IB Psychology: A Challenging but Rewarding Course
What Is IBDP Psychology?
IBDP psychology is one of the IBDP’s most popular courses. Offered in the Individuals and Societies subject group, psychology (both HL and SL) consistently ranks in the top 3 most popular courses in the subject group, usually just behind history and business management.
It’s easy to see why IBDP psychology is so popular with students. Whether they are taking it at Higher Level or Standard Level, it’s an opportunity for students to apply a rigorous scientific methodology to understanding how minds work, and the behaviours that shape our society. There are clear opportunities for crossover between subjects, allowing psychology to round out both the Science and Humanities subject groups.
How Is IBDP Psychology Assessed?
As with all IBDP subjects, psychology contains both internal and external assessments. Depending on whether the student is taking psychology at Standard or Higher Level, students take between 2 and 3 externally assessed papers. Standard Level students in psychology take 2 papers, while Higher Level students take a third short-response paper on research approaches.
Students taking IBDP psychology study both the core of the syllabus (giving them an overview of key psychology research methods and debates), as well as options decided by their schoolteachers. These may include cognitive psychology, biological psychology, and behavioural psychology.
In addition, all IBDP Psychology students must complete an Internal Assessment (or IA).
What Is the IBDP Psychology IA?
The psychology IA is a key part of the course, and the only part of it which is internally assessed. In the IA, psychology students devise, conduct and then report on an experiment–supervised by the teacher, of course!
Students are required to identify clear independent and dependent variables, allowing them to devise and construct effective psychology experiments. While psychology students are offered great freedom to devise their own experiments, the IBO does provide helpful guidelines for a successful IA. Independent variables based on pre-existing characteristics (age, gender, culture) are deemed unacceptable, as are experiments requiring participants to be deprived of something (food, sleep). All IBDP psychology students should consult their teachers to determine if their chosen experiment meets the standards of the IBO.
How to Revise for IBDP Psychology
There are many ways to revise for IBDP psychology, and they all depend on what the student is trying to achieve. IB psychology, whether at Standard or Higher Level, is a challenging course specifically because it demands that students use a range of skills.
Firstly, students need to demonstrate understanding of the concepts, and also be able to recall the details and outcomes of case studies. This means that students should develop their memorisation skills. Active recall is the way forward for this.
However, there are also other skills required. For example, students should demonstrate an excellent understanding of analytical essay structure, including building a cohesive argument over key issues and debates in psychology. Students also need to show a thorough understanding of the research methods and experimental design. Those who earn top grades in IBDP psychology are exhibiting all of these skills.
Tips for Success in IBDP Psychology
The main tip for success in IBDP psychology is the same as the best tip for any IBDP subject: consolidate frequently, not just at the end of the course. Given the amount of material that candidates need to know, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed, particularly during exam season. Instead, students should endeavour to learn and review material as they go. Not only does this help them acquire the knowledge in the longer-term, it also will prevent students from being forced to essentially relearn material from eighteen months ago when exams are approaching.
Students hoping to succeed in IBDP psychology should also aim to develop their organisational skills. Psychology is a demanding course, and being organised enough to meet deadlines and work consistently will help prepare students more thoroughly for the exam.
Should I Write My Extended Essay in IBDP Psychology?
Psychology remains a popular subject for the focus of the Extended Essay. However it’s worth noting that students are not allowed to perform their own experiments for this assignment. Instead they should base their research on secondary literature, published in peer reviewed journals.
Thus, effective psychology Extended Essays become detailed analyses of existing research in the chosen topic. This can be a difficult task for any student in high school, but is not impossible. Students hoping to write their EE in psychology should consider their choice of topic and research question carefully before proceeding to ensure that it meets the IBO guidelines.
BartyED’s Expert IBDP Psychology Support
As with all IBDP subjects, BartyED supports students with their psychology course. This includes reinforcing material from the syllabus and helping students consolidate the content. We also support students in developing appropriate research questions for their IA and Extended Essay, guiding them towards success in the IBDP.
If you would like to learn more about IBDP psychology, and all the other IBDP courses that we support, don’t hesitate to reach out to our expert team via email at enquiries@bartyed.com, or contact us via our form here.
Frequently Asked Questions
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IBDP psychology forms part of the Individuals and Societies subject group, and fosters key skills that cross over between Science and Humanities. As well as developing students’ sense of scientific rigour, it also encourages them to develop strong essay-writing skills.
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Students aiming to ‘round out’ a course load that goes between Science and Humanities subjects may consider psychology as a viable option. In addition psychology in the IBDP tends to be highly regarded by international universities due to its rigour and the exam skills that it cultivates.
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The psychology Internal Assessment (IA) consists of a psychological experiment, designed by the student, and a subsequent report to elaborate on their findings.
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A good way to study for IB psychology is to consider carefully the task at hand. While rote memorisation is certainly appropriate for memorising case studies and building confidence with some of the concepts, other revision and study methods are necessary for success elsewhere. IB psychology requires students to have an excellent grasp on essay structure, in terms of both analysis and argumentation.