Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia has many forms and a range of possible causes. Year 13 have an essay to write about the psychological causes of schizophrenia. You may find the following links useful as additional reading, providing helpful A02 material.

http://www.rethink.org/about_mental_illness/mental_illnesses_and_disorders/schizophrenia/causes_of.html

http://www.mentalhealthcare.org.uk/content/?id=28

http://www.schizophrenia.com/sznews/archives/004311.html

http://www.enotalone.com/article/3019.html

Try to also look at the biological causes of schizophrenia to fund arguments against psychological causes.

Year 12 Investigation

Dear all

I hope your report writing is going well. You need to do some research about the Eysenck Personality Inventory which you can find at the following Wikipedia link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eysenck_Personality_Questionnaire

You can also find information about the NEO personality inventory at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revised_NEO_Personality_Inventory

and the Myers Brigg personality test at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myers-Briggs_Type_Indicator

There will be other links from these pages to useful information. Please remember that you need to read the pages and make sense of them and then write in your own words rather than just cutting and pasting info - I can tell when you have done that so please don't!

Have a look at some of the coursework links (lower down on the blog) as these will help you to write the report.

Ms Moore

What I have learnt so far...

I have learnt about Freaud's theory about the Id, Superego and Ego and how the ego balances out the two. I have also learnt about the five main approaches in psychology.

so far ...

i have learned the five main approaches to psychology, and how to do a good presentation in front of the class, i have also learned things about freud, such as the unconscious can be tapped into when we dream.

What i have learnt so far.

In A-level pyschology i have learnt the following

-The 5 approaches to pyschology.

-how to perform a high standard presentation, also how to improve my pressentation skills.

what i have learnt so far in psychology

i have only had a few lessons, but so far i have learnt the five main approaches in psychology (behaviourist, psychodynamic, humanistic, cognitive and physiological) and also the different types of psychologists (what they do, who they work with and what qualifications are needed). From this i learnt what each area of psychology has in common. I learnt this from other people's presentations which also helped us improve our own presentation skills and know what is needed to make a good presentation.

what i learnt

in our last psycoligy i learnt about how diverse psycoligy and how many routes there are to go down of you beome a spycologist. I also learnt what it takes to become any kind of psycologist.and what ammount of xcommitment and drive you must have.

what i've learnt so far...

So far, i have learnt the 5 main approaches to Psychology such as the behaivourist approach, the cognitive approach and the physiological approach. I know what each of them mean and how each one would help soemone in everyday life.

what i have learnt so far...

the different approaches needed to set me up for the course in psychology..

what i have learnt so far

so far in A-level pyschology i have learnt a lot of things that i hadn't known before taking the course.

things such as;

-the 5 main approaches to pyschology and what they are:
*Behaviourist approach
*Social Cultural approach
*Cognitive approach
*Psychodynamic approach
*Humanistic approach
-a time line of when developments in pyschology were made
-how to present a good presentation, although this is not so much on the pyschology side of things, but it helps to connect to the people you are talking to

so far that is just a summarize of what i have learnt within my lessons.

Less than 24 hours to go

Hi to you all

There is just a little time to go before tomorrow's AS exams. I hope that you have done your last minute preparation and that you are going to get a good night's sleep before this important day. Some last minute advice:

• read the full question!
• give yourself a few minutes of planning time at the beginning of the exam - check out which questions you can answer best
• stick to the time - 6 minutes for 6 mark questions and 18 minutes for the essays
• Plan your essays in the answer booklet - only cross out when you are finished
• read your answers - if they don't make sense to you, the examiner hasn't got a hope!
• Check you follow the instructions and answer the right number of questions
• get the balance of A01 and A02 in your essays - 1/3 A01, 2/3 A02
• Make sure the examiner knows when you are evaluating - use connectives
• Use the names of the researchers wherever you can - it is very convincing
• Don't waffle

I hope you have prepared properly and I wish you all the luck and the results you deserve.

See you on the 10th June

Ms M

Year 13 preparation for exams

Hi all of you

We are rapidly approaching the exams and you need to be stepping up your work rate considerably now. You should be doing about 30-45 mins a day of study on Psychology. You need to identify which bits of the syllabus you will focus on (all the stuff you have done with Mrs Davis for Module 4 and then you need to choose for Module 5)

Module 5 choices
Are you learning disorders or therapies?
Are you learning Issues or Debates?

For the next 2 or 3 weeks we will be concentrating on the final question - the approaches section. You will need to go over the different approaches and know how to apply them We'll be beginning this week with the behaviour. All this is revision - there is nothing new now.

Don't forget to use the past papers from the AQA website. Also, of you have resit coursework, get it to me on time - you should have collected your results by now and be writing the report.

Happy revising
Ms Moore

Year 12 revision

OK guys

The syllabus is complete and the exams are just 3 weeks away. This is the time to really press on with your revision. If you are resitting module 1 you need to be revising Memory and Attachment. Look back at previous posts on this blog for help.
You all need to be working on module 2 - Stress and Individual Differences (abnormality) and module 3 - Social Influence and Research Methods. Remember that you need to revise theories and research, especially the key studies that we have looked at and you need to practise and practise and practise when it comes to exams so use the AQA website - there is a link on the blog and www.s-cool.co.uk which is the only online revision site with AS psychology.

Keep working!

Ms Moore

Easter Revision school

It is now just a few short weeks until your exams and time for everyone to start revising, whether you are in year 12 or year 13. There is a lot to learn and you need to give your memory a fair chance of recalling everything.

I will be running sessions in the Easter Revision School which takes place on the 2, 3 and 4 April here at Cavendish. I hope as many of you as possible will attend - we will be looking at what and how to revise and looking at some past questions.

Don't forget to use the materials on the blog to help to support your revision.

Research methods and revision support

Hi Psychologists

I have just found two very useful sites which you might want to link to. The first one is all about research methods and woulf be useful for AS and A level students. The link is:

http://www.kgv.net/psychology/year%2012/Directed%20Study.htm

The second one is a great site for creating your own and using other people's revision resources. It is called Flashcards and the link is

http://www.flashcardexchange.com/

I think both of these would be really useful as you start your revision - yes it is that time again!

Happy revising
Ms Moore

Psychological ways of controlling stress

We have looked at two main theories and techniques - Stress inoculation training and Hardiness training. You might be interested in the links below.

The first one is how athletes can use SIT to help them to get into the zone and stay focused when under stress. It helps then to earn how to 'inoculate' their stress, and take mental charge of their performances. I think it might help explain some of the differences between SIT and Hardiness training. The link is:
http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0846.htm

The second one is a coaching website offering hardiness training - should give some insight into what this is. The link is
http://www.mhkcoaching.com/index.php/stressmgt


Finally there is a link here to a very useful revision guide to unit 2 - it comes from Psychade (the link can be found in the list of links on the right hand side of the blog) and I think you'll find other modules summaries there too.

http://www.psychade.net/AS2revision.doc

How does exercise help to reduce stress?

Hi all

Jody asked the question above in today's lesson. For something of an answer, try

http://www.allina.com/ac/transcript.nsf/alltopics/Exercise_to_reduce_stress

You might also like to google 'ways to reduce stress' and check out one of the many links that you are given. Look for things on exercise, drugs, biofeedback, stress innoculation therapy and hardiness training.

Perhaps you could post the links to your favourite sites on the blog.

Ms Moore

PS don't forget we have a lesson this Friday.

Help with the synoptic unit for year 13

These links will take you to some important stuff on paper 5. They come from another online resource which you can register on for free. I like their stuff so you might like to get online with them. Also year 12 might find it useful

Synoptic paper links:
http://www.psyonline.org.uk/TopTips.php?module=14&modtopics=145
http://www.kgv.net/psychology/Year%2013%20Psychology.doc

The Psychology Online Classroom:
http://www.onlineclassroom.tv/psychology

I think you will all find these useful. And by the way the online classroom link also has Sociology, RE, Health and Social Care and Sports Studies/PE. You might like to tell your teachers about it too!
If I don't see you tomorrow, have a great half term, get up to date with your work and see you in a week's time
Ms Moore

Gender differences and Psychology

Both year 12 and year 13 are looking at gender difference this week. What do you think are the significant differences between men and woman? Are they genetic or caused by conditioning? Can we ignore gender or must we take it into account?

The link below is about how men and women cope differently with stress. It has a beta bias as it recognises clear differences in men and women.

http://www.psychadvisor.com/inthenews/viewart.cfm?ItemID=4

The articles below are all about gender differences and psychology (more for year 13 although very interesting reading for all of you)

http://psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-2832.html
http://www.psychologymatters.org/nodifference.html
http://www.spring.org.uk/2007/05/gender-differences-in-reading-nonverbal.php
http://www.virtualpsychology.co.uk/GenderBiasinPsychologicalResearch.pdf
http://psychcentral.com/news/2006/12/29/male-gender-bias-in-psychology-research-continues/

These all make interesting reading and should widen your understanding of gender bias in Psychology

Cultural Bias in Psychology

Hi year 13
I found this very useful essay by a student on the internet. It is much longer than you would be expected to write in your exam (1500 words) but you might find it a useful read

http://www.rmjs.co.uk/bham/11ps01.pdf

This should give you an idea of the wort of standard that would be expected of you at university - I think this is the work of an undergraduate in Psychology.

Happy reading!

DEFINING ABNORMALITY

The definition of abnormality has changed over time and it is difficult to agree on one definition for it. There are 4 definitions we learnt about in the lesson today and these definitions are not mutually exclusive. The fact that there are so many ways to define abnormality shows the complexity of identifying and diagnosing abnormal behaviour.

I found the role plays today very useful in helping me remember each definition. First there was the 'fatty' who stuffed her face while everyone else ate sensibly, this was a deviation from social norms. What is the danger of using this to define abnormality?
Secondly, there was deviation from ideal mental health. So we had the boy who blamed his imaginary friend Clarence the dragon for being unable to solve the Rubik's cube.
Then there was the person who could not make tea or toast or even answer a simple question for that matter - failure to function adequately. Finally statistical infrequency such as midgets...and I am not referring to Jasmine!
Which do you think is the best definition?

How was it for you?

So how did your Psychology exam go today. Post a comment so we can discuss the good bits and the bad bits. What questions were you pleased to see? Which bits were you surprised about? What would you do differently if you were preparing for the exam again?

Looking forward to reading your thoughts

Exams tomorrow

Just a quick message to you all, both year 12 and year 13, to wish the success you deserve tomorrow in the exams. You will have done lots of revision now and the chance of doing anything more than refreshing your memory has passed now. Tonight you could usefully just go over your revision sumaries and then have a look at a few exam questions. If possible, it is a good idea to go to bed at your normal time and get up as usual too (assuming this isn't very late in either case).

Just a last reminder about good A02 material. You need to do 3 things in A02, each time you make a criticism:

• State the criticism (this study has low ecological validity)
• Justify the criticism (because other studies did not support its findings)
• Explain the criticism (which means that it cannot be generalised to all situations)

Make sure when you are asked to discuss or analyse or evaluate theories or studies that you give both positive and negative criticisms so that you get a balance. You also need to ensure that your 18 mark answers are about 1/3 A01 and 2/3 A02.

Finally, using the principals of retrieval failure and Beck's positive Psychology, if you feel that your mind haas gone blank in the exam, close your eyes and visualise yourself in G6 where you have your Psychology lessons. Look around mentally and imagine the room, the posters and the experiences. You will gain the confidence that you have in lessons and be in a similar state to when you are successful. Tell yourself that you will do well and then you will be in a positive mental attitude for the exam!

How's your revision going?

Less than a week to go now before the exams on the 10th January. Are you working away at your revision and doing lots of timed practice questions?

Test yourself against the following:

Memory
Can you describe and evaluate a study for STM for duration, for capacity and for encoding?
Can you describe and evaluate one study for LTM for duration and for encoding?
Can you explain and evaluate the multistore model (Atkinson and Shiffrin)?
Can you also describe and evaluate at least one other model (either working memory or levels of processing)?
Can you explain and evaluate decay and displacement as theories of forgetting in STM and decay, interference and retrieval failure in LTM?
Can you explain the role of emotion in LTM both in terms of remembering (Flashbulb memories) and forgetting (repression)
Can you explain what is meant by EWT and why it is unreliable? Do you know the work of Elizabeth Loftus and the criticisms that have been made of it? Can you describe and explain the significance of the cognitive interview?

If you can answer yes to all the above, then you have learnt memory well!

Attachment:
Can you describe and explain Bowlby's theory of attachment?
Do you know what is meant by securely attached, insecure avoidant and insecure resistant?
What is separation anxiety?
Can you describe and explain Margaret Ainsworth's research 'the strange situation'?
Can you explain what was found when this method was used all over the world?
Can you explain and evaluate 2 theories of the formation of attachment?
Do you know what is meant by deprivation, privation and separation?
Can you describe and explain Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation and his research '44 Juvenile Thieves'?
Can you also describe and evaluate the study by Hodges and Tizard on instituionalised boys?
What do you know about the Czech twins and Geni?
Do you also know the work of Robertson on separation?
Can you describe the effects of daycare on social and cognitive development? What studies do you know that support daycare and what studies suggest that daycare is harmful to a child's development?

Again, if you can answer all of the above, you must be doing you revision well.

Keep working hard and practising those questions! :-)