ATAR Notes: Forum

VCE Stuff => VCE Science => VCE Mathematics/Science/Technology => VCE Subjects + Help => VCE Psychology => Topic started by: Bri MT on December 03, 2018, 08:15:01 pm

Title: What to catch up on if you didn't study year 11 psych (units 1&2)
Post by: Bri MT on December 03, 2018, 08:15:01 pm
for use throughout the whole year by all psych students: the study design - aka your best helper


1. Research methods
-  key science skills  (pages 11-13 of the study design)
- practical investigation (page 31)

Note that although the practical investigation will be at a specific time, research methods can be tested in all assessments (for me it was).
This should be your focus over the other psych things you might want to look at over the break.

2. biopsychosocial model
- basically this just means that you we can't accurately describe the phenomena we investigate using just biology, just social factors etc. Psych requires a holistic approach where all of these things are taken into consideration.
Eg, if someone has an anxiety disorder, this may be contributed to by a GABA (neurotransmitter/signalling chemical in the brain) deficiency [biology], classical conditioning (type of learning) [psychology] and their job [social]

this is less about learning content and more about adopting a mindset and way of categorising things which you'll use throughout the year

3. Neurons and neural communication
- Structure of neurons, divisions of the nervous system, neural signalling etc.  page 24. The last 2 dot points aren't covered in units 1&2
- neural plasticity (dot point on page 26)
- heaps of youtube videos about this, which is probably a good way to learn given the usefulness of diagrams in this topic

Your whole class will probably recap this, which is why I've put it low on the list

Bonus:  4. Attachment in infants
this comes up a little bit in the mental health section, but you don't need to know the level of detail required in units 1&2 (different types of insecure attachment, specifics of what tells you whether it's secure or not etc.). Basically:

secure attachment: had a trusted adult who they felt safe around and took care of their needs
disorganised attachment: not secure attachment (maybe abusive family? maybe ignored? maybe they didn't have adults around who could take care of their needs? (comfort, food, warmth etc) )


having secure attachment is, as you might guess, good - and it has impact far beyond infancy. If a person didn't have a trusted adult they formed secure attachment with, they are more likely to develop a mental health disorder, even as an adult).

Edit: fixed some typos and updated link
Title: Re: What to catch up on if you didn't study year 11 psych (units 1&2)
Post by: Corey King on September 22, 2020, 11:55:56 am
for use throughout the whole year by all psych students: the study design - aka your best helper


1. Research methods
-  key science skills  (pages 11-13 of the study design)
- practical investigation (page 31)

Note that although the practical investigation will be at a specific time, research methods can be tested in all assessments (for me it was).
This should be your focus over the other psych things you might want to look at over the break.

2. biopsychosocial model
- basically this just means that you we can't accurately describe the phenomena we investigate using just biology, just social factors etc. Psych requires a holistic approach where all of these things are taken into consideration.
Eg, if someone has an anxiety disorder, this may be contributed to by a GABA (neurotransmitter/signalling chemical in the brain) deficiency [biology], classical conditioning (type of learning) [psychology] and their job [social]

this is less about learning content and more about adopting a mindset and way of categorising things which you'll use throughout the year

3. Neurons and neural communication
- Structure of neurons, divisions of the nervous system, neural signalling etc.  page 24. The last 2 dot points aren't covered in units 1&2
- neural plasticity (dot point on page 26)
- heaps of youtube videos about this, which is probably a good way to learn given the usefulness of diagrams in this topic

Your whole class will probably recap this, which is why I've put it low on the list

Bonus:  4. Attachment in infants
this comes up a little bit in the mental health section, but you don't need to know the level of detail required in units 1&2 (different types of insecure attachment, specifics of what tells you whether it's secure or not etc.). Basically:

secure attachment: had a trusted adult who they felt safe around and took care of their needs
disorganised attachment: not secure attachment (maybe abusive family? maybe ignored? maybe they didn't have adults around who could take care of their needs? (comfort, food, warmth etc) )


having secure attachment is, as you might guess, good - and it has impact far beyond infancy. If a person didn't have a trusted adult they formed secure attachment with, they are more likely to develop a mental health disorder, even as an adult).

Edit: fixed some typos and updated link


Hey Brie, thanks for the guide. Very helpful :)
I'm wondering how I can study the Research Methods section. I'm used to Math and science subjects where the textbook has a bunch of practice questions with answers. That's the only way I know how to study really.
My textbook has a few review questions, but I feel like it's not enough to really ingrain the subject matter into my head.
Any tips would be great :)
Many thanks,
Corey
Title: Re: What to catch up on if you didn't study year 11 psych (units 1&2)
Post by: keltingmeith on September 22, 2020, 12:43:14 pm
I'm wondering how I can study the Research Methods section. I'm used to Math and science subjects where the textbook has a bunch of practice questions with answers. That's the only way I know how to study really.

He says, acting like psych isn't a science

Bri may have more advice for you, but I wanted to jump in as a person who knows a bit about studying for maths, chemistry, and physics: you absolutely can study without practice questions. First, make sure you can recall all the material quickly, and can interpret it in different words. Like, it's all well and good to know things such as, "the dependent variable is the variable which is monitored over time and checked while the independent variable is controlled by the experimenter" if you can't explain what those variables are in simple terms.

Once you've done this, you should consider just looking at case examples in your textbooks. Whenever given a case example, even if it has nothing to do with research methods, and start asking yourself about the research methods - identify what the variables are in the study, think of any problems with their approach, improvements they could make, identify any ethical issues with the case, whether they were addressed, think of any other conclusions, etc.

Essentially, by doing this, you're making your /own/ questions to test against. And you can do this for maths as well - just make up questions that require you to use the things you've been taught. No, you don't have some smarter, university-trained person telling you you're right or wrong - but you don't need a university degree to answer questions correctly. Even better if you can do this with some friends, where you each go over these kinds of things together - and if you both come up with the same answers, then what do you think is more likely - that you're both, independently, wrong, or that you're both right? Here's a hint - if you both usually get more than 50% on your tests, then probabilistically speaking, it's more likely that you're both right ;)