Examination Tips A2 OCR Psychology Unit G543, (Forensic and Health)1. What questions do I answer?

Two questions from one option and two from another option.2. How many parts are there to each question?

Two; (a) worth 10 marks, and (b) worth 15 marks.

3. How long should I spend on each part of the question?

Seven minutes on (a) and 15 minutes on (b) = 1hr 28mins (Total exam time = 1hr 30mins)

4. What will parts (a) and (b) be about?(a) will be based on one bullet point, i.e., one sub-section of the specification and (b) will be based on a section (i.e., it will be broader than (a) and you can use material from three sub-sections in your answer) SEE EXTRACT BELOW taken FROM FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY SPECIFICATIONTURNING TO CRIME

Upbringing

Disrupted families

Learning from others

Poverty and disadvantaged neighbourhoods

(a) Could be based on, say, learning from others, and (b) could be about Upbringing. NB some of the questions on the specimen paper are not consistent with the above information, but the real exam papers should follow this set of rules 5. Can you give me any hints as to what (a) should contain?

Yes firstly, the question can be answered in different ways and still gain top marks. Secondly, it is crucially important to make the focus of the answer centre ON THE BULLET POINT NOT THE RELEVANT STUDY OR STUDIES. What this means is that you should use the study or studies for evidence of the bullet point, so, e.g., if the question asks you about the link between Poverty and Crime you focus your answer on Poverty and its possible influence on crime, and bring in relevant aspects of any studies or study; this will give you marks for knowledge and UNDERSTANDING. If you simply describe the study or studies, you will gain few, IF ANY marks. You MUST contextualise your answer, and directly answer the question.

6. OK, what about part (b) then?Part (b) is not an essay (there isnt time); it is an extended response. There is NO FORMULA for answering it correctly, i.e., two or more students could answer it in a very different way and still gain top marks. It will give students an evaluative focus, e.g., nature/nurture, ethnocentrism, cognitive approach, methodology etc. Students can gain marks for evaluation using the following strategies:a) Arguing then counter-arguing (e.g., Evidence suggests that X is the case, however, a few studies show that .........................)

b) Comparing, using ISSUES, (e.g., Eysencks theory of personality is not very valid because ...................... but Cattell is because .............................., OR Study X has been done entirely on American students, and study Y with British students only, therefore both these studies are ethnocentric). Issues could be:

Generalisability

Validity

Reliability

Ethics

Reductionism v holism

Freewill and determinism

Ethnocentrism

Sampling

Design

Nature/Nurture

Useful applications of study Other types of bias (e.g., gender)

The assumptions of the approach used (e.g., biological, cognitive)

Other methodological issues, e.g., demand characteristics ETC ETC ETC

This should be done at least TWICE (probably THREE times) in the answer to obtain high marks

NB: You can use any evaluation point from AS/A2 since this is a synoptic paper

You can and should produce your own evaluation points (this is what the exam board really wants you to do) as well as any in the textbook or those given by your teacher

You should appreciate the intricacy of the evaluation issues, i.e., not just use glib phrases, e.g., simply stating that the studies lack ecological validity, (this is superficial knowledge which is functioning at gcse rather than A2 level) you need to show you have a real world understanding of ecological validity, by explaining what it actually means, and clearly and directly linking it with the evidence you are discussing.

Sometimes it is possible to use a RANGE of different issues, but for some questions you need to make a number of evaluation points in regard to one particular issue (e.g., validity) because of the type of question asked.

Candidates who evaluate consistently in all four section (b) questions will be awarded A grades, i.e., you need to do this four times to get an A grade in this examFURTHER EXAMPLES OF POSSIBLE EVALUATIVE POINTS:

Defending the indefensible ....... We can criticise Milgram because he deceived his participants so they believed they were really giving electric shocks and might harm the learner. This was very stressful to participants and therefore they may have experienced psychological harm. On the other hand, Milgrams findings were very scientifically valuable because .......................... OR

Although informed consent was not obtained in the Piliavin study, it was unlikely that Participants would be permanently harmed by seeing an ill or drunk victim collapse in front of them on an underground tube train, and the study provided valuable findings because .......................

LASTLY STUDENT STRATEGY WHEN LEARNING STUDIES:

Pick out evaluation issues which you consider could be relevant, and learn the key facts which you need to explain the evaluation issues. Also, learn the aspects of the study which relate clearly and directly to the BULLET POINT on the specification. NB The good news is that you only need to learn sufficient detail in the study to answer an (a) question in relation to the bullet point, and a (b) question in relation to evaluation issues you need to make your own summary notes/diagrams to help you with this.