If a student wishes to pursue higher education in Psychology or a profession related to the study and understanding of the human mind and behaviour, then the IB course in Psychology will give them a step up. The course is offered in both Standard Level and Higher Level, with the latter requiring students to answer additional questions within two of the three papers students will complete in the course. The course consists of a core content area that looks at four areas of psychology, namely the biological, cognitive and sociocultural approaches to understanding human behaviour, as well as research methodology. Students are also asked to study Students are also asked to study four context areas including psychological health, human development, human relationships, and learning and cognition. The course emphasizes the integration of critical thinking with key psychological content, focusing on concepts such as bias, causality and measurement validity.
How to get a 7 in Psychology?
In Paper 1, students will be responsible for two short answer questions based on the core content areas, application of knowledge to unseen stimuli as well as longer essay questions, with higher level students being asked to write two responses from different areas rather than the single one expected from standard level students. Paper 2 focuses on methodology and conceptual understanding of psychological research and consists of questions focusing on class practicals as well as an evaluation of an unseen research study. The final paper, only sat by higher level students, will examine their understanding of psychological approaches to research as well as additional extension topics. Lastly, all levels of students will be expected to use skills learned from in-class practicals to design a research proposal based on an area and population of interest.
How CANA coaches students to achieve a 7 in IB Psychology.
CANA’s IB psychology lessons focus on explaining the key theories and concepts in psychology, as well as strategic application of this knowledge to their papers and exams. Teachers at CANA will aid students in improving the way they can apply the theories they have studied, as well as others learned throughout the course, to practical experiments.
Teachers at CANA will aid students in improving the way they can apply these theories by understanding how empirical studies have contributed to the development and refinement of psychological theories. Students will acquire the skills to evaluate theories and research designs as well as an understanding of data analysis and ethics in psychological research. This approach will not only enable students to generate an integrated and articulate response in an exam, but also facilitate the understanding of psychological concepts.
CANA teachers will work with students to design an experiment, guide them in how to carry out the experiment in a scientific and rigorous manner. Teachers will also guide students on what is expected in the exams and other academic writing, allowing them to create the best possible work within their capabilities.
Commonly Asked Questions
Students often ask for research question ideas on their EE (Extended Essay). Realistically, a good EE research question/ topic should be appropriately designed so that you would be able to 1) gather meaningful primary and/or secondary data if needed and 2) be able to scope things like the interpretation of the data, analysis and evaluation of the data / events within the 4,000-word limit.
Here are some sample Psychology EE research questions:
Research questions under Cognitive Psychology
To what extent can long-term computer use affect human memory?
To what extent is child eye witness testimony reliable in court?
Research question under Abnormal Psychology
To what extent can the biological approach explain OCD?
Research questions under Health Psychology
To what extent are current governmental measures effective in reducing obesity among school children?
Is mindfulness effective stress-coping?
3 Tips to write a high-calibre paper
Writing a 1,500 - 2,000 word academic paper can be intimidating and stressful to a lot of students. Yet it may not be as insurmountable as it appears once you grasp the essential strategy and process. The following tips will give you a general picture of what writing an academic paper looks and feels like; and guide you through the stages of preparing and personalizing your paper.
To prepare an IA:
Identify an area of interest
Formulate a research question
Conduct a literature review
Design paper structure
Conduct experiment/formulate an argument
Draft your paper
Revisit/revise your draft, proofreading, editing
Cross-check referencing and formatting
Self-assess your draft in accordance with rubrics
Tip 1: Time management is important
The process of exploring your paper's direction, writing, proofreading, editing, and finalizing your paper is a lengthy one. Students often underestimate the amount of time needed and other unforeseeable factors (e.g. heavy workload, fatigue, running out of ideas) that could potentially stall the process.
To prevent this, ensure you save 2 - 4 weeks for a final check prior to the final deadline. Avoid making significant changes in the week of the deadline. It also helps to set realistic mini-deadlines for each stage.
Allow sufficient time for each stage: physical/mental fatigue/stress affects your inspiration and writing quality. Ensure you have the time for exercise, sufficient rest, and a balanced diet. Speak to a friend/mentor/parent if you need any help (with emotional support, small favours, or proofreading your typescript, etc).
Tip 2: Know the IA requirements well
Read the assessment rubric to familiarize yourself with the mark distribution and the expectations for an IA.
During your writing and proofreading process, cross-check with the rubric to see if you have achieved the level descriptor for your target grade.
Tip 3: Just do it (by reading around, writing, and getting inspiration)
1. Identify an area of interest
Decide a broad area that you are interested in. Psychology pervades in various aspects of our daily lives. It doesn’t need to be as academic or theoretical as what we learn from class (e.g. Cognitive Bias).
For example, let’s say you want to write something about "Cognitive Bias". It does not need to be as seriously phrased as "the effect of leading questions on memory recall". Rather, relax and try to think outside the box. How does "cognitive bias" relate to other areas, such as "happiness"? This will narrow down the area and prepare you for Step 2.
Additionally, ensure that your topic is an area you are interested in or something you want to dig deeper into. The entire IA preparation can be a personal journey for you to discover and research something important/valuable/interesting to you.
2. Formulate a research question
Once you decide your area of focus, brainstorm different questions. For example, if we use the example of "cognitive bias" and "happiness", we might ask:
"Do we overestimate the effect of money in enhancing happiness?"
"Do we overestimate that money causes happiness for a longer period of time than it actually does?" "What are the changes in happiness level for jackpot winners over time?" "Are jackpot winners happier than normal people?"
You may come up with several different research questions at first and feel confused about selecting one specific question. Don't panic at this stage. Proceed with Step 3 first. You can always come back to tailor your research questions depending on research findings. This process is even beneficial, because you can thoroughly ensure that your writing is achievable and backed by secondary sources.
3. Conduct a literature review
Read around the subject area by conducting an online keyword search.
Use different search platforms, such as Various search engines (e.g. Google, Yahoo, Bing) Google Scholar Academic journal platforms (e.g. Researchgate, PsychOpen, Wiley, Sagepub)
Now, you might be overwhelmed by the number of search findings available. At this stage, only skim through the results and filter for most relevant results only (e.g. reading the keywords, abstracts of academic papers)
Then, organize your search findings (e.g. URL links, key results) into a table. For example:
Key result A: real-life evidence Result 1: American Powerball lottery winners demonstrate a higher rate of depression than control (URL link) Result 2: Mark-six winners show no significant difference in happiness level than before 5 years later (URL link)
Key result B: theoretical basis of cognitive bias Result 1: Psychologist argues that human have a natural tendency to overestimate happiness (URL link) Result 2: "Affective forecasting" = prediction of one's emotional state in future (URL link)
4. Design paper structure
Determine whether your paper is going to be Quantitative / Qualitative / Mixed-methods. If you choose a quantitative investigation, decide the details (e.g. participants, methods, procedures, survey design). If you choose a qualitative investigation, keep reading around and explore evidence for both sides of the argument in your research question.
5. Conduct experiment/formulate an argument
6. Draft your paper
Start by putting your ideas in bullet forms first (e.g. bulleted keywords, sentences). Once you are clear with the essential points you want to include, link them up into a paragraph by adding transition sentences.
For example, let’s say you have these bullet points:
Cognitive bias
Affective forecasting
Happiness
A complete paragraph might look like this: Cognitive bias refers to the systematic error in thinking that occurs when people are processing and interpreting information in the world around them, affecting the decisions and judgments that they make. This also applies to the information processing relevant to our emotions. For example, affective forecasting refers to the prediction of one's emotions in the future. A plethora of studies have demonstrated the presence of cognitive bias in the forecasting of positive emotions - specifically happiness, for the interests of this paper.
7. Revisit/revise your draft, proofreading, editing
8. Cross check referencing and formatting
Check whether your paper is presented in an appropriately academic way, using AQA style referencing and citations.
9. Self-assess your draft in accordance to the rubrics
Here are some sample IB Psychology sample IA topics
Anchoring bias -Tversky and Kahneman. Someone's estimates of something will be greatly influenced by the way the question is structured. For example, people asked to estimate 1x2x3x4x5x6x7x8x9 give lower estimates than those estimating 9x8x7x6x5x4x3x2x1 because the earliest numbers affect perception of the answer. Similarly, if subjects are asked to guess the length of the river Vltava, their estimates will be influenced by a preceding question "is 2000 km (or 20,000km in the other condition) an over or underestimate of the length of the river Vltava". (Kahnemann and Tversky (1973) and Northcraft and Neale (1987))
Word and letter recognition: Visual search: Time taken to find X’s hidden in a four column list of similar shaped letters (Y, Z etc.) is longer than for lists with letters such as S, R, or P. (Neisser 1964) Alternatively: Participants will take longer to find 0 among letters if it is called zero than when it is called letter ‘oh’ and vice versa – Jonides & Gleitman (1972).
Eyewitness Reports: Loftus and Palmer (1974); Loftus and Zanni (1975). Psychologist Elizabeth Loftus has been particularly concerned with how subsequent information can affect an eyewitness’s account of an event Her main focus has been on the influence of (mis)leading information in terms of both visual imagery and wording of questions in relation to eyewitness testimony. Loftus’ findings seem to indicate that memory for an event that has been witnessed is highly flexible. If someone is exposed to new information during the interval between witnessing the event and recalling it, this new information may have marked effects on what they recall. The original memory can be modified, changed or supplemented. Reference: Simplypsychology.org
What do students study in IB Psychology?
Psychology is a multidisciplinary subject that involves the application of sciences and maths in understanding human behaviour. Students will have to do a lot of reading, develop comprehension skills and most importantly, gain critical thinking skills. In class, students may be given a case study of a person’s particular behaviour, and be expected to explain the reasoning behind this behaviour using biological, cognitive, and sociocultural perspectives. For example, the biological and cognitive reasons could include brain structure, transmitted hormones, and patterns of thought. The sociocultural reasons could involve social expectations and their effect on the individual.
What do students find challenging?
Based on our experience, students tend to find IB Psychology challenging because it turns out differently from their expectations. Psychology is an art that relies on common sense, so students often expect it to be an easy subject that doesn’t require much effort or structured study. But in reality, psychology is a highly scientific field, requiring systematic research and data analysis to understand human behaviour and verify whether a hypothesis is well supported.
Moreover, IB Psychology involves plenty of reading - journals, papers, online resources and secondary sources commenting on existing journals. Based on these readings, students should be able to apply critical thinking and assess how well designed each study is. They also need to familiarise themselves with the subject’s technical jargon.
Let’s look at an example of a challenge in IB Psychology.
One of the core concepts in IB Psychology is the biological approach to human behaviour. Students will learn to explain specific behaviours through localisation theory, which asserts that specific areas in the brain are responsible for specific behaviours. Questions are broad in IB Psych, so the syllabus might ask: “Explain and describe behaviours in relation to localisation theory/the brain.” There are different ways of answering and students must think of their own approach.
One student might write about neuroimaging techniques, referencing previous experiments in which specific areas of the brain showed signals when the participant was performing a particular task. Through the brain scan, they can point out that there is a correlation between the brain’s activity and the task involved.
Another student might list out examples of the loss of brain functions, observed from patients suffering from brain damage. They might reference a case study called the H.M. patient, who suffered from memory loss as a result of damage to specific areas of his brain. By the correlation, this student may be able to conclude that human behaviours are localised.
Both of the above examples are good approaches! But no matter what the question is, students should: 1) State their point, 2) Support their point with examples, 3) Make a general conclusion with explanation, following PEE paragraph structure. Most importantly, students should try to showcase critical thinking, criticise the reliability of the research and the experiment’s design, and contemplate whether the study really provides support for the theory.
Overall, IB Psychology is a fascinating subject but takes a lot of skills to master. It requires mastery of content knowledge, including the aims, methods, discoveries, conclusions, and research jargon. Students must then also showcase their critical and reflective thinking, and communicate their thoughts effectively.
How can students improve?
Do regular revision and spread out your study load using the chunking method. Avoid leaving revision to the last minute because that is a lot of work to handle!
Use acronyms, concepts, and diagrams to prompt your thinking
Develop your own set of notes and examples, not only what your teachers give you. Use the IB syllabus as a guide - you can create a table with the names of modules in the first column, and the matching content knowledge in the second column. This helps clarify the relevant content and which topic it is associated with.
Extract key points from various learning materials - printed handouts, documentaries, videos, etc. It’s easier to digest and memorise information if you condense them into key points or prompts. Then, practice developing these ideas by writing bulleted paragraphs.
Think about the interrelationships between different studies - some psychological studies can be used as an example for multiple topics, or even multiple IB subjects, e.g. TOK.
Course structure
IB Psychology Higher Level and Standard Level have a similar course structure. Both levels require the Core modules - Biological, Cognitive, and Social approaches to psychology, as well as approaches to researching behaviour. However, they differ in Options, which encompases Abnormal Psychology, Health Psychology, Developmental Psychology and Psychology of Human Relationships. At SL, students pick 1 option. At HL, they pick 2.
Assessments
IB Psychology Higher Level involves more extended questions which focus on ethical considerations. These questions require answers that are less descriptive and more argumentative or reflective compared to SL. For example, an SL Psychology essay question usually includes the words “outline/discuss/explain”, e.g. “Outline the study investigation schema” or “Discuss the ethical considerations linked to genetic research into human behaviours”. Students can easily answer these questions by recounting what they have memorised.
In contrast, an HL extended question could be “Discuss how the use of technology affects one’s cognitive process.” This is harder because the question doesn’t mention which specific cognitive functions you should focus on. Additionally, the use of technology could have both positive and negative effects on one’s cognitive process. Students must give a comprehensive evaluation discussing both sides and strike a good balance between the two - with your main points, supporting points, evidence from research studies, and an explanation linking your response back to the question.
What are my options?
Whether you take HL or SL depends on personal interest. However, you have good chances of doing well in Higher Level Psychology if you have previously studied maths or science (especially Biology.) For Options within the subject, many students are interested in Abnormal Psychology, which encompasses the formation and treatment of mental disorders - but this can be challenging because of new, unfamiliar jargon. Conversely, students who are interested in how children learn can study Developmental Psychology.
Your range of options will depend on your school’s resources. Most schools offer Developmental and Abnormal Psychology, but not all will cover Health Psychology and Human Relationships.
Psychology requires students to be highly reflective. In order to make your learning meaningful, you must assess for yourself how research relates to your thesis or argument. Moreover, essay writing is a very personal experience and there are no shortcuts - tutors won’t spoon feed you content to memorise because it’s not effective.
However, there are key areas tutors can guide you in. For example, students often get confused with the heavy reading and countless sources. Our tutors can point out the main points and teach you how to approach sources in a logical way. Moreover, students often copy critical evaluations or approaches from online sources or school, but overlook many other perspectives. Our tutors can help to check whether the critical evaluations are comprehensive enough and provide additional points on the content. We also clarify any students’ confusion or misunderstandings.
Most importantly, tutors can help assess and improve your essay writing. With tutoring, you’ll learn how to write effectively so your essay is understandable from a layman’s perspective, and logically connect your points. You’ll also learn to be selective with your points, so that every sentence adds value to your argument and you avoid repetition. Our tutors will coach you in writing concisely, with good presentation and clear development of points.
Here at CANA Elite, we truly believe that every student is unique and has the potential to reach their goals with the right guidance. Academic excellence is derived from both passionate teachers and eager students. That is why we provide a unique learning experience tailored to each individual student. Named after the location of the first miracle in the Bible, we hope CANA elite can be the place of miracles for all our students, allowing them to achieve their dreams.
