Psychology AQA B PSYB4 18th June 2012

For the approaches essay, my teacher uses SWEC : Strength, Weakness, Evidence, Comparison. you have to use quite a lot of detail though in explaining.

We basically write basic assumptions and then use 2 or 3 studies to back up the points
e.g. for biological research methods they use twin studies so you can bring in Kaij/Bouchard...
Then we evaluate the method of the study e.g. twin studies are never 100% in concordance rates so we know other factors play a part.

Then we do one strength, one weakness and a comparison of the approach but in a lot of detail.

if the question is general then you can bring a topic area as a strength to show off a bit, and basically say how that approach can be used to explain different things e.g. gender development.

comparisons is usually nature vs nurture for Bio, Beh and SLT. you can also bring in debates in the comparison bit.

if the question is specific i.e. to a topic area like gender development then general assumptions should be brief and emphasis should be on the topic area. That means you can have general evaluation of the approach but most of the evaluation should be on the topic area itself. e.g. a strength of the bio exp for gender development is that it can explain why boys and girls are different from a very young age/birth - its due to hormones, chromosome patterns etc... ALWAYS EXPAND.

hope this helps!

For debates, my teacher has got our class writing about what would be the extremes on each side of the debate and how they'd affect society.

For example, if we took a complete nature stance, it would cause the current legal system to be flawed as it focuses on rehabilitating criminals. If nature is responsible for everything then criminal behaviour would be believed to be genetic and unchangable.

Our teachers taught us DART- outline Debate, Approaches, Research methods & Topics..

That's very helpful! - what about debates essays?

I'm finding revision for this exam so hard how do you guys structure the essays for the debates questions ??
What topics could you use for holism/reductionism?
Thanks!

It differs for each debate e.g. For Free Will and Determinism -

Determinism: You have to talk about the three types of determinism: Bio, Environmental, Psychic and then I always bring in a sentence or 2 about a study to support each type e.g. Money/Skinners Box/Rat Man. EVALUATE STUDIES BRIEFLY - one positive and negative point about the method used (2 sentences max for each study).

I'm finding revision for this exam so hard how do you guys structure the essays for the debates questions ??
What topics could you use for holism/reductionism?
Thanks!

It differs for each debate e.g. For Free Will and Determinism -

State the debate - are we controlled by external/internal forces or do we choose our own behaviours.

Determinism: You have to talk about the three types of determinism: Bio, Environmental, Psychic and then I always bring in a sentence or 2 about a study to support each type e.g. Money/Skinners Box/Rat Man. EVALUATE STUDIES BRIEFLY - one positive and negative point about the method used (2 sentences max for each study).

Free Will you have to talk about Humanistic approach and how they fit in together.. You can also say therefore that it takes and Holistic view.

you also have to talk about how free will could be an illusion - we are somewhat controlled by moral responsiblity and obligations....

Then you need to talk about: if psychology wants to be a science, it needs to take a determinisitc and reductionist view. therefore free will is inadequate in psychology ....

And finally you need to talk about hard determinism - Bio/Beh would be a good example and contrast this with soft determinism - SLT.

As you can see its alot to right but remember AO1 is only 4 marks so the emphasis is on detail of evaluation (AO2). unfortunately each debate has a different structure and sometimes you might have to bring in a topic area....

I find it easier to list the debates and fit the approaches on there like a spectrum so biological would be reductionist and humanistic is holism ect then find topics to fit in with the approaches. e.g. you could talk about biological treatments for schizophrenia (reductionist) and cognitive-behavioral treatments for schizophrenia (heading towards holistic).

hope this makes sense!

Yeah that's what I do.. I start off by outlining the debate, then go onto saying which approach is on which side..do you talk about all the approaches? or just a few? & yeah then go onto topics.. is 2 enough?..
Thanks for your help

I have an inkling that Freewill Vs Determinism is going to come up, you guys...

Whenever our class did 12 markers we were explicitly told not to evaluate studies because it's irrelevant to the question as we should be evaluating the debate.

I have an inkling that Freewill Vs Determinism is going to come up, you guys...