[psychknight27]

My students are currently revising for their exams this summer. The topics they have covered in psya3 are aggression, relationships and eating behaviour. The topics they have covered in psya4 are phobias, addiction and research methods.
If there are any students out there who are doing any of these topics and would like some help understanding anything or would like some guidance on an exam question then feel free to reply to this thread.
Good luck in your exams this summer.

[Mephestic]

(Original post by psychknight27)
My students are currently revising for their exams this summer. The topics they have covered in psya3 are aggression, relationships and eating behaviour. The topics they have covered in psya4 are phobias, addiction and research methods.
If there are any students out there who are doing any of these topics and would like some help understanding anything or would like some guidance on an exam question then feel free to reply to this thread.
Good luck in your exams this summer.

hey,

Can you explain what standard deviation means?

And when differentiating between what statistical test to use; how do I know something is actually nominal data for example? It says when data is in catagories...but all data tends to be in catagories? Or does it mean when frequency data (counting data) is in catagories?

[psychknight27]

Standard deviation is the average fluctuation of scores away from the mean value. Basically, the lower the standard deviation the better. A lower score suggests that there is less deviation from the mean value for that condition.
As far as nominal data is concerned, I find it easier to identify what is ordinal/interval/ratio data, namely anything that deals with participant SCORES or RATINGS, and consider everything else as nominal. However, nominal data usually arises out of observations, e.g. How many males/females were aggressive/passive. As you said...when frequency data is put into categories.

[Bjcross]

(Original post by psychknight27)
My students are currently revising for their exams this summer. The topics they have covered in psya3 are aggression, relationships and eating behaviour. The topics they have covered in psya4 are phobias, addiction and research methods.
If there are any students out there who are doing any of these topics and would like some help understanding anything or would like some guidance on an exam question then feel free to reply to this thread.
Good luck in your exams this summer.

not so much specific topics, but I'm trying for 90ums in unit 3 and 4, so what would you look for in an essay?

[Munsterfan94]

Hi,
What sort of level of detail AO1 is needed for question based on evolutionary sexual selection?
Thanks

[psyaddict]

I am really struggling with Research Methods even though I have done every paper several times. I really want an A, however I only need 77UMS for an A overall what kind of marks would I need in each of the three segments to achieve this, considering how rubbish I am at research methods?

[zubairkhan]

hi i was wondering whether if a essay question such as "discuss evolutionary explanations of aggression (9+16)" came up in an exam the previous year or any of the past papers, is there any point in revising these subjects more then the ao1 material?

[Mephestic]

(Original post by psyaddict)
I am really struggling with Research Methods even though I have done every paper several times. I really want an A, however I only need 77UMS for an A overall what kind of marks would I need in each of the three segments to achieve this, considering how rubbish I am at research methods?

I was like that too.
what are you struggling with in reseach methods? I found going over it over and over with past papers really helps.

[psyaddict]

There are some aspects I can do quite well such as identifying issues with aspects of the study such as questionnaires and ethics. But when it comes to identifying which statistical test to use I get confused even though I know the tests. Also the wording of questions completly throw me sometimes.

[psychknight27]

(Original post by Munsterfan94)
Hi,
What sort of level of detail AO1 is needed for question based on evolutionary sexual selection?
Thanks

This topic is one of the most difficult to answer a question on in my opinion. For 8 marks i would focus on the differences between inter sexual and intra sexual selection, stating specific examples to support each one. I would also focus on short term and long term mating strategies and the gender differences between them. this would set you up quite well for IDA as it would be easy to argue the case of both gender and culture bias.
hope this helps

[psychknight27]

(Original post by psyaddict)
There are some aspects I can do quite well such as identifying issues with aspects of the study such as questionnaires and ethics. But when it comes to identifying which statistical test to use I get confused even though I know the tests. Also the wording of questions completly throw me sometimes.

depending on which textbook you use there is a fantastic flow chart that my students have used to familiarise themselves with selection of statistical tests. if you use the a2 complete companion (the one with the dog on the cover) look at the flow chart on page 296, or page 134 if you use the corresponding mini companion. if you dont use these books follow these simple rules:

• if the experiment generates nominal data (categories) use chi squared
• if the experiment looks at relationships/correlations use a spearmens rho test
• if the experiment does not do either of the above it will be the mann whitney test for independent groups and the wilcoxon test for repeated measures

hope you find this useful

[psychknight27]

(Original post by zubairkhan)
hi i was wondering whether if a essay question such as "discuss evolutionary explanations of aggression (9+16)" came up in an exam the previous year or any of the past papers, is there any point in revising these subjects more then the ao1 material?

this exact question came up in the january 2011 paper. you do need to know more that AO1 for it i'm afraid. learn 2-3 research studies on that topic, use research methods to evaluate them, and identify good IDA points. I always find that gender and culture issues arise out of evolutionary theories as well as a tendency to be overly deterministic.

[psychknight27]

(Original post by psyaddict)
I am really struggling with Research Methods even though I have done every paper several times. I really want an A, however I only need 77UMS for an A overall what kind of marks would I need in each of the three segments to achieve this, considering how rubbish I am at research methods?

if you base scores on the mark bands for last summer's paper, you would need roughly 54 marks in the entire paper for 77 UMS points.that splits nicely into 18 marks per question. however, grade boundaries are not stable, they can fluctuate depending on the difficulty of the paper and the overall performance of all students who sat that paper.

[psychknight27]

(Original post by Bjcross)
not so much specific topics, but I'm trying for 90ums in unit 3 and 4, so what would you look for in an essay?

the mark scheme describes an essay (8 + 16 marks) as follows:
AO1
Knowledge and understanding are accurate and well detailed. A good range of relevant material has been selected. There is substantial evidence of breadth and depth. Organisation and structure of the answer are coherent.
AO2/3
Evaluation/commentary demonstrates sound analysis, understanding and interpretation. The answer is well focused and shows coherent elaboration and/or a clear line of argument. Issues/debates/approaches are used effectively. Ideas are well structured and expressed clearly and fluently. Consistently effective use of psychological terminology. Appropriate use of grammar, punctuation and spelling.

In terms of AO1 you just have to be accurate and detailed. with AO2 you need to explain the significance of the strengths/limitations/IDA points you use. for example, if a theory is gender biased, say why but also say what thet means for the theory...namely it is not universal/doesn't account for individual variations.

hope this helps

[psyaddict]

(Original post by psychknight27)
depending on which textbook you use there is a fantastic flow chart that my students have used to familiarise themselves with selection of statistical tests. if you use the a2 complete companion (the one with the dog on the cover) look at the flow chart on page 296, or page 134 if you use the corresponding mini companion. if you dont use these books follow these simple rules:

• if the experiment generates nominal data (categories) use chi squared
• if the experiment looks at relationships/correlations use a spearmens rho test
• if the experiment does not do either of the above it will be the mann whitney test for independent groups and the wilcoxon test for repeated measures

hope you find this useful

(Original post by psychknight27)
depending on which textbook you use there is a fantastic flow chart that my students have used to familiarise themselves with selection of statistical tests. if you use the a2 complete companion (the one with the dog on the cover) look at the flow chart on page 296, or page 134 if you use the corresponding mini companion. if you dont use these books follow these simple rules:

• if the experiment generates nominal data (categories) use chi squared
• if the experiment looks at relationships/correlations use a spearmens rho test
• if the experiment does not do either of the above it will be the mann whitney test for independent groups and the wilcoxon test for repeated measures

hope you find this useful

Thanks for the information I do use the books mentioned. Going to get my head round it in any way possible!!

[Bjcross]

(Original post by psychknight27)
the mark scheme describes an essay (8 + 16 marks) as follows:
AO1
Knowledge and understanding are accurate and well detailed. A good range of relevant material has been selected. There is substantial evidence of breadth and depth. Organisation and structure of the answer are coherent.
AO2/3
Evaluation/commentary demonstrates sound analysis, understanding and interpretation. The answer is well focused and shows coherent elaboration and/or a clear line of argument. Issues/debates/approaches are used effectively. Ideas are well structured and expressed clearly and fluently. Consistently effective use of psychological terminology. Appropriate use of grammar, punctuation and spelling.

In terms of AO1 you just have to be accurate and detailed. with AO2 you need to explain the significance of the strengths/limitations/IDA points you use. for example, if a theory is gender biased, say why but also say what thet means for the theory...namely it is not universal/doesn't account for individual variations.

hope this helps

Okay thankyou what do you think will come up for eating?

[psychknight27]

(Original post by Bjcross)
Okay thankyou what do you think will come up for eating?

Don't take this as gospel, but I believe that dieting will come up as it hasn't been asked for since January 2010. However, as a teacher I would advise you not to completely hedge your bets on this.

[Bjcross]

(Original post by psychknight27)
Don't take this as gospel, but I believe that dieting will come up as it hasn't been asked for since January 2010. However, as a teacher I would advise you not to completely hedge your bets on this.

Ooh I hope it does!x

[were93]

Please could you highlight some research on the maintenance of relationships, and the corresponding theories, thank you


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[Mephestic]

Im looking at how to answer Effectiveness of television in persuasion and looking at the markscheme from the last time this was asked in Jan 2011 ; it states you can use the hovland-yale model and elaboration-likelihood models in your answer? Does that mean this overlap can effectively kill two birds with one stone if you will and if a question comes up on effectiveness of television in persuasion; I can use the models to explain how such are used in television persuasion? e.g. Popular attractive celebrities used to endorse products, so called "credible experts" for advertisements such as dentists, fear based messages to persuade people to act on limited time sales etc ?