2
AO1
AO2
51
WORKING BACKWARDS FROM
YOUR CONCLUSION
• What is my conclusion?
• What evidence would lead to that
conclusion?
• What arguments (or evidence) might I
meet along the way, and how would I
discount them?
Appropriate for questions such
as ‘To what extent has research
shown that day care has
negative effects on cognitive
and/or social development?’
52
6. Answering the question that was set
• Discuss research studies into
majority influence.
• Discuss at least two criticisms that
have been made of research into
majority influence.
• Describe and evaluate ethical issues
in psychological research.
• Describe and evaluate how
psychologists deal with ethical issues
in psychological research.
Spot the
differenc
e
Spot the
differenc
e
53
Spot the difference
54
The secrets of
success
 Have an opinion
 AO1 should be
detailed and the right
amount
 AO2 should be
effective, elaborated
and informed
 Have a plan
They are skills
 Be balanced
which need
 Timing
practice.
55
A note on bullet points
It is acceptable to write in bullet points in an
exam but they should be elaborated bullet
points not one word or phrase:
THIS
Past research has found that memories fade
over time.
NOT
Past research
56
Use subheadings
• Aims
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
• Findings xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
57
Make your own LITTLE BOOK of
AO1 notes
• Three mark versions of all definitions
• Four mark versions of APFCC
• Six mark versions of research
findings/conclusions (for part (c) questions too)
• Three and six mark versions of explanations and
theories
• Criticisms
• Keep it brief
• And practice elaborating
58
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