lOMoARcPSD|66458793
Section C What the spec says: 1. Recognise the psychology content in the source
Find the psychology – link the source to something that you know about psychology (areas, key themes, component 1, could also be something in component 3) Make sure you know the 10 key themes in detail and in theory the article should link to one of these You need to know how the structure of how the article links to the key theme or area
2. Make evidence based suggestions in relation to the source
Fully describe how to improve something based on the article The examiner’s report says: “any suggested change was acceptable, but many of the suggested changes were not described and simply stated ‘get informed consent’, not how or from whom’” – make sure you are including enough detail
3. Consider the strengths and weaknesses of the suggestions you are making (implications)
For each suggestion that you make you should suggest a good thing (strength) and a bad thing (weakness), all in context; this needs to be balanced
Practice Questions Sesame Street and learnt behaviour. Sesame street is an educational TV programme which aims to show that television can have positive effects on young children in preparation for school. Research has shown that viewers of Sesame Street were better prepared to learn to read and do arithmetic, and this readiness seemed to be a result of watching the show and not of other variables, such as how educated their parents were or how much they read to their children. The advantage held even through secondary school, with students who had watched the programme at age 5 gaining consistently higher grades in English, Mathematics and Science compared than those who had not watched the programme at a young age. Longitudinal research has also shown that watching Sesame Street is related to gaining a greater sense of competence, being less aggressive and demonstrating more motivation for academic achievement. Teenagers who are less aggressive can take part in school more effectively and will in turn feel good about their achievements because they will be rewarded for their motivation and academic success.
a) Identify one psychological issue raised by the above article. Support your evidence with evidence from the article [3]
Identify the psychological issue Explain this psychological issue Link explicitly to the information from the article (quotes etc) Elaboration - what does this mean
[3 marks] You need “good developed context” which means tell me exactly how a quote from the article links to something we have covered in psychology. P: One psychological issue in the article is that… E: For example, in the article… (what happened? Give lots of evidence, include a quote) E: This is an issue because… Model Answer: (P) “One psychological issue is linked to social learning theory. This is when children learn through observing others and imitate the behaviour that they have seen. (E) This links to the article as it demonstrated that children who watched Sesame Street were better prepared to learn to read and do arithmetic as a result of watching the show and that they gained consistently higher grades in English, Maths and Science compared to those who had not watched the programme. (E) This means that children who are exposed to certain experiences are more likely to develop
lOMoARcPSD|66458793
b) Outline one piece of psychological research that links to the above article and justify how it relates to the above source [8] 1. Describe the study that the article links to (aim, method, results, conclusion) 2. Explain how the study is relevant to the source material (How does it fit? What is it looking at? What did they find?) [5 marks] = Outline the study it links to [3 marks] = Relate to the article If there is no link to the article than you cannot get higher than 4 marks Model Answer: (SUMMARY) “Bandura studies 72 children from Stanford University nursery school. Children observed an aggressive model, non-aggressive-aggressive model or no model. The aggressive model was physically and verbally aggressive towards the Bobo doll. The non-aggressive model ignored the Bobo doll. In room 2, all children were allowed to play very attractive toys but the experimenter then took the toys away. Children were then observed through a one-way mirror for 20 minutes whilst observers recorded behaviour every 5 seconds into predetermined categories e.g. Nonimitative physical and verbal aggression. Children in the aggressive condition showed significantly more imitation of physical and verbal aggressive behaviour than children in the non-aggressive behaviour than children in the nonaggressive or control conditions. (LINK) Bandura’s study links to the article as behaviour, both in the study and in the article show that children do not need to be rewarded / have their behaviour reinforced but can learn by observing and copying the behaviour of models. So we imitate the behaviour that we see models demonstrating and this behaviour could be ‘good’ behaviour or ‘bad’ behaviour.”
c) Using your knowledge of psychology suggest techniques that teachers could use to encourage positive behaviours in children [6]
What is the strategy? How are you going to implement it? Use psychological terms Must mention more than one where directed Can reference studies but you do not have to
Must contain at least two techniques Model Answer: (TECH 1) “Teachers could use operant conditioning to encourage positive behaviours in children. For example, if students do really well in a test or answer questions correctly in class the teacher could give them a sweet or phone their parents and praise them that way. Therefore, every time a student does something good they could be rewarded for it and associate good behaviour with a reward. Teachers could punish bad behaviour in students to encourage them to behave better in the future by stating that they could not go and play outside if they had behaved badly. Also teachers could use social learning theory to encourage positive behaviours for example by rewarding good behaviour with a sweet to encourage others who have observed that behaviour to behave in the same way so that they can be rewarded (vicarious conditioning).” (PLUS, ONE MORE TECH)
d) Evaluate the techniques you suggested in the question above [10]
Strengths and weaknesses of the strategies Can include issues and debates Would it be effective? Are there any problems of it? Would it work for everyone or just some people? If it says discuss then include both sides of the strategy
2 or more evaluation points and all supported by evidence P: Strength/weakness E: Evidence of why
lOMoARcPSD|66458793
E: Explain why (x2) Model Answer: (P) “One strength of using operant conditioning is that it is a useful technique. (E) It is useful as it offers a technique that would mean that ‘good’ behaviours could be reinforced and therefore the person should be encouraged to behave in that way again. (E) However, a problem with using operant conditioning is individual differences this is because there may be certain children who despite being rewarded for ‘good’ behaviours and being rewarded do not repeat them / or continue to behave badly. This means that the technique is not necessarily going to work for all people.” (ONE STRATEGY).
Leading Questions When it comes to questioning victims or witnesses of car accidents in court, leading questions are often asked, because they suggest the desired answer to the victim or witness. In the interview example below, the victim’s car was hit by another car that they claim, ran a red light. The victim claims their light was green. The victim was injured in the accident and their car was irreparable. 1. Interviewer: "As you approached the end of the road, you were looking at the traffic light, weren't you?" Victim: "Yes." 2. Interviewer: "You could see that the traffic light in front of you was green, couldn’t you?" Victim: "Yes." 3. Interviewer: "You could see that the light for traffic on the other road was red, correct?" Victim: "Yes." 4. Interviewer: "But the car on the other road didn't stop for the red light, did it?" Victim: "No." 5. Interviewer: “When the car smashed into you, was it travelling over 40mph?” Victim: “Yes” 6. Interviewer: You were severely hurt because of the accident, weren’t you? Victim: “Yes”
a) Identify one psychological issue raised in the above source. Support your answer with evidence from the source [3] One psychological issue raised in the article is the use of leading questions in an interview. Leading questions are questions phrased in a certain way which will encourage participants to give a wanted answer. For example, in the article, the interviewer asks, “but the car on the other road didn’t stop for the red light, did it?” as this is encouraging the answer that the interviewer is looking for. This is an issue because people who are asked leading questions are likely to give the response wanted by the interviewer and this may stray from the truth.
b) Explain how the above source is relevant to the cognitive area of psychology. Support your answer with evidence from the source [4] The cognitive area attempts to explain human behaviour by focusing on our internal mental processes and how they influence our behaviour. It believes that the way in which an individual processes information will affect their behaviour. This links to the cognitive area because leading questions can influence our behaviour as is an internal mental process. This means that being given a leading question will change your behaviour (the way you answer) because your answer will be affected by the wording of the questions you are asked.
c) Outline one piece of psychological research that links to the above source and justify how it relates to the above