Thursday 9 May 2013

Tips on revising for G543

People revise in different ways, but here are some tried-and-tested methods that have worked for me and may work for you:

The best, most reliable way to revise and to check your progress is to do past papers. Obviously, this step is only applicable once you've learned your studies and theories, but it's the best way to test how much you really know. Start with your notes beside you, and looking every so often to check you're writing the correct material, regardless of how long it takes. Once you've done that a few times with different questions, try to reduce how many times you look at the answers and highlight bits you keep forgetting and focus on learning these. Gradually, you need to be able to write the answers in the time limit (15-20 mins per 15 mark question, and 10 mins for the 10 mark questions) and then check your answers against the mark scheme. 

For those of us who learn by writing it out:

- Flashcards (name of study and topic on one side, details - sample, method, results conclusion and main evaluation points - on the back). Test yourself, or get anyone you can to test you.

- Plan out how you'd answer questions. It's virtually impossible to do EVERY past paper question, and often the most difficult part isn't writing it; it's knowing what to write and being able to think of the points (especially for part b) questions) instantaneously. Bullet point what you would write for each kind of question, such as for validity you could write about internal validity, population validity and ecological validity. 

- Keep rewriting your notes. This may not work for everyone, but personally I find that if I keep writing out my studies and theories, trying to remember all the details and getting it condensed into the best format I can, then I won't forget it when it comes to the exam.


Visual learners:

- make posters about each topic, sub-topic and study; include pictures, bubble-writing, little symbols, anything you like to make sure you remember it. 

- play Pictionary with the studies! Grab a friend who's taking the same exam, and all you have to do is take it in turns drawing clues about a study and get the other to guess what study it is (bonus points for every detail about the study each of you can recall!). For example, to guess Fisher et al's CIT study you could draw a police officer, Florida (or an American flag), a burglar, a desk, etc. 

- give each study in a section a different colour/font combination, and whenever you revise it  make sure you stick with that combination as colour aids memory and recall. But make sure it's readable!

Other tips on revising:

- Try listening to music. Make a playlist of music you like, but won't get distracted by. This might be classical or instrumental, but I like listening to music with lyrics so long as it's not too loud. When I was doing my Core Studies paper, I made a playlist with one song per study and I'd try to remember everything I can about the study when its song was on. It'd work for this unit too and is a pretty fun way to revise a lot all at once. Just don't spend too long finding a song for the study. Relevant ones work best for me, such as Memories by Panic! at the Disco for Loftus et al's weapon focus study or Old Grey Face by Twin Atlantic for Bruce et al's facial recognition study.

- Move about. This includes physical exercise at least every couple of days (preferably a walk or more everyday), as well as working in different environments. Being cooped up in your room at the desk for hours on end isn't healthy and you'll start to get really bored. Try working in the kitchen one day, the dining room another, your sofa, outside, in the library... literally anywhere for a change of scenery when you're struggling to concentrate.

- Talk to people. I don't find study groups helpful as I prefer independent revision, but when you're struggling, real people are a lot more reassuring and helpful than searching through the internet for hours on end just getting stressed out. Check here for why social support is definitely good for you!

- Try different modes of revising. Revising gets boring; after all, you're looking at the same information for hours on end. So try to make it somewhat interesting by combining visual methods, note-making, flashcards and past paper questions. 

- Make up your own practice questions. This'll get your brain working, help you to practice and even means you can target specific areas of weakness. For example, if you struggle with reliability, write yourself a reliability question on every topic. You never know, it might come up.

- Take breaks. I'm rubbish at this, because I tend to work at something until I'm utterly shattered but so much research has shown our concentration lapses sometime after half an hour of work. I'd suggest working periods of 50 minutes followed by a ten minute break, and then every couple of hours, take an hour break. During your breaks, make sure you get a drink, maybe a snack, and leave your work area. Even just wandering around your living room is better than surfing the internet at the laptop you'll be staring at all afternoon as it'll keep you energised. 


Good luck, let me know if you have any tips for me to add!

26 comments:

  1. Hi there!! :)
    firstly id like to say THANK YOU for doing this blog its so useful!
    but i have a question as im struggling trying to remember all the studies, just wondering, how much of the study do we really need to know? like just the aim, results and conclusion? or do we have to know the method samples and so on??..

    -Thanks in advance! ps. keep up the awesome blog!

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    1. Hey there! Thanks :)
      Obviously, the more you can remember the better, but due to the mass number of studies, they aren't expecting knowledge as in depth as last years core studies.
      essentially, I think you should be aware of the basics. The actual aim isn't necessary, just a sort of overview of what the research was about. In terms of sample, I think they're worth learning more than the procedure because you can apply it to issues such as ethnocentrism and generalisability for section b.

      I'd suggest learning the gist of the study (eg. Ford and widiger looked into gender bias in diagnoses by comparing diagnoses from 266 clinicians of case studies of hpd and aspd, and they found that there was gender bias, as more men were correctly diagnosed with aspd whilst more women were diagnosed with hpd.

      knowing its an experiment or uses self report is a good thing to know but the exact method or procedure isn't necessary. The amount of information on each study I put into my posts are about the right amount of detail that you need to know for each study.

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  2. How many studies have you learnt out of the 72?

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    1. 9 for turning to crime, 9 for making a case, 9 for after a guilty verdict

      6 for stress, 9 for dysfunctional behavior and 4 for disorders (I use the others from dysfunctional behavior for explanations and treatments)
      46.
      So overall,

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  3. So you've dropped reaching a verdict for forensic, and the healthy living section for health?

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    1. Yeah I have. There'll never be three from one section, so its safe to drop one section but it does mean that you get less choice in the exam

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  4. Culd you please make the notes for healthy living
    ?

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    1. I'm not actually doing that topic, but I do have a few notes. I'll post them tomorrow for you.

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    2. Here you go:

      http://ocra2psychologyg543.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/methods-of-health-promotion.html

      http://ocra2psychologyg543.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/model-answer-part-b-for-health-promotion.html

      http://ocra2psychologyg543.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/theories-of-health-belief.html

      http://ocra2psychologyg543.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/adherence-to-medical-regimen.html

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    3. Thanks soo much

      Really Appreciate it

      Are you ready for your exam?
      After seeing your blog, i feel a lot confident Vicky, Thanks!

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    4. Haha well I go through days I feel really ready, then days where I can't remember much at all without my notes! I think once I've done more revision on after a guilty verdict and disorders, I'll be pretty much sorted. How about you?

      And that's really lovely of you to say, you're very welcome! :)

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  5. hii there!! :) i love your blog thanks for sharing your notes just wondering if you have any notes on the g544 paper? thanks:D

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    1. Sadly I made most of my notes on this section on paper and I dumped them after the Jan exam as I'm not retaking, but you can use the posts on usefulness, reductionism etc. and I'll post about a couple more issues to help you out a bit. Keep coming back to check the page and I'll try add a few more posts over the next few days!

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    2. aww shame, but heey well done on passing first time round!! i wish i got that out the way too:( but yes i will be checking back to see thankyou!!! :D you hoping on studying psychology at uni?

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    3. Thanks! I think the only advice I can offer you for G544 is to make sure you know the debates (situational v dispositional, reductionism, etc) and how to apply them to the approaches. And practice a lot!

      Yeah hopefully at Exeter, what about you?

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  6. Do yu have any of the Strength and Weakness essays of behaviourst approach, social, development, cognitive, biological, and psychodynamic?

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    1. I have no idea what mark this would have obtained as I wrote it only three weeks into the course for G544, but here's one on the social approach.

      June 2010 Section B – Social Approach

      a) Using your knowledge of psychology, briefly outline the social approach to psychology. (4)

      The social approach to psychology became a mainstream approach during the 30’s and 40’s, after first appearing during the beginning of the 20th century. One of the main assumptions of the social approach is that all behaviour does not occur within a vacuum but within a social context, and thus behaviour can be explained on individual (obedience), group and cultural levels. The social approach has provided many contributions to psychology in the understanding of group interactions, such demonstrating how the breakdown of groups can lead to tyranny or the social and situational cues that lead to obedience. This approach, and its research, has also led to the better understanding of historical events such as the obedience produced in the Nazi regime. It is thus a situational and nurture approach to understanding behaviour.

      b) Describe two pieces of research that use the social approach to psychology (8)

      One famous piece of research that uses the social approach to psychology is Milgram’s study into obedience to authority. He used an opportunity sample of 40 male participants, aged between 20 and 50 and from various occupational backgrounds, in his controlled observation, in which participants were led to believe that they were giving electric shocks to somebody as a punishment for their incorrect answers on a memory test, when in fact the shocks and participant were both fake. The observation actually gathered quantitative and qualitative data of the real participants and their obedience to an authoritative figure. It was found that 65% of all participants continued through to give what they thought were electric shocks marked as “430/450 XXX”, whilst all displayed signs of extreme stress such as nervous laughing fits and trembling. This was a highly unethical piece of research, but it was concluded that certain situational cues could produce extreme obedience in anybody, which helped to disprove the “Germans are different” hypothesis.
      Farrington proposed an upbringing theory of ‘disrupted families’ to explain criminal behaviour, in which he described that criminal behaviour is part of a much larger anti-social behaviour syndrome, and those who have grown up in families with long-term issues such as prolonged unemployment or an absentee parent are more likely to commit crimes. Based on this, Juby and Farrington conducted a longitudinal study into the link between an upbringing in a disrupted family and delinquency. The sample consisted of 411 boys from schools around South London aged 8 to 9 at the beginning of the study, from whom data was gathered via questionnaires. These were supported by both questionnaires from their parents and teachers, and official government records. The results of the study were that boys brought up in disrupted families had on average committed more crimes than those in intact families, with the exception being intact but high conflict family situations. The conclusion was that somebody’s upbringing and social family situation was a key factor in determining crime.

      c) Discuss the strengths and limitations of using the social approach to explain behaviour. Use examples of psychological research to support your answer. (12)

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    2. A key strength of this approach is the impact it has had on both psychology and society. Due to studies such as Milgram’s “Obedience to Authority” study, and Piliavin et al.’s study into “Good Samaritanism”, common behaviours that had previously not been researched properly such as obedience to authoritative figures (as seen in World War II with the war atrocities committed by Nazi officials) and altruistic behaviour have been better explored and discussed. Social approach studies such as these have often promoted these issues to the public, and the increased accessibility has meant a better understanding of important and sometimes controversial topics, whilst enabling relatively new topics to the psychological foreground be explored in depth by influencing other psychologists to research that area.
      A further strength of the social approach is the use of observation and field experiments as research methods and techniques. Observation, particularly covert observation, allows for more natural behaviour to be recorded than controlled experiments and self-report methods, which are more intrusive. For example, Piliavin et al.’s subway study into altruistic behaviour used covert observation in its field experiment, which meant that the behaviour recorded was not influenced by demand characteristics or self-fulfilling prophecy, as well as having increased ecological validity. Therefore, the methodology of social approach research appears to have good internal validity.
      However, the use of covert observations, as seen in Piliavin’s study, and deception, as seen in Milgram’s study as well as Piliavin’s and Reicher and Haslam’s study, means that the social approach tends to be a highly unethical one. Zimbardo’s Prison study is widely accepted as one of the most unethical studies, as it did not offer protection from harm, and many participants were both mentally and physically harmed during the experiment. Therefore, although the purpose of its methodology is to provide valid findings, the lack of consideration for ethical guidelines means that psychology as a whole may be perceived to have a “means to an end” philosophy, which is both demeaning and negative to its reputation, as well as having the unnecessary consequences to the individuals involved.
      The social approach looks into the way people interact with each other in social contexts, however it can easily be argued that the samples collected in the studies have not been representative of the target population (which tends to be universal) and is definitely ethnocentric. For example, Juby and Farrington’s longitudinal study had a large sample, however it consisted of only one gender (males) from one area of one city (South London), and of one age group (aged 8 to 9 at the beginning of the study). Although these were control variables to reduce participant variables and increase the internal validity, this meant that the findings of the study cannot be confidently generalised to the rest of the population, which in turn reduces the usefulness of the research. This issue is seen frequently within the research that uses this approach, which overall reduces how useful this approach is and thus limits the extent to which findings can be generalised or applied to real life situations.

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    3. d) Compare the social approach with the physiological approach. Use examples of psychological research to support your answer. (8)

      The social approach to psychology explains behaviour by placing it in social contexts, and as visible interaction is a part of this, the social approach research tends to use observation as a fundamental way of gathering data for analysis. For example, Milgram uses a controlled observation as its research method, whilst Piliavin et al. use observation as a technique to gain data in the field experiment. On the other hand, the physiological approach explains behaviour in terms of biology and genetics, so it is not usually possible to use observation. Instead, this approach tends to use experiments that include some form of medical equipment. For example, MRI scans are used in Maguire et al.’s study into hippocampal volume and spatial navigation. This means that the physiological approach has the advantage of being more scientific and objective, but the disadvantage of intrusiveness and expense, whilst the social approach is more convenient, yet can lack the scientific element and as it consists of humans observing human behaviour, there will be significant subjectivity within the findings.
      One similarity between the social approach and the physiological approach is that both have an issue of ethics. Many famous social approach studies, including Zimbardo with its lack of consideration for protection from harm, and Piliavin et al.’s disregard for offering withdrawal and a debrief as well as gaining informed consent, are highly unethical. Similarly, though to a lesser extent, physiological studies such as Dement and Kleitman’s study into REM sleep and dreaming use deception to reduce demand characteristics. The reasons for this differ slightly, but tend to focus on increasing the internal validity or simplifying the procedure. Ethical guidelines are there for a reason, and their disregard can cause excessive harm and distress to innocent people, which is immoral as well as negative for psychology’s reputation as a beneficial science.

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    4. e) Discuss how the social approach provides a situational explanation of behaviour. (8)

      The social approach attempts to explain behaviour in terms of social contexts, whether that is on a small scale, such as obedience to an authoritative figure, or a much larger scale, such as conformity to cultural norms such as abiding by the law. It explains how the people in somebody’s life have an impact on their behaviour, and is what fundamentally determines it.
      A prominent debate in psychology has been the debate about whether behaviour is determined by situational factors or individual factors. For example, Farrington, a researcher who uses the social approach to psychology, explains how juvenile delinquency is part of a much larger anti-social behaviour syndrome, and the root cause of this can be an upbringing in a disrupted family, such as having an absentee parent. This is one example of how the social approach can provide a situational explanation of behaviour as this piece of research explains that family life can determine criminality. An individual approach might instead explain that some people are more prone to criminality than others due to differences in their cognition or biology, rather than their upbringing and parents.
      Although the social approach focuses mainly on social contexts as the cause of behaviour, most research in this area of psychology also looks into environmental factors. For example, Reicher and Haslam argued that one of the reasons that the prisoners formed a group identity was the environment they were in; they were stripped of their individual identities and all wore the same clothes, had the same treatment and were in a prison environment. Conformity therefore was concluded to be a product of both social and environmental factors. Therefore the social approach does provide a situational explanation for behaviour more than most of the other approaches, except potentially the behaviourist perspective.

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  7. You're a Goddess!

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  8. its really useful... thanku so much.. BLess u :)

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  9. Thank you! This website is really useful!

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  11. this was an amazing blog!! Really helped me, im retaking AS psychology and I think this has helped me massively to help me realise what I might do differently . thank you soo much

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