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Help for those doing AS psychology

Hello,

I would like to offer help to anyone doing the Psychology AQA A specification for AS this year.

I am currently studying A2 after recieving an A at AS (196/200 UMS) and before studying psychology at university next year.

Please feel free to post any questions onto this post or message me at any time I would be very happy to try and help anyone that needs it :smile:

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Reply 1

Loyale

What is AS Level psychology like and how hard is it?
Im doing GCSE Psychology and im finding it easy because its just memorization and regurgitation so is Alevel like that too?

Reply 2

Stridey_xxxx

A lot of it is memorization and regurgitation if I'm honest, yes. The only thing that can be difficult is learning the layout of essays, but at AS the maximum mark essay is 12 and it's pretty easy to learn the structure.
There are a lot of details to learn; names, dates, outlining of approaches and then strengths and weaknesses but as long as you have a good memory it's fine :smile:

If you have any more questions about AS psychology, let me know and I'll be happy to answer :smile:

Reply 3

WaywardWriter

Original post by Stridey_xxxx

If you have any more questions about AS psychology, let me know and I'll be happy to answer :smile:

How do you remember all the case studies? And for 12 mark questions how many case studies do you reference? Thanks :smile:

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Reply 4

Stridey_xxxx

For me, it's just a case of writing them on revision cards and testing myself aswell as copying them out several time, doesn't sound too exciting but it's the best way :smile:

At AS, 12 mark questions are mostly in the format of "outline and evaluate ......" And therefore you need todo 6 marks for outline and 6 marks for evaluate.
At AS, the studies used as evidence will mostly come in the evaluate part. For 6 marks you're looking at 2-3 studies plus a couple of pieces of evaluative evidence that isn't research (for example methodology strengths/weakness').
So in response to your question, I would suggest 2-3 depending on how well you elaborate upon them and how quick a writer you are, however don't leave it at that - bring in other points that aren't research :smile:

I hope this helps
Catherine

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Reply 5

WaywardWriter

Great advice! Thanks :biggrin:

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Reply 6

Davalla

Original post by WaywardWriter

How do you remember all the case studies? And for 12 mark questions how many case studies do you reference? Thanks :smile:

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For case studies; the most important part to remember is usually the method. As long as you can remember the procedure of the study, the results should 'flow' to you, while conclusions can be summed up in a line or two. It's useful to shorten a case study down to the essential information, e.g. 'Procedure: 100 P's, Laboratory conditions, Independent groups design', including statistics and what they had to do, etc.

I did this to summarise each study, and found it very effective, like others do.

For 12 mark questions:
These are usually 'describe and evaluate research into ____' questions, so you would get half of the marks for discussing, and the rest for evaluating an approach/research to support or against. Usually two case studies are adequate for this, presuming you can evaluate them respectively.

Reply 7

Davalla

Original post by Stridey_xxxx

There are a lot of details to learn; names, dates,

Trying to remember the dates of each study is a factor that scares a lot of students, so its important to say that they are not saline, and provide little more than a small evaluation point (being 'outdated', etc). Most people don't bother with them.

Reply 8

KillerzZ

How to write a good essay? What layout should it be?

Reply 9

Davalla

Original post by KillerzZ

How to write a good essay? What layout should it be?

A good essay really depends on its contents. You may already be familiar with evaluation techniques and things such as Point-Evidence-Explanation (always backing what you have said with evidence), so these will be helpful.

The basic format for a twelve mark question (used as an example) is as followed:

For example: "Describe how research into Minority Influence has helped psychologists to understand social change".12 marks.

-Stage one: Introduction / Abstract
Start by introducing what minority influence is. This should be a few lines at maximum, e.g. 'Minority Influence refers to how a form of internalisation takes place, where a majority may take on the views of a consistent minority as their own'.

- Stage two: Evidence
This should take up a lot of the essay. Give examples of how historic events, such as the Black and White segregation/gay rights protests, have allowed us to evolve into a state where the majority view is more acceptable. Also include laboratory studies showing a similar effect, such as Moscovici (1969), and literate what they did and found.

- Stage three: Evaluation
You may evaluate studies immediately after writing about them, or leave it until later where you can evaluate multiple studies at one, e.g. 'both the studies mentioned used a laboratory setting, and as such results were artificial and cannot be fully generalised to a wider population'. The more studies that you include; the more you will be able to evaluate; the more descriptive marks you should gain.

Stage four: conclusion
Optional. Here you can sum up and ultimately answer the original question. 'In conclusion, research into historical and scientific recreations agree that minority influence can be affected by factors such as consistency, prestige, and ethics'.

This layout would be the same for most essays.
Describe- Literate- Evaluate- Conclude.

The above context is from what I can recall from AS, I even remember the date of the Moscovici study!

Reply 10

L A R A

Original post by Stridey_xxxx

Have you got any revision tips? and how much did you revised a week for psychology? :smile:

thanks

Reply 11

KillerzZ

Original post by Davalla

Thanks a lot, any revision tips though, as I am doing A level privately in one year?

Reply 12

Davalla

Original post by KillerzZ

Thanks a lot, any revision tips though, as I am doing A level privately in one year?

Just make sure you you know your evaluation techniques and the relevant studies. This may include making posters or drawing tables (I heavily used tables for Research Methods in particular), or using podcasts and YouTube videos, etc. The use of past papers would be especially helpful as this will allow you to practice the format, while noticing which questions are likely to appear in further papers.

My previous posts in this thread may also be helpful:
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2905333
AQA Psychology A AS level

Reply 13

jhpy1024

Original post by WaywardWriter

How do you remember all the case studies? And for 12 mark questions how many case studies do you reference? Thanks :smile:

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Don't try to remember dates, it's not important! The only time when you should remember dates is if you need to discuss multiple studies done by the same researcher. In this case, stating the date would be helpful.

Reply 14

jhpy1024

Original post by KillerzZ

Thanks a lot, any revision tips though, as I am doing A level privately in one year?

It's horribly boring, but the way I revise is as follows:

- Get a list of the possible questions I could be asked (or similar). Use past papers to find these.
- Write down the question and answer it using my notes.
- Repeat if needed (if it's a long question).
- When you feel ready, try to answer the question without your notes.
- Again, repeat as needed.

Do this throughout the year for every question and you're pretty much guaranteed an A!

Reply 15

jhpy1024

Original post by L A R A

Have you got any revision tips? and how much did you revised a week for psychology? :smile:

thanks

I spend 4 hours and 30 minutes on each subject per week. Do this from now until the exams and you'll do great!

Reply 16

CBftw

I'm doing Psychology (AQA A) at the moment, does anybody have any tips for revision methods? I have mock exams in a couple of weeks which will be based on social psychology & abnormality and I'm getting really worried that I won't be able to cover everything.