Second Year IB Psychology 2011 – 2012

Congratulations! We have finished the course – and we are ready for exams.

For all people who watch this blog, please note that this site will revert to a Psychology I site as of August 1.  That means that all current posts will be deleted.  The current first year course blog will develop as the new second year blog.

This week we finally wrapped up the content for the course.  Now, it is only revision until the big day.  So, this is your last weekly summary.  Remember, we looked at key issues with bullying programs.  You should be able to discuss each of the following problems with evaluating bullying programs in schools:

1. Demand characteristics
2. Researcher bias
3. Derogation of the victim
4. Disclosure issues/self-reporting
5. Measurement – how do we measure a decrease in bullying?
6. Cohort effects
7. The role of Social Identity theory
8. Not a closed system; too many variables to measure effectiveness
9. Construct validity
10. Transferability

Now that we are in the revision mode, I would encourage you to go through the weekly summaries as well as start reading through different parts of your text that you may feel less sure about.  With only 9 classes left until the big day, it is important that you make a plan for yourself to organize your time!

This week we looked at cognitive and socio-cultural roots of violence.  You should be able to explain each of the following concepts:

• Baumeister’s Theory of Threatened Egotism.
• Gerbner’s Cultivation Theory.  This is supported by a study by Eron (1987) who found that parents of bullies are often authoritarian and use physical force.
• Zimbardo’s research on deindividuation.
• Research on the role of social norms in determining acceptable levels of violence.

We are now beginning the very end of the coursework.  Our last task is a Socratic Seminar next week in which you are going to respond to a bullying case study.  You should be able to discuss strategies for resolving violence issues within schools as well as the effects on the community if these issues are not resolved.  This is your last assessment that is not a revision assessment.  Please make sure that you do good research to impress one last time as we get ready for exams.

This video looks at bullying in South Korea, which has one of the world’s highest rates of suicide as a result of bullying.

Another short week  with a mock paper II.  So, we did not cover a lot of content this week, but we did make process.

We are examined the final area of the course: violence.  At the end of this week, you should be able to:

• Clearly define violence vs simple aggression.
• Understand what is meant by the “permissive effect” of testosterone and use research to demonstrate the difficulty of establishing a cause and effect relationship between testosterone and aggression/violence.
• Explain the role of serotonin in violent behaviour.
• Explain the role that the brain may play in violent behaviour.
• Be able to apply critical thinking to the studies we have done, using terms like “retrospective analysis, correlational research, and bidirectional ambiguity.”

Here is a Ted Talks with Steven Pinker on the frequency of violence.  As we discussed in class, one has to wonder both how he defines violence as well as how he measures violence across the centuries. You may want to watch this to get a more informed opinion about his argument.

Women who have just finished ovulating ‘are best at spotting snakes’

Women who have just finished ovulating are better at detecting snakes than at other times of their menstrual cycle, according to an unusual study that sheds light on inbuilt reflexes for survival.

Nobuo Masataka of Japan’s Kyoto University tested 60 healthy women of child-bearing age at three different phases of their cycle.

Previous research has found this trait among infants aged as young as eight months and even among non-human primates.

Among women, the reflex seems to be influenced by hormone levels at a stage when they could be pregnant and thus be more protective towards their foetus, the study suggests.

“It could contribute to women’s ability to increase their vigilance towards biologically relevant threatening stimuli around themselves during this period of possible pregnancy,” it says.

The paper was published on Thursday in the British journal Scientific Reports.

Original link to the Telegraph story

Before we begin our study of violence next week, you may want to take a look at this video by Steven Pinker which looks at the question of whether violence is on the increase in our society.  A rather controversial book.  Can you see why?

Gay men on trial in Cairo for "crimes of debauchery"

This week we wrapped up our study of sexuality by looking at a theory based on Social Identity Theory.  In addition, we looked at “Coming Out in the Third World” to see that even in societies where being gay or lesbian is either against the law or a threat to one’s safety, GLBT people exist. The video argued that there are three factors that have accounted for the rise in the number of gay people worldwide: the AID epidemic, gay characters in film, and the Internet to help people connect.  This may indicate that there are social factors that allow one to identify with gays and lesbians when they feel that they are not “like everyone else.” This may be very similar to Watters arguments about how behaviours are adopted in the field of abnormal behaviour as well.  Not that homosexuality is a disorder, but that society creates norms with which individuals identify.

We also spent time reviewing the three types of interviews: semi-structured, focus groups and narrative. Please make sure that you revise the strengths and limitations of each of the three types so that you are ready for paper III.

Next week – a mock Paper II on Monday.  HL candidates, if you come early, you may choose to sit for two hours and write two essays so that you can take a mini-mock exam.

And finally, as I discussed in class, here is an interesting podcast from “This American Life.”

Susan Bergman’s father was a family man, head of the church choir, and, secretly, having sex with men. He died before his children had a chance to really talk to him about what they should make of his hidden life. The podcast focuses on this and other stories of parents deceiving their children and their wives to cover up their sexuality.

You will notice that the men who are interviewed are in their 50s and 60s.  This brings up some interesting questions about how cultural attitudes toward sexuality may have an effect on how gay men behave today.  A rather controversial podcast. Feel free to comment.

This week we also revisited the biological level of analysis to look at the origins of sexuality.  Take a look at this video on gay twins.

Remember that we have looked at the following arguments so far:

• The role of the brain – particularly LeVay’s research on the INAH3 (The third interstitial nucleus of the anterior hypothalamus).  Here is a BBC article on another difference that you may find interesting. You should be able to evaluate the LeVay study in great detail.
• The role of hormones – in particular, testosterone.  You should be able to discuss the Gorsky study and relate it to research in humans.  We also discussed congenital adrenal hyperplasia.
• The role of genetics.  We looked at a study done by Bailey & Pillard.
• The role of the mother’s immune system.  We finished by looking at theories regarding why the youngest son is more likely to be homosexual.

This week has been a rather odd week.  We finished with the learning objective “why relationships fall apart” and we began looking at the origins of sexuality.  Because of the very disparate nature of the two topics, I am doing two separate weekly summary postings so that they are clearer.

For this learning objective it is important that you are able to discuss the following:

• Inter-personal factors – such as boredom, social skills, attribution patterns or rule-breaking.
• Fatal Attraction theory (Femlee)
• The ability to predict the failure of a relationship (see “The Happy Couple” or Gottesmann’s research on micro-expressions).
• Exchange theory – that is, Thibault’s theory that we cannot tolerate too many costs for too long before we decide that there are not enough rewards in a relationship.

According to Duck (1988) relationships are more likely to breakdown between individuals who differ in demographic background, marry very early, have experienced a lack of commitment in earlier relationships (e.g. parents or friends), or come from lower education levels.

Though we discussed Duck & Pond’s stages in personal relationship breakdown in class, you should know that it is not highly relevant for addressing the outcome.

Finally, please remember for the “inter-personal relationships” section of this course that there are many problems with studying human relationships.  You should be able to address these in any essay you may write.