lOMoARcPSD|66458793
Section C
What the spec says:
1. Recognise the psychology content in the source
Find the psychology – link the source to something that you know about psychology (areas, key themes,
component 1, could also be something in component 3)
Make sure you know the 10 key themes in detail and in theory the article should link to one of these
You need to know how the structure of how the article links to the key theme or area
2. Make evidence based suggestions in relation to the source
Fully describe how to improve something based on the article
The examiner’s report says: “any suggested change was acceptable, but many of the suggested changes
were not described and simply stated ‘get informed consent’, not how or from whom’” – make sure you are
including enough detail
3. Consider the strengths and weaknesses of the suggestions you are making (implications)
For each suggestion that you make you should suggest a good thing (strength) and a bad thing (weakness),
all in context; this needs to be balanced
Practice Questions
Sesame Street and learnt behaviour. Sesame street is an educational TV programme which aims to show that
television can have positive effects on young children in preparation for school. Research has shown that viewers
of Sesame Street were better prepared to learn to read and do arithmetic, and this readiness seemed to be a
result of watching the show and not of other variables, such as how educated their parents were or how much they
read to their children. The advantage held even through secondary school, with students who had watched the
programme at age 5 gaining consistently higher grades in English, Mathematics and Science compared than
those who had not watched the programme at a young age. Longitudinal research has also shown that watching
Sesame Street is related to gaining a greater sense of competence, being less aggressive and demonstrating
more motivation for academic achievement. Teenagers who are less aggressive can take part in school more
effectively and will in turn feel good about their achievements because they will be rewarded for their motivation
and academic success.
a) Identify one psychological issue raised by the above article. Support your evidence with evidence from the article
[3]
Identify the psychological issue
Explain this psychological issue
Link explicitly to the information from the article (quotes etc)
Elaboration - what does this mean
[3 marks]
You need “good developed context” which means tell me exactly how a quote from the article links to something we
have covered in psychology.
P: One psychological issue in the article is that…
E: For example, in the article… (what happened? Give lots of evidence, include a quote)
E: This is an issue because…
Model Answer:
(P) “One psychological issue is linked to social learning theory. This is when children learn through observing others
and imitate the behaviour that they have seen. (E) This links to the article as it demonstrated that children who
watched Sesame Street were better prepared to learn to read and do arithmetic as a result of watching the show and
that they gained consistently higher grades in English, Maths and Science compared to those who had not watched
the programme. (E) This means that children who are exposed to certain experiences are more likely to develop
, lOMoARcPSD|66458793
b) Outline one piece of psychological research that links to the above article and justify how it relates to the above
source [8]
1. Describe the study that the article links to (aim, method, results, conclusion)
2. Explain how the study is relevant to the source material (How does it fit? What is it looking at? What did they
find?)
[5 marks] = Outline the study it links to
[3 marks] = Relate to the article
If there is no link to the article than you cannot get higher than 4 marks
Model Answer:
(SUMMARY) “Bandura studies 72 children from Stanford University nursery school. Children observed an aggressive
model, non-aggressive-aggressive model or no model. The aggressive model was physically and verbally aggressive
towards the Bobo doll. The non-aggressive model ignored the Bobo doll. In room 2, all children were allowed to play
very attractive toys but the experimenter then took the toys away. Children were then observed through a one-way
mirror for 20 minutes whilst observers recorded behaviour every 5 seconds into predetermined categories e.g. Non-
imitative physical and verbal aggression. Children in the aggressive condition showed significantly more imitation of
physical and verbal aggressive behaviour than children in the non-aggressive behaviour than children in the non-
aggressive or control conditions. (LINK) Bandura’s study links to the article as behaviour, both in the study and in the
article show that children do not need to be rewarded / have their behaviour reinforced but can learn by observing and
copying the behaviour of models. So we imitate the behaviour that we see models demonstrating and this behaviour
could be ‘good’ behaviour or ‘bad’ behaviour.”
c) Using your knowledge of psychology suggest techniques that teachers could use to encourage positive behaviours
in children [6]
What is the strategy?
How are you going to implement it?
Use psychological terms
Must mention more than one where directed
Can reference studies but you do not have to
Must contain at least two techniques
Model Answer:
(TECH 1) “Teachers could use operant conditioning to encourage positive behaviours in children. For example, if
students do really well in a test or answer questions correctly in class the teacher could give them a sweet or phone
their parents and praise them that way. Therefore, every time a student does something good they could be rewarded
for it and associate good behaviour with a reward. Teachers could punish bad behaviour in students to encourage
them to behave better in the future by stating that they could not go and play outside if they had behaved badly. Also
teachers could use social learning theory to encourage positive behaviours for example by rewarding good behaviour
with a sweet to encourage others who have observed that behaviour to behave in the same way so that they can be
rewarded (vicarious conditioning).” (PLUS, ONE MORE TECH)
d) Evaluate the techniques you suggested in the question above [10]
Strengths and weaknesses of the strategies
Can include issues and debates
Would it be effective?
Are there any problems of it?
Would it work for everyone or just some people?
If it says discuss then include both sides of the strategy
2 or more evaluation points and all supported by evidence
P: Strength/weakness
E: Evidence of why
Section C
What the spec says:
1. Recognise the psychology content in the source
Find the psychology – link the source to something that you know about psychology (areas, key themes,
component 1, could also be something in component 3)
Make sure you know the 10 key themes in detail and in theory the article should link to one of these
You need to know how the structure of how the article links to the key theme or area
2. Make evidence based suggestions in relation to the source
Fully describe how to improve something based on the article
The examiner’s report says: “any suggested change was acceptable, but many of the suggested changes
were not described and simply stated ‘get informed consent’, not how or from whom’” – make sure you are
including enough detail
3. Consider the strengths and weaknesses of the suggestions you are making (implications)
For each suggestion that you make you should suggest a good thing (strength) and a bad thing (weakness),
all in context; this needs to be balanced
Practice Questions
Sesame Street and learnt behaviour. Sesame street is an educational TV programme which aims to show that
television can have positive effects on young children in preparation for school. Research has shown that viewers
of Sesame Street were better prepared to learn to read and do arithmetic, and this readiness seemed to be a
result of watching the show and not of other variables, such as how educated their parents were or how much they
read to their children. The advantage held even through secondary school, with students who had watched the
programme at age 5 gaining consistently higher grades in English, Mathematics and Science compared than
those who had not watched the programme at a young age. Longitudinal research has also shown that watching
Sesame Street is related to gaining a greater sense of competence, being less aggressive and demonstrating
more motivation for academic achievement. Teenagers who are less aggressive can take part in school more
effectively and will in turn feel good about their achievements because they will be rewarded for their motivation
and academic success.
a) Identify one psychological issue raised by the above article. Support your evidence with evidence from the article
[3]
Identify the psychological issue
Explain this psychological issue
Link explicitly to the information from the article (quotes etc)
Elaboration - what does this mean
[3 marks]
You need “good developed context” which means tell me exactly how a quote from the article links to something we
have covered in psychology.
P: One psychological issue in the article is that…
E: For example, in the article… (what happened? Give lots of evidence, include a quote)
E: This is an issue because…
Model Answer:
(P) “One psychological issue is linked to social learning theory. This is when children learn through observing others
and imitate the behaviour that they have seen. (E) This links to the article as it demonstrated that children who
watched Sesame Street were better prepared to learn to read and do arithmetic as a result of watching the show and
that they gained consistently higher grades in English, Maths and Science compared to those who had not watched
the programme. (E) This means that children who are exposed to certain experiences are more likely to develop
, lOMoARcPSD|66458793
b) Outline one piece of psychological research that links to the above article and justify how it relates to the above
source [8]
1. Describe the study that the article links to (aim, method, results, conclusion)
2. Explain how the study is relevant to the source material (How does it fit? What is it looking at? What did they
find?)
[5 marks] = Outline the study it links to
[3 marks] = Relate to the article
If there is no link to the article than you cannot get higher than 4 marks
Model Answer:
(SUMMARY) “Bandura studies 72 children from Stanford University nursery school. Children observed an aggressive
model, non-aggressive-aggressive model or no model. The aggressive model was physically and verbally aggressive
towards the Bobo doll. The non-aggressive model ignored the Bobo doll. In room 2, all children were allowed to play
very attractive toys but the experimenter then took the toys away. Children were then observed through a one-way
mirror for 20 minutes whilst observers recorded behaviour every 5 seconds into predetermined categories e.g. Non-
imitative physical and verbal aggression. Children in the aggressive condition showed significantly more imitation of
physical and verbal aggressive behaviour than children in the non-aggressive behaviour than children in the non-
aggressive or control conditions. (LINK) Bandura’s study links to the article as behaviour, both in the study and in the
article show that children do not need to be rewarded / have their behaviour reinforced but can learn by observing and
copying the behaviour of models. So we imitate the behaviour that we see models demonstrating and this behaviour
could be ‘good’ behaviour or ‘bad’ behaviour.”
c) Using your knowledge of psychology suggest techniques that teachers could use to encourage positive behaviours
in children [6]
What is the strategy?
How are you going to implement it?
Use psychological terms
Must mention more than one where directed
Can reference studies but you do not have to
Must contain at least two techniques
Model Answer:
(TECH 1) “Teachers could use operant conditioning to encourage positive behaviours in children. For example, if
students do really well in a test or answer questions correctly in class the teacher could give them a sweet or phone
their parents and praise them that way. Therefore, every time a student does something good they could be rewarded
for it and associate good behaviour with a reward. Teachers could punish bad behaviour in students to encourage
them to behave better in the future by stating that they could not go and play outside if they had behaved badly. Also
teachers could use social learning theory to encourage positive behaviours for example by rewarding good behaviour
with a sweet to encourage others who have observed that behaviour to behave in the same way so that they can be
rewarded (vicarious conditioning).” (PLUS, ONE MORE TECH)
d) Evaluate the techniques you suggested in the question above [10]
Strengths and weaknesses of the strategies
Can include issues and debates
Would it be effective?
Are there any problems of it?
Would it work for everyone or just some people?
If it says discuss then include both sides of the strategy
2 or more evaluation points and all supported by evidence
P: Strength/weakness
E: Evidence of why
