Pearson BTEC National Applied Psychology Book 1

Content areas A and B Practice questions, answers and feedback Question 4: Jess is holding a baby and says to her friend, ‘I’ve always wanted a baby – in fact I’d like five. I think I’ll be a really good mum.’ Tess replies, ‘Babies don’t appeal to me at all, and being a mother is my idea of a nightmare!’ Discuss neurochemistry with reference to this scenario. In your answer you should consider: (a) the role of sex hormones, and (b) the key study by Deady et al . (2006). (9) Chen’s answer Neurochemistry includes both neurotransmitters and hormones – these are biological chemicals that pass ‘messages’ around the body. In the case of neurotransmitters the messages are sent via neurons whereas for hormones the messages are sent in the bloodstream. Sex hormones have a particular effect on our sexual development and also on the behaviour of females and males. The main female sex hormone is oestrogen and the main male sex hormone is testosterone. These hormones are present in members of the opposite sex too – so women have small amounts of testosterone and males have small amounts of oestrogen. Oestrogen controls the development of the female reproductive organs and also controls the development of the female secondary sexual characteristics at puberty, such as the growth of breasts, and it controls the menstrual cycle. It may also contribute to making women more emotional, e.g. experiencing premenstrual tension. Testosterone controls the development of the male reproductive organs and also controls the development of male secondary sexual characteristics at puberty, such as deepening of the voice. Testosterone has also been linked to the emotion of aggression. Research shows that men are generally more aggressive than women. The study by Deady et al . (2006) looked at testosterone levels in women to see how it affected maternal personality traits. They tested participants’ sense of masculinity using the BSRI and also asked questions, for example, about reproductive ambition. Testosterone levels were measured by taking samples of saliva. The researchers found that a higher level of testosterone in females was associated with a greater sense of masculinity. Higher levels of testosterone were also associated with lower reproductive ambition and lower maternal personality scores but they were not associated with career orientation. What this suggests is that testosterone does have an effect on behaviours in women because there was a correlation with some of the behaviours – higher testosterone was associated with low levels of female behaviours. What this means is there is evidence that biological factors affect the way people think. 330 words Teacher comments Chen has shown remarkable recall for the contents of this book and has demonstrated a detailed understanding of neurochemistry, the role of sex hormones and the key study by Deady et al . Furthermore the information on sex hormones is not just a description of what they are but includes their ‘role’. The answer is a good length and has been divided into many paragraphs which makes it much easier for an examiner to read and identify the points being made. Each point is one paragraph. The description shows detailed and accurate knowledge and understanding, with few omissions. However, there are no links to the context nor is there any discussion. If you look at the mark scheme on page 43, Chen’s answer ts the criteria for level 3 in the rst two columns, but, for the context and evaluation (columns 3–6) the answer ts the criteria at level 1. This means he would probably get 4 out of 9 marks (the mark that best ts). You may be wondering how you would nd time in an exam to write all the description plus the missing evaluation content (as this answer is already adequate in length). The answer is you must learn to represent the material in this book succinctly. Consider Saturn’s approach below as a different strategy. Saturn’s answer One example of neurochemistry is sex hormones, these are the chemicals that control behaviour related to gender. Oestrogen is the main female hormone and controls reproductive behaviour, so it would relate to why Jess expresses a desire to have a baby. She is thinking in the way a female would. Testosterone is the main male hormone, and this is related to male reproductive behaviour. Testosterone is also present in women, as the study by Deady et al . shows us and this study also shows that women with higher levels may have lower maternal instincts. This might explain what Tess says about not being interested in being a mother – possibly because of higher than usual testosterone for a woman. On the other hand, Jess’ behaviour could be explained as being determined by her sex hormones which predispose her to female maternal instincts. However, we should also remember that an issue with Deady et al .’s study is that there is just a correlation between hormones and behaviour (women with higher testosterone showed lower female interests) but we can’t say that one caused the other. One strength of the role of sex hormones is that it is based on a lot of research. For example, Van Goozen et al . found that female sex hormones that were given to transgender women led to decreases in aggression. This is clear evidence of a direct cause. We might apply this to Tess because, if she wanted to change, she might have some hormone treatment to make her more interested in having babies. One weakness of this research is that it hasn’t been supported by other studies of those transitioning people who don’t show behavioural changes in relation to changes in hormones. This suggests that there may be other things in uencing people’s behaviour such as learning experiences. It could be that Tess’ dislike of babies is not because of her hormones but because her mother had similar attitudes and she is modelling her behaviour on her mother’s behaviour. 331 words Saturn may be overdoing the references to the context but it is better to err in that direction and aim to have one mention of the context per point (paragraph) than end up with too little. There is obviously less detailed description here than in Chen’s answer but this was necessary to leave sufficient time for the other key components – evaluation and reference to the context. The answer here would probably be described as ‘some accurate’ and ‘minor omissions’ but we are not tempted by level 1 for knowledge and understanding. So a good level 2 for description. There is a reasonable discussion (perhaps between level 2 and 3) and certainly level 3 for links to the context and their relevance. Notice that it is not just a matter of inserting the names Jess and Tess in the answer but actually engaging with their comments. This means the best t for the mark scheme (see page 43) would be top of level 2 or maybe even bottom level 3, which gives Saturn 7 out of 9 marks. On this spread we look at some typical student answers to exam-style questions. The comments provided (in green) from an experienced teacher show what is good and bad in each answer. Learning how to provide effective exam answers is a SKILL. Practise it. Question 1: State what is meant by the term ‘reconstructive memory’. (1) Chen’s answer It is a kind of memory that has been reconstructive. Teacher comments Never de ne something using the same words. This would gain 0 marks. Bella’s answer Pieces of stored information are reassembled during recall. The process is guided by our schemas so that we produce a ‘memory’ that makes sense (even if it is inaccurate). Bella has learned the de nition in the book – but she only needs 1 mark’s worth. Don’t waste valuable exam time – ensure your answer ts the marks available. 1 mark. Saturn’s answer Recalling something but combining fragments that have been stored. Saturn has it just right for 1 mark. Question 2: Explain what the findings of Watson and Rayner’s (1920) study tell us about classical conditioning. (3) Chen’s answer Watson and Rayner did a study where they conditioned a very young boy called Little Albert to have a fear response to furry white objects. They did this by striking a hammer on a metal bar which was an unconditioned stimulus. The furry white object (e.g. a rat) was a neutral stimulus – they tested this at the beginning to see that there was no response. This process illustrates classical conditioning. Chen has demonstrated reasonable knowledge of the key study but not shaped it well to answer the question. Just saying ‘This process illustrates classical conditioning’ doesn’t count as answering the question – Chen needed to add ‘because …’ and ll something in like ‘it shows how a new link can be formed between the unconditioned and neutral stimulus.’ The answer does use some specialist terminology appropriately but is not sufficiently shaped to the question to get more than 1 mark. Bella’s answer The study shows that emotions can be classically conditioned because Little Albert learned to associate a neutral stimulus with fear. The rat at rst produced no response but was associated with a loud noise and after a number of pairings produced a fear response. Furthermore the study showed that the learned response generalised to other white furry objects. Bella’s answer starts with a clear response to the question – what do the ndings show us? She then uses her knowledge to focus on the question and avoids just describing what happened. The answer is an appropriate length – just three sentences for the 3 marks. Exam answers are not marked like that but it is a useful rule of thumb to guide you in the exam and prevent you writing too little or too much. 3 marks. Saturn’s answer The study illustrates the process of classical conditioning by showing that you can pair an unconditioned stimulus (the loud noise) with a neutral stimulus (the rat) so that the rat becomes a conditioned stimulus producing fear (now a conditioned response). In contrast Saturn’s answer is probably just a bit too short. Important details and specialist terminology is included but there isn’t the depth for the full 3 marks. She hasn’t really told us what we can learn about classical conditioning from this study, e.g. that the learned response can generalise or that it takes a few pairings before the response can be learned. 2 marks. Question 3: Describe one finding of the key study by Chatard et al . (2007). (2) Chen’s answer Boys and girls primed with a stereotype overestimated arts results, girls underestimated maths results. Chen shows how a very short answer can be effective. The answer is accurate and mentions three different ndings, so the full 2 marks. Bella’s answer Chatard et al . did a study about social categorisation. They found that boys who had been given the stereotype overestimated results, girls underestimated them. Bella know a bit about the study but the rst sentence is not creditworthy and the second sentence fails to specify which results – arts or maths. So 0 marks. Saturn’s answer Boys and girls who were given the gender-stereotype reminder of girls doing better at arts and boys doing better at Maths overestimated their arts performance. Girls who were given the gender-stereotype reminder underestimated their maths performance (while boys overestimated theirs). Saturn has given the full details, probably more than would be needed for 2 marks. Note that some questions on ndings might start with the command term ‘Explain’ and be worth 3 marks. In such cases you are expected to do more than just identify the ndings. Instead the question will also require you to apply the ndings to explain something, for example to explain how the ndings from Chatard et al. ’s study could explain female career choice. 46 47 Unit 1: Psychological approaches and applications