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March 29, 2024, 07:27:12 pm

Author Topic: Psychology Q&A with the ATAR Notes Psych Lecturer  (Read 16137 times)  Share 

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brenden

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Re: *LIVE RIGHT NOW* Psychology Q&A with the ATAR Notes Psych Lecturer
« Reply #15 on: April 09, 2017, 12:23:42 pm »
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Hi Howey. Shouldn't your name be spelled howie? Or are we supposhed to call you howeigh?
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howey

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Re: Psychology Q&A with the ATAR Notes Psych Lecturer
« Reply #16 on: April 09, 2017, 12:38:56 pm »
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Hey!
I have a few questions for you;

What's the best way do you think to learn and retain information?

Hi Gracexx, and welcome to the forums  :) Thanks for all the questions!

I was quite lucky as I had a pretty good memory, so I could generally read over info a couple of times and remember it pretty well. The other strategy I used was to write it down - usually in both a chapter summary and then during answers to practice questions. In terms of retaining all of the content for the final exam (and there is quite a lot!), my primary way of remembering it was through doing stacks and stacks of practice questions  :D

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What's the best way to study?

This differs greatly from person to person, so I can't speak for everyone. My preferred way was to create chapter summaries and to do practice SAC's/exams, which I think is definitely the best way to study for the exam  :) In my class, we also created a 'visual diary', which was collection of diagrams, pictures and info to try and show the information in a colourful and exciting way. Although I am not at all a creative person, I found some of the diagrams really useful, including a flowchart on research methods and a flowchart on stress, and I would encourage you to create a couple of useful ones yourself  :D

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When do you start your actual exam preparation for psychology?

In terms of actual exam prep, I probably started around the middle of Term 3, when I started doing practice exams and going over all of the earlier content. Overall, I did about 10-15 practice exams for Psych, and they were my primary way of revising  :)

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Did handwritten or typed notes work best for you?

Great question! I actually had a bit of both. As I mentioned earlier, in class we would create a visual diary, which was all handwritten. On top of that, I created typed chapter summaries for myself (I was too lazy to handwrite them), and I used both resources. In my opinion, you're more likely to remember info if you handwrite it, but it does take quite a bit more time and effort, and there is the possibility that they can get damaged  :( Either way, I would recommend that you always handwrite answers to practice questions and practice exams.

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Did you have a psychology tutor? If so, do you think it was worth it?

No, I didn't have a Psych tutor, or any tutor at all during Year 12. If you are looking for a tutor, I hear there's a great one that works for ATAR Notes  ;)

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Best strategies leading up to the exam?

To put it simply, do practice exams - as many as it takes until you feel comfortable. Other than that, work hard but work smart (there's no point working hard for eight hours if you don't actually learn much]  :)

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How should we approach the end of year exam? Any tips?

As I said earlier, work until you're comfortable and confident :D Other than that, don't freak out (those people always really annoyed me). The exam is a great chance to show off what you know, and if you've done the work, you will get rewarded :)

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Did you go to any psychology lectures? If so, which ones are the most worth it to attend?

I did go to a couple, although none by the major companies and, to be honest, I wouldn't have a clue who they were run by :-[ I find they can vary a bit, they can be really useful, but they can also be really boring if they're not that good. My overall view is that lectures can be helpful, but aren't usually worth paying a fortune for. Just so you know, ATAR Notes will be running free Psych lectures in July and September, so you can't really lose by going to them ;)

I hope that helped! Let me know if you have any other questions, and good luck for the year!  ;D

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Joseph41

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Re: Psychology Q&A with the ATAR Notes Psych Lecturer
« Reply #17 on: April 09, 2017, 12:42:11 pm »
0
No, I didn't have a Psych tutor, or any tutor at all during Year 12. If you are looking for a tutor, I hear there's a great one that works for ATAR Notes  ;)

Sneaky Tim, at it again. ;)

Great responses thus far! Keep the questions coming, y'all. :)

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Butterflygirl

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Re: *LIVE RIGHT NOW* Psychology Q&A with the ATAR Notes Psych Lecturer
« Reply #18 on: April 09, 2017, 12:51:23 pm »
+2
More questions:

What rank do you have be to get above 45 for psych?


Did you buy any extra resources for psych other than the textbook that helped you?


When did you start preparing for an upcoming SAC?



Did you pre-learn the course?



For you answers, did you write in dot points or sentences?



Thanks! :)




howey

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Re: Psychology Q&A with the ATAR Notes Psych Lecturer
« Reply #19 on: April 09, 2017, 12:53:07 pm »
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Hey Howey,
I have a few questions:
How do I learn to answer questions on the exam to ensure I get full marks?

Hi Mariamnourine, and welcome to the ATAR Notes forums!  :)

Good question! Unfortunately, there isn't a magic way to answer questions and get full marks. My pieces of advice would be to always include key terms (such as operant conditioning and negative reinforcement), even if you think that it is really obvious. Refer to the example in the question as much as possible, if there is one. And just be concise in general - you probably won't get marks for waffle, unfortunately ;) Ultimately, the best way to learn how to answers questions and get full marks is to do stacks of practice questions and read sample top answers.

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How do I answer the 10 mark question in the research methods section?

A great question! This is an area that students struggle every year. Again, my main piece of advice would be to do plenty of practice 10-mark questions (sorry, I know that's probably really obvious). Other than that, practice picking out extraneous variables, as that is nearly always a part of the question. Good ones to remember are individual participant differences, convenience sampling, the experimenter effect and the placebo effect :) To be honest, to score really high in the 10-mark section, you need to do a lot of writing, quite possibly a couple of full pages, so, if possible, spend plenty of time on it (e.g. I would be thinking at least 20 minutes, provided you have the time).

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This year there is a new study design for psychology, this means I have no resources to practice on! Do you recommend any sites to visit or books to purchase that can help me?

Don't you just hate new study designs??!! It is a bit of an issue this year unfortunately  >:( In terms of resources such as info or practice questions, hopefully your teacher is good, because, to be brutally honest, there won't be a lot around for the new stuff that is focused on VCE Psych content only (and when it has extra, extended content it can just get more confusing). One place that I've found is here: https://www.youtube.com/user/Psyccounting/featured. In terms of practice exams, look around at places like NEAP, Insight and Engage, which may have some updated exams. Sorry I can't be of more help there!


"It's hard to beat a person who never gives up" - Babe Ruth

howey

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Re: Psychology Q&A with the ATAR Notes Psych Lecturer
« Reply #20 on: April 09, 2017, 01:19:45 pm »
+3
HIII TIM !!

Here are my questions:

1.My teacher had informed us earlier this year that 'Section C' (The research methods part) of the End of Year examination had been taken out and instead replaced with a 'Ten-mark' question that requires us to apply our learning. Is this correct ? And if so, could you please give some advice on how we should go about answering a question worth 10marks (I know this is difficult considering we don't know what the ten mark question is).

Hi laaawang! Welcome to the forums!  :)

Your teacher is correct, Section C has been taken out and has (sort of) been replaced with a 10-mark extended response question in Section B. Whether it will be based purely on research methods or will incorporate other stuff (see the 2016 Exam, Section C Q4 or the VCAA Sample exam 2017 Q9 for an example of this). It is pretty tough to say with no idea about the question, but I will say that to get a high score on these extended response questions, you have to write quite a lot of detail, so practice writing long answers to the questions. To give an idea, I would probably allow at least 20 minutes for it on the exam. In terms of actually tacking it, I would read through it, then go back and highlight some key points (e.g. if there is convenience sampling), and then write my answer  :)

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2.What advice would you give regarding exam preparation ? What do you specifically do to prepare ?

Personally, I think the best way to prepare is by doing practice exams - as many as you can, or until you feel comfortable. To give an idea, I did about 10-15 for Psych. I also created chapter summaries and read over them - but my key strategy was doing practice questions and exams :) Work hard and work consistently, but work smart!

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3.How do you keep yourself motivated during rough times in Year 12 ?

Top question! Year 12 is pretty tough at times. I had a great group of friends, and we all helped each other through. Other than that, I just aimed to do as well as I could on every SAC without setting myself specific numerical goals. I also tried not to do too much on the weekend during most of Year 12 to give myself a break. :)

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4.I understand that information stored in L.T.M must be retrieved by the S.T.M. So does that mean that that information (formally from the L.T.M) gets lost after being retrieved into the S.T.M and used ? Or does that information-after being used-simply flows back into the L.T.M ?

So when info comes into 'working memory', which is STM, it is retrieved from LTM. After it's been used, it is then just encoded again and stored in LTM, so it is definitely not lost, but can be slightly changed from the original memory that was retrieved (this is what Loftus looked at - you'll get this better once you look at her in class).  :)

I hope these answers helped and good luck!  :)

"It's hard to beat a person who never gives up" - Babe Ruth

howey

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Re: Psychology Q&A with the ATAR Notes Psych Lecturer
« Reply #21 on: April 09, 2017, 01:56:27 pm »
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Hey! :)

Here are my questions

1. When making notes, how did you sort through the information that was relevant and info that isn't needed? I find when making my notes I put in a lot of extra info that I may not need but I'm scared to take it out just in case it pops up somewhere

Hi -273.15! A good question, it can be tough to cut down on the Psych content. Basically I put in definitions, an then limited myself to 2-3 sentences max. on each thing I was summarising (e.g. the role of the hippocampus). That way, I really cut it down to the basics, which is what the majority of the exam is testing :) Any stories or examples in the textbook aren't relevant, as well as most of the stuff after the first couple of sentences on each topic  ;)

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2. As psych is a content heavy subject, how did you go about learning all the info? In particular, all the definitions and info where specific terminology has to be used

Psych is a super content-heavy subject. In terms of definitions - I didn't bother learning any of them word-for-word. I know a lot of teachers tell you to, but in my opinion it's a waste of time and effort (and no-one wants that!). VCAA don't (usually) ask you to 'define ...'. So I didn't bother with learning them at all, just be able to explain what something means in your own words, on the off chance that it comes up. For other information, I just made chapter summaries, read over them multiple times and did lots and lots of practice questions :) 

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3. I'd love to try and get a 45+ in psych. Any tips on trying to do this?

A great goal - definitely aim high! Work solidly and consistently throughout the year - it's really difficult to learn everything in enough detail to get a really high mark just before the exam. Before the exam, do lots of practice exams and other preparation if you need to - the exam is worth 60% of your study score. And work with your teacher, they're usually your best resource :)

I hope these answers help, and good luck on getting a 45+!!  ;D

"It's hard to beat a person who never gives up" - Babe Ruth

howey

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Re: Psychology Q&A with the ATAR Notes Psych Lecturer
« Reply #22 on: April 09, 2017, 01:59:25 pm »
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Is it effective to work through chapter questions or should we only focus on practice exam questions (for topics in previous study designs)?

Hi miniturtle :) (love the username)!

I found that chapter questions were quite good for prepping for SAC's, as SAC's tend to test stuff based on the textbook. For the exam, I would definitely be using practice exam questions - chapter questions are probably a waste of time unless you want to revise your basic knowledge :) Hope that helps!

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howey

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Re: *LIVE RIGHT NOW* Psychology Q&A with the ATAR Notes Psych Lecturer
« Reply #23 on: April 09, 2017, 02:04:20 pm »
+3
Hi Howey. Shouldn't your name be spelled howie? Or are we supposhed to call you howeigh?

Ah, brenden, our resident full-time joker. (Or should that be Brendan?)   ???

The good news for everyone else is that hopefully there will be plenty of people like Brenden focused on trivial things like names that are already spelt correctly and not important things like Lazarus and Folkman's Transactional Model ;)

"It's hard to beat a person who never gives up" - Babe Ruth

howey

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Re: *LIVE RIGHT NOW* Psychology Q&A with the ATAR Notes Psych Lecturer
« Reply #24 on: April 09, 2017, 02:15:34 pm »
+3
More questions:

What rank do you have be to get above 45 for psych?

Hi again Butterfly girl! :)

To be honest, this varies greatly from school to school depending on SAC difficulty, cohort strength etc, so I can't really say. To give you an idea, I averaged about 95% on my SAC's and got a 48. If you're talking about overall state rank, then a 45 means that you are in the top 2%, so it is quite high :)

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Did you buy any extra resources for psych other than the textbook that helped you?

No, I didn't buy any other resources other than the textbook. I created my own chapter summaries and at my school we created a visual diary, which was basically a handwritten summary that included plenty of colour, pictures and diagrams :)

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When did you start preparing for an upcoming SAC?

To be blunt, generally the weekend before I had it (I know, that's probably not a good habit) :-[ I'd generally do a bit of study a few days before (usually the weekend before) and then go over everything again in the couple of nights leading up to the SAC :)

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Did you pre-learn the course?

No, I didn't pre-learn anything, and during the year I never really went ahead of where my class was at, apart from occasionally having a brief read through the upcoming chapter (which we were meant to do as homework anyway) ;) I focused on learning the content thoroughly as we went through it instead of going ahead.


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For you answers, did you write in dot points or sentences?

Either is fine, but I preferred sentences as I felt that they made the answer flow a little bit better, and just a bit nicer to read. I only ever used dot point if the questions specifically said something like 'list two strengths of...'. Then I would use dot points to make it clear I had made two different points :)

I hope that this helps, and thanks for all the questions, Butterflygirl! ;D

"It's hard to beat a person who never gives up" - Babe Ruth

pootato

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Re: *LIVE RIGHT NOW* Psychology Q&A with the ATAR Notes Psych Lecturer
« Reply #25 on: April 09, 2017, 02:20:11 pm »
+1
Did you do 1/2 along with a 3/4 sequence?
Would you recommend doing 3/4 without 1/2? I find psychology very interesting and I don't know whether or not to skip the 1/2 component. Please help!
How would I catch up with the "assumed knowledge" if I didn't do 1/2?
Do you think two 3/4s (Lit and Psych) in year 11 will be manageable and rewarding, given that I try my best?
I've heard a lot about research methods being carried over into 3/4, but I don't know what it is. Could you please explain it or direct me to any sites?
Do you think psychology is a time consuming subject compared to others?
Could you list the most important things you did that helped you to succeed in psychology?

howey

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Re: *LIVE RIGHT NOW* Psychology Q&A with the ATAR Notes Psych Lecturer
« Reply #26 on: April 09, 2017, 02:47:55 pm »
+4
Did you do 1/2 along with a 3/4 sequence?

Yeah, I did both Psych 1/2 and 3/4 :)

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Would you recommend doing 3/4 without 1/2? I find psychology very interesting and I don't know whether or not to skip the 1/2 component. Please help!

Psych is definitely a subject where you could pick up 3/4 without doing 1/2 if you have to, but I would recommend doing 1/2 if you can. It just makes things a bit easier at the start of Year 12 as you don't have to catch up on anything :)

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How would I catch up with the "assumed knowledge" if I didn't do 1/2?

Good question! Research methods is the main thing you need to catch up on if you decide not to do 1/2, as that is the primary bit of assumed knowledge. The other thing I would look at are the different parts of the brain and their different roles, as that is also important knowledge in Year 12 :) I must admit I'm not an expert on this as the study design for 1/2 and 3/4 has changed since I did it, so therefore some of the overlap has changed as well. But the two key parts are research methods and the brain :)

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Do you think two 3/4s (Lit and Psych) in year 11 will be manageable and rewarding, given that I try my best?

If you work hard and you generally do ok at school, it will be manageable (although be aware that Lit and Psych both do have a reasonable workload, particularly near exam time). Personally, I only did the one during Year 11 (HHD) and I found that it was definitely a great experience to do one, as I then knew what to expect in Year 12 (and that I had to lift my game!) ;) Just be careful that you don't disregard your 1/2 subjects (as many people do) as they are really important to set you up for the next year!

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I've heard a lot about research methods being carried over into 3/4, but I don't know what it is. Could you please explain it or direct me to any sites?

Ok, cool, no worries :) Research methods are basically things like hypotheses, experimental designs, ethics, statistics, variables and sampling that are used in psych investigations. It's generally considered to be the most bring part of the course (just a heads up) ;)

If you go to Facebook and join a group called 'The VCE Discussion Group' (you may have already), there will be a file called 'Psychology - April Lecture Slides.pdf'. If you download that, the entire last third of the presentation, which I gave at the start of the April school holidays, is on research methods ;)

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Do you think psychology is a time consuming subject compared to others?

I would say it is slightly higher than average in terms of time required, but not ridiculously so. If you have a good memory, Psych can actually be pretty straightforward, as most of the challenge is remembering the stacks of content - the content itself isn't actually too hard  :)

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Could you list the most important things you did that helped you to succeed in psychology?

Sure!
- Work solidly and consistently throughout the year
- Do lots of practice exams
- Create my own resources (e.g. chapter summaries)
- Ask questions! (super important - your teacher is there to help you) :)

I hope that helps! ;D

"It's hard to beat a person who never gives up" - Babe Ruth

dummypurse42

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Re: *LIVE RIGHT NOW* Psychology Q&A with the ATAR Notes Psych Lecturer
« Reply #27 on: April 09, 2017, 04:02:14 pm »
+1
Hey I would just like to know how to make it easier to pick out important information from long examples in exams and write a short but correct answer.

Psychislife

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Re: *LIVE RIGHT NOW* Psychology Q&A with the ATAR Notes Psych Lecturer
« Reply #28 on: April 09, 2017, 04:41:56 pm »
+1
Hey,

How did you approach the end of year exam? Did you do the sections in order?
How did you allocate time to the different sections on the exam and how long do you suggest we spend on each one?
What are your study tips? How did you retain information throughout the year?
How did you revise for each chapter?

Thanks  :)

howey

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Re: *LIVE RIGHT NOW* Psychology Q&A with the ATAR Notes Psych Lecturer
« Reply #29 on: April 09, 2017, 05:16:46 pm »
+2
Hey I would just like to know how to make it easier to pick out important information from long examples in exams and write a short but correct answer.

Hi dummypurse42, welcome to the forums!

Good question! The best advice I can give about picking out important info from long examples is to identify key words. For example, a question about the nervous system might say 'very excited' - that's all you need to know to understand that the question will be referring to the sympathetic nervous system. So practice scanning questions for key words, and highlight them if it helps :) In terms of writing a short but correct answer - there is no need to repeat what is said in the question (although it is good to refer to examples in the question) and you won't get marks for waffle, so being concise is always better.

For example, with this question:

Billy was a horse that was owned by Farmer Jim. Billy loved apples, and would salivate whenever he saw an apple. Every time that Jim came into Billy’s paddock, he would feed Billy an apple. After this happened five or six times, Billy began to salivate at the sight of Farmer Jim.
Using the terminology of classical conditioning, explain how Billy learnt to salivate at the sight of Farmer Jim.

Your answer could simply be:
Billy always salivates (unconditioned response) at the sight of an apple (unconditioned stimulus). When the apple is continuously paired with Farmer Jim, who is the neutral stimulus, Billy eventually learns to salivate (conditioned response) at the sight of Farmer Jim only (conditioned stimulus).

So even though the question sounds complex, its actually answerable in a couple of sentences, provided you use lots of key terms :)

I hope this helps! ;D

"It's hard to beat a person who never gives up" - Babe Ruth