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Psychology; A2; Unit 3

Does anyone know the correct markscheme for unit 3 psychology for 2012 ?
I'm almost sure that you need 15/24 for each out of 3 questions to get an A, how about A*? :confused:

P.S. Any tips for the thursday exam?? :confused:

Reply 1

kate1212

Yeah it is generally 15/24 for the A :smile:

Well an A* is an average of 90 ums over the two A2 modules. So ideally you want to be getting around 21/24 or 22/24.
But it varies from year to year, sometimes the boundaries are slightly higher, sometimes slightly lower.

Reply 2

laurag.19

Hey, I have the psychology exam on Thursday too!
What did you guys get last year and what are you hoping to get this year?
There's so much to learn!!!

Reply 3

laurentommo

Too much to learn :frown:

I'm hoping for biological for aggression or deindividuation though :smile:

Reply 4

Angel'ika

Original post by laurentommo

Too much to learn :frown:

I'm hoping for biological for aggression or deindividuation though :smile:

Yeahh me too! I think these are the easiest ones, and maintenance of relationships, i can do good on these

Original post by kate1212

Yeah it is generally 15/24 for the A :smile:

Ahhh that's high :frown:

Thanks though :smile:

Reply 5

Angel'ika

Original post by laurag.19

Hey, I have the psychology exam on Thursday too!
What did you guys get last year and what are you hoping to get this year?
There's so much to learn!!!

I got A for both unit1 and 2 :cool:

this year I'm hoping for A*, I need it if i want to get into Royal Holloway. What about you?

Reply 6

laurag.19

Original post by Angel'ika

I got A for both unit1 and 2 :cool:

this year I'm hoping for A*, I need it if i want to get into Royal Holloway. What about you?

sorry for late reply, but same, hoping to get A* this year. Got all As so far!!! Its weird as in G544 I apparently need 84% for A* or something like 47% for an A \: LOL

Do you want to study psychology?

Reply 7

Angel'ika

Original post by laurag.19

Ohh that's weird.
I'm re-taking unit 3 unfortunatley in january i only got a D ;/
Yeah im gonna study psychology at royal holloway..hopefully :smile:

What about you?

Reply 8

ramboo

Hi, if anyone is doing relationships in PSYA3 - how many marks out of 25 do you think this model answer would get? thanks :smile:

(sorry for cramming page!)

Discuss the relationship between sexual selection and human reproductive behaviour (25 marks)

The Darwinian concept of sexual selection involves the notion that any physical trait that enhances reproductive success will gradually be passed down and enhanced over evolutionary time. Evolutionary psychologists explain the relative hairlessness of humans in terms of sexual selection, as this trait was adaptive in that it enhanced reproductive fitness by indicating hygiene. It has therefore evolved and developed over the centuries as it confers a net benefit. Intra-sexual selection involves men competing with each other for access to females. As a consequence of this, men have evolved larger, more triangular backs, as this indicates strength and makes the individual more attractive to females; another example of sexual selection at work. Inter-sexual selection on the other hand, involves the apparent “choosiness” of females. Females invest highly in their offspring, and as a consequence, seek partners that can provide resources and protect them from predators. As a result of sexual selection, both males and females have evolved certain mate preferences which in turn, has lead to the evolution of certain physical characteristics.

Current mate choices evolved in the EEA, and were adaptive in mobile hunter-gatherer tribes. These choices now exist as neural circuits which bias our mate preferences. An example of this bias is the desire for attractive, symmetrical faces. Little & Hancock propose that humans have evolved to be attracted to symmetrical faces because they indicate “averageness”, which equates to genetic health. Furthermore, it has been proposed that sexual selection has caused males to develop fairly large testicles, as this is a way of compensating for female promiscuity. Studies show that chimpanzees, which have highly promiscuous partners, have large testes, whereas gorillas, which have faithful partners, have relatively small testes. Humans are somewhere in the middle, implying that human females are moderately promiscuous. Female choice has created a selective pressure among males, and according to evolutionists, men have developed large, square jaws to display their strength, which attracts females. Females in comparison have evolved large eyes and a curvaceous body in order to indicate fertility, which is a result of the selective pressure from males to seek females who are going to produce the best children.

In support, Buss analysed lonely hearts columns across 37 countries, finding that universally, men seek fertility and attractiveness; and women seek resources and protection. These findings are in line with Darwin’s theory of sexual selection, and the strong cross cultural agreement implies that such mate preferences originated from our evolutionary past, as opposed to being learned. However, this study has attracted a number of criticisms, and studying personal ads may be unrepresentative, as individuals may exaggerate or lie about their mate preferences in order to conform to the cultural norm. Nevertheless, much research supports the idea that women are attracted to males with a lot of resources, and Hill and Kaplan have found that in the !Kun-San tribe, the best hunter-gathers have the most wives, which supports sexual selection theory.

The evolutionary approach does raise ethical concerns however, as sexual selection theory ultimately justifies infidelity in males and dismisses deviant acts such as rape to be evolved and adaptive behaviours which enhance reproductive success. Such a view is unsurprisingly, attacked fiercely. As well as this, Dunbar, who also studied personal ads, found that gay males are less likely to offer resources and lesbians are less likely to look for them in partner. This highlights a weakness of sexual selection theory, as it cannot account for the fact that some people are homosexual, and some couples elect to be childless. However, much research supports the idea that certain traits have evolved over evolutionary time, and Perrett et al. have found a strong cross cultural agreement for facial attractiveness. Furthermore, Langlois et al have found that an interest in attractive female faces develops within the first year of infancy, which implies that such a mate preference is innate and evolved.