Psychology PSYA3/PSYA4 revision thread for 2014

revising for PSYA3 atm (i'm still learning PSYA4 at school) and I'm finding addictive behaviour so difficult

schizophrenia is fine because if you repeat and repeat it to yourself enough you basically just learn the maximum you could be asked on each page , and there aren't many pages to begin with so it's fine

but addictive behaviour , it feels like the topic never ends , it goes on and on and every page there's like double the amount of information as there is in schizophrenia AND there's double the amount of pages

anyone else finding this?

Reply 382

Hi, I have a couple of questions for PSYA4 section A

How many of the biological and psychological explanations should be know? Also how many biological and psychological therapies? Also, does chemotherapy count as 'one' therapy which includes SSRIS, MAOIs and tricyclic anti-depressants or would each of those groups of drugs count as an individual biological therapy (say if we were asked to outline and evaluate one biological therapy for depression).

Hope that made sense haha, thank you. :smile:

Reply 383

ImAz

6

Is anyone doing the media topic, I'm struggling to revise for it.

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Reply 384

I kind of think the point of TSR is to help people rather than a marketing idea to sell something

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Reply 385

nm786

2

Original post by ImAz

Is anyone doing the media topic, I'm struggling to revise for it.

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yh I agree media is tough to revise, it took me about 2 whole days to memorise everything for this topic last year. All I can say is Good luck revising it. :redface:

Original post by LeaX

Hi, I have a couple of questions for PSYA4 section A

How many of the biological and psychological explanations should be know? Also how many biological and psychological therapies? Also, does chemotherapy count as 'one' therapy which includes SSRIS, MAOIs and tricyclic anti-depressants or would each of those groups of drugs count as an individual biological therapy (say if we were asked to outline and evaluate one biological therapy for depression).

Hope that made sense haha, thank you. :smile:

Hi, you need to know two of each explanations and therapies because you could be asked to 'outline and evaluate one or more explanations/therapies of/for...' (see exam companion)
yes chemotherapy (drug therapy) counts as one biological therapy and SSRIs, MAOIs would come under this group. The other therapy you would obviously talk about is ECT. (the third edition complete companion has really good info on it :smile:

)

and one other thing, you need to evaluate both biological and psychological therapies in terms of their appropriateness and effectiveness , here's the spec: http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/subjects/specifications/alevel/AQA-2180-W-SP-14.PDF
(see the new complete companion for good studies and evaluation points to use)

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 386

Original post by nm786

Hi, you need to know two of each explanations and therapies because you could be asked to 'outline and evaluate one or more explanations/therapies of/for...' (see exam companion)
yes chemotherapy (drug therapy) counts as one biological therapy and SSRIs, MAOIs would come under this group. The other therapy you would obviously talk about is ECT. (the third edition complete companion has really good info on it :smile:

)

and one other thing, you need to evaluate both biological and psychological therapies in terms of their appropriateness and effectiveness , here's the spec: http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/subjects/specifications/alevel/AQA-2180-W-SP-14.PDF
(see the new complete companion for good studies and evaluation points to use)

Thanks.

Reply 387

For the clinical characteristics of the disorder in section A, is it enough to just list the symptoms outlined in the DSM? I'm doing depression and our textbook also contains information on dysthymic disorder (milder depressive symptoms over 2 years), and pre-menstural dysphoric disorder and I'm not sure if I'm supposed to include that? I also have information saying it's more common in adolescents and women and how long recovery takes on average. Is that relevant or is it adequate to just list the symptoms? Thanks. :smile:

Reply 388

Original post by LeaX

For the clinical characteristics of the disorder in section A, is it enough to just list the symptoms outlined in the DSM? I'm doing depression and our textbook also contains information on dysthymic disorder (milder depressive symptoms over 2 years), and pre-menstural dysphoric disorder and I'm not sure if I'm supposed to include that? I also have information saying it's more common in adolescents and women and how long recovery takes on average. Is that relevant or is it adequate to just list the symptoms? Thanks. :smile:

Depends how many marks are available :smile:

if there are eight , outlining symptoms and explaining each one in the context of the disorder with a few in depth examples should give around six marks

So an extra two marks mentioning other types of depression generally or most commonly affected groups would get you full marks :smile:

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Reply 389

Anwar123

How many A02 points should I write on average for each 24 mark essay? I was thinking 4 should be enough max 6??

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Reply 390

mightyfrog2_10

14

Original post by Anwar123

How many A02 points should I write on average for each 24 mark essay? I was thinking 4 should be enough max 6??

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4/5/6 A02 points and 1 or 2 IDA's for each 24 marker.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 391

Original post by hotliketea

Depends how many marks are available :smile:

if there are eight , outlining symptoms and explaining each one in the context of the disorder with a few in depth examples should give around six marks

So an extra two marks mentioning other types of depression generally or most commonly affected groups would get you full marks :smile:

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Thank you. :smile:

Reply 392

Original post by Anwar123

How many A02 points should I write on average for each 24 mark essay? I was thinking 4 should be enough max 6??

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i haven't looked at replies below but i always do eight , trying for two IDA's linked to the other points and two methodological points usually as links or ending points on a couple of points

with this i usually get over 20 but if i wrote any less for AO2 i would get probably 16 - if you struggle to write that fast , use methodological points as whole points

Reply 393

IllmaticDragon

13

Original post by Anwar123

How many A02 points should I write on average for each 24 mark essay? I was thinking 4 should be enough max 6??

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Someone on here told me for a 24 mark do 2 sides of paper. So long as you don't go on and on about needless stuff in them, that comes to about 4/5 points of AO2

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Reply 394

How are you guys revising for PSYA3 as well as keeping up in class for PSYA4? I've made essay plans for PSYA3 and I keep rereading them but it feels like such a waste of time. I don't like writing the essays in full because I can't mark them and my teacher is too swamped so I'd feel bad adding to her workload.

Original post by Anwar123

How many A02 points should I write on average for each 24 mark essay? I was thinking 4 should be enough max 6??

Posted from TSR Mobile

I do 8 AO2 points, 2 or 3 studies, 3 IDAs and then 2 methodology issues and I get around 21 marks. Always make sure you finish your evaluative point by linking it to the implications for the theory. eg if a study you're using to support it only used females it decreases the theory's population validity as you can't generalise the results, and therefore the theory, to males as they may respond differently.

Reply 395

mightyfrog2_10

14

Original post by LeaX

eg if a study you're using to support it only used females it decreases the theory's population validity as you can't generalise the results, and therefore the theory, to males as they may respond differently.

I know this is only an example you used but you won't get marks if you just write that. If a study used mainly females then the study lacks population validity not the theory. You will get marks if you say the theory is gender biased (and you need to say if it's alpha or beta if it is) only if most studies have concentrated only on men for example and then include a study that shows how women behave differently:

"Methodological criticism of a study can only be made relevant and earn marks IF the implications for the theory/explanation are clear simply stating that a study used only males and so is gender biased, will not earn marks. It only becomes credit worthy if the implications for the theory/explanation are clear, e.g. that the theory/explanation may not apply to females.

Source: Examiner report 01/13 page 3 http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/subjects/AQA-PSYA3-WRE-JAN13.PDF

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 396