ib psychology critical thinking points

IB Psychology: A Simple Guide to Evaluating Quantitative Studies in Extended Response Questions (ERQs)

Mastering the IB Psychology curriculum involves becoming proficient in various skills, which include how to plan for exam study, answering Short Answer Questions (SAQs) and evaluating quantitative studies in Extended Response Questions (ERQs). Now that you've got your IB Psychology exam study plan sorted and know how to answer SAQs (read  part 1 and part 2 of this blog series), understanding how to evaluate quantitative studies in ERQs is the next step in your learning journey. This blog intends to provide a step-by-step guide of how to do so.

Why We Need to Evaluate Studies

When writing about psychological studies, it is crucial that we evaluate them critically after describing their procedures and findings. There are two key reasons we need to evaluate studies:

• It demonstrates critical thinking , one criterion used in ERQ marking . By evaluating the strengths and limitations of a study, you show that you can think deeply about research methodology.
• It acknowledges that all studies have flaws and may excel in one aspect over another. For instance, studies often prioritise either internal validity (soundness of causal conclusions) or external validity (generalizability to real-world contexts). An experiment may have excellent control of variables to determine cause-and-effect (high internal validity), but use an artificial lab setting that lacks ecological validity (lower external validity). By evaluating studies along these different dimensions, we recognise these compromises in the research process while still appreciating the purpose of the design.

What Is an Evaluation?

An evaluation is a short paragraph that makes around 3-4 points and provides a balanced commentary on the methodology of a study. The goal is not just to praise or critique the study but to offer insight into how the experimental design impacts our interpretation of the findings.

There are five evaluation points which we can use to identify strengths and limitations in quantitative studies, which can be remembered using the acronym “GRAVE” :

G = Generalisability

R = Reliability

A = Applications

V = Validity

What Is GRAVE?

Generalisability refers to the extent we can apply the findings to real-world contexts beyond the specific study sample. For example, a study conducted on all male university students has limited generalisability across females or other age groups.

Reliability is the consistency of a measure or experiment across time and participants. Using standardized procedures improves reliability. We can also say that a study’s reliability is a strength if its findings replicate those of prior studies investigating the same phenomenon.

Applications refer to how useful the implications of the study are for the wider field. For example, how could a study on long-term memory influence the field of education and the way we learn at school?

Validity concerns how accurately the study measures what it aimed to measure. Important types are internal validity (can we infer causality between the variables) and external validity (can we generalize the findings beyond the study context – i.e., outside of the lab environment).

Ethics evaluates if ethical guidelines were followed, often by considering consent, deception, confidentiality, and potential for harm. Unethical procedures can invalidate the findings.

How to Use GRAVE to Show Critical Thinking

When using GRAVE, the goal is to explain how each evaluation point actually impacts our interpretation of the study's results, rather than just labelling strengths or limitations in isolation.

For example, consider a study investigating adolescents’ video game usage through self-report questionnaires. A poor evaluation might read:

This does technically identify a limitation but fails to analyse its implications. A better alternative would be:

Notice how the improved version explains exactly why and how social desirability threatens the accuracy of the data, by directly linking it to the questionnaire method and the sensitive topic. This level of critical analysis strengthens the evaluation considerably by elucidating the bias's direction of influence.

Using GRAVE well means digging into the meaningful impacts of strengths and limitations, not just stating them abstractly. This allows you to demonstrate in-depth critical thinking in your analysis of research.

Don’t Neglect the Strengths

While we might assume that to show critical thinking, we must identify as many limitations as possible presented by the study, it is equally important not to neglect the strengths of a study. Recognising the ways a study excels in certain areas also displays critical analysis. For example, highlighting how a study has precisely controlled for extraneous variables indicates that you understand why these controls were necessary to address the specific research question effectively. In some cases, studies produce groundbreaking results mainly because of methodological strengths rather than despite limitations.

An example of how to recognise a significant strength, using a hypothetical study that was investigating the effects of a hallucinogen on the treatment of a disorder, by using low doses of the drug instead of a placebo.

This is quite a lengthy evaluation point – more than you would have time to write in an ERQ under timed conditions – but illustrates how you can show critical thinking by pointing out unique strengths in a study that contribute significantly to the robustness of its findings.

Evaluating studies critically is a cornerstone of scientific analysis and a key skill assessed in IB Psychology. Remember that the goal is to not simply label strengths as advantageous or limitations as problematic; thoughtful evaluation involves digging into the meaningful implications of these points, to help inform our interpretation of the research findings.

Ready to tackle your IB Psychology exams with confidence? This is Part 3 in a blog series providing expert tips to master IB Psychology. You can read the other parts of this series by heading to our blog and access other free resources on Learnmate. You can also connect with experienced tutors at Learnmate to start working towards achieving your potential in IB Psychology. Share this guide with your peers and start your journey to academic success today!

This blog was written by Claudia Z , an Online IB Tutor on Learnmate. Claudia has been studying a Bachelor of Health Science (Premed) since graduating with a 99.7 ATAR and 44 score in IB. She excelled in the IB program and now tutors students in IB Psychology, English A Literature, Chemistry, French, History and Maths.

You can view her profile and, subject to her availability, request Claudia as your tutor here .

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Understanding IB Psychology with 3 Easy Questions

Travis Dixon August 13, 2019 Assessment (IB) , Curriculum , Teaching Ideas , Themantics

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The IB Psychology course can be a confusing beast and while the official IB Guide is there to tell us what we need to teach (as teachers) and study (as students), it’s not always clear. So I came up with a way of breaking down the IB Psychology course into three simple questions.

Thinking about IB Psychology in the following 3 questions will be helpful for:

Teachers:  It will allow you to plan each topic more carefully and can help you with planning for each of the topics. If you’re not sure what to teach, start with these three questions and apply them to the topic and see what you come up with.

Students:  If you’re trying to study for the IB exams without any revision materials and taking a Do-It-Yourself approach, you can use these three questions to guide you. If you add these questions to any topic in the guide and you study so you can answer them, you’ll be well-prepared for the IB exams.

The 3 Questions

1. what is….

This is the first step to knowing the IB Psychology course. For every topic in the guide, begin with asking “what is?”

• What is psychology?
• What is “behaviour” and “cognition?”
• What is neuroplasticity?
• What is the multistore model of memory?
• What is a research method? What is a true experiment?
• What is a cultural dimension?
• What is social identity theory?
• What is an origin of conflict?
• What is an explanation of one disorder?

These are basic knowledge questions and can typically be answered in one or two sentences. It’s essential that the study of any psychological topic begins with a “what is” question because we can’t understand or think critically about something if we don’t know what it is.

2. How does…

After we know what a topic is, we now need to seek to understand something important about that topic. This is where the “How does…” question comes in. After all, knowing something is great but we want to understand human behaviour and cognition, including how they work, so this level of thinking is imperative.

• How does neuroplasticity occur?
• How does the multistore model of memory explain memory formation?
• How does a psychologist use a true experiment? And why?
• How does individualism/collectivism influence behaviour?
• How does social identity theory explain prejudice and discrimination?
• How does realistic conflict theory explain conflict?
• How does socioeconomic status influence PTSD?

If you can answer a “how does…” and even a “how and why does…” question for each of the topics that might be asked in an exam, you’re on track to acing the IB Psych’ exams.

You can easily change the verb to a plural by asking “How do…” for many topics. For example, “How do researchers use technology to study the brain?” You might even want to add the “And why…?” as well. The point of this post is to help build confidence to those confused by the guide.

3. But…

After understanding and application comes critical and creative thinking and this is where our buts come in. Critical thinking is “a critical reflection of the value and validity of one’s knowledge and understanding .” An easy way to critical reflect is to ask “but.”

• But does neuroplasticity occur the same for everyone, or does it vary depending on things like age?
• But does the multistore model of memory explain every type of memory formation?
• But are there limitations in using a true experiment?
• But aren’t we making the assumption that people from individualistic/collectivistic cultures are all the same?
• But are there alternatives to social identity theories explaination of prejudice and discrimination?
• How does realistic conflict theory explain every type of conflict in all contexts?
• But is it socioeconomic status that’s influencing PTSD, or is it really something else like the stress associated with being poor?

You can see from the above questions that these are great  beginnings  to some awesome critical thinking points. To be fully developed they need exploring. Of course, these questions are based on my own knowledge and as critical thinking is inherently linked with knowledge, it would be important for students to come up with their own butts!

To think critically the first step is to ask the question. Just as important is to keep thinking and see if you can answer it.

If you look at the IB Guide’s list of critical thinking components you’ll see that these are lending themselves towards asking the but question:

• Research methodologies : but are there limitations in the methodologies used?
• Bias : but did researcher bias influence the results? But is my own bias influencing my interpretation of the study?
• Assumptions : but are we making too many assumptions in this explanation of behaviour?
• Alternative explanations:  but are there alternative explanations for this behaviour? etc.

Read more:  Critical thinking summarized in one word (But…) ( Link )

There we have it – the three basic questions that cover IB Psychology from knowledge to critical thinking.

What is…

How does….

I hope this was helpful. These three levels of questions are closely linked with my three levels of thinking which is the foundation of the themantic model of curriculum and all the resources we produce. In the coming months and years I will be writing more about this model and its potential for positive impact in the classroom as I really believe it can make a big difference.

In writing this post I’ve come up with an easy activity that uses these 3 questions. I’m going to try with my classes to help them review. I’ll post that soon so make sure you’re subscribed and it will be sent straight to your email.

Travis Dixon is an IB Psychology teacher, author, workshop leader, examiner and IA moderator.

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IB teaches critical thinking

An Australian newspaper, the Sydney Morning Herald has shared research showing that IB students think more critically than their peers.

The research was comissioned by the IB and conducted by the University of Western Sydney. In the article, one of the researchers involved in the study. associate professor Susanne Gannon,  said:

It was pretty clear that the students who did the IB, at least in themselves, feel better prepared for university study.

The article also quotes Grace Crawford-Smith, an IB graduate. She said: 

It has a really strong global perspective and a focus on independent learning, which I thought would prepare me for university study ... It has definitely made me confident in looking at both sides of all issues you study.

Alongside praise for the IB, the article looks at whether the IB diploma can be compared with the Higher School Certificate (HSC), which is the qualification awarded in state schools in Australia's state of New South Wales. 

To read the full article, please visit the Sydney Morning Herald's website.

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• Introducing psychology
• Psychology textbook
• 1. Research in psychology

ATL: Essential understandings

Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior, cognitive processing, and attitudes.

Psychology is a very broad field of study with many applications.

Concepts and theories are the building blocks of the study of human behavior.

What is psychology?

Psychologists want to understand why people behave the way they do. They believe that if we can discover the causes of behavior, we will be able to explain them, and maybe also control them.

There is no single definition of psychology that is universally acknowledged. A common definition is: Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behavior . As you can see, this is a very broad definition.  

TOK: Is psychology a science?

The debate about whether psychology is a science rages on the Internet.  It is without a doubt that psychologists use the scientific method.  So, why the debate?

Unlike other sciences, psychology has failed to produce a cumulative body of knowledge that has a clear conceptual core that is consensually agreed upon by mainstream psychological experts.  It is the lack of a core, accepted body of knowledge that is problematic in psychology’s desire to be labeled a “science.”

• What are some of the core ideas that define other sciences – such as biology, chemistry, and physics? How are these core ideas most likely different from the study of human behavior?
• Is it important that psychology makes use of the scientific method?  Why or why not?

Is psychology a science?

• Based on empirical evidence
• Psychologists attempt to be objective by minimizing bias
• Extraneous variables are controlled to help establish cause-and-effect relationships
• Employs hypothesis testing
• The goal is for research to be replicated to establish reliability
• Research has been applied to predict and change human behavior.
• There is a replication crisis in psychology; psychologists have been unable to replicate key studies.
• Not all aspects of psychology are empirically based or falsifiable - e.g. Freudian theory, humanistic theory
• Problems with the observation of cognitive processes. This means that processes, such as memory, cannot be accurately measured.
• The inability to establish "laws" of human behavior and simply noting trends that may change over time and place.
• It is argued that objectivity is impossible as research is based on theoretical perspectives.

Psychologists study “the mind” and behavior. The mind is defined as the part of us that reasons, thinks, feels, perceives, and judges.  Behavior, on the other hand, is defined as the coordinated responses of whole living organisms to internal and/or external stimuli – that is, what an organism does as a result of both internal factors and environmental factors.

But actually, the study of psychology is much more complex.  Psychologists study the interaction of many internal factors  - cognitive processes, physiology, attitudes, and emotions – that influence our behaviors.

Key vocabulary

Cognitive processes   - sometimes referred to as “thought processes” – explain how the mind works.  These processes include memory, perception, attention, decision-making, and thinking/reasoning.   It is the process by which existing knowledge is used to create new knowledge.

Physiology refers to our biological systems.  Psychologists are interested in the role of our brain and nervous system, hormones, and genetics in behavior.

Attitudes can be defined as feelings of liking or disliking toward an object, person, or idea.  You may have an attitude about Chinese food, your president, or the concept of globalization.  Our attitudes can affect our behavior in both a positive and negative way.

Finally, emotions are a combination of physiological and cognitive processes.  According to psychologists, there are seven basic emotions: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, disgust, and contempt.

For a long part of psychology’s short history, experts argued whether a behavior was the result of biological factors (nature) or environmental factors (nurture).  Today, psychologists no longer believe that it is nature or nurture – but rather, nature and nurture.  They argue that behavior is the result of the interaction of both internal and environmental factors.  As a result, psychologists look at behavior through a number of different lenses.

The IB psychology course also takes an integrative approach to studying human behavior. This means that we will look at psychological issues through three approaches

• The biological approach focuses on physiology, including genetics.
• The cognitive approach focuses on mental processes like memory, thinking, perception, and attention.
• The sociocultural approach focuses on how environment and culture affect behavior.

An example of how these approaches are used can be seen in the study of clinical depression – or Major Depressive Disorder.  The biological approach would argue that depression is the result of biological factors – such as low levels of serotonin, high levels of stress hormones, or certain combinations of genes.  The cognitive approach would argue that depression is the result of the way people think.  If your thinking is dominated by negative and pessimistic thoughts, then you are more likely to be depressed.  Finally, the sociocultural approach would argue that environmental factors – such as a stressful work environment, poverty, or war – could lead to depression. 

Obviously, it is much more complex than this, as you will learn throughout the course.

Research: Theories and empirical studies

When psychologists discuss their work, they refer to theories and make reference to empirical studies . These are some of the building blocks of scientific psychology.

A theory is an explanation for a psychological phenomenon. It is a statement used to summarize, organize, and explain observations. A theory can be used to make predictions about human behavior. Most theories are built on concepts - that is, hypothetical constructs that must be carefully defined so that they can be tested. In order to test a concept, psychologists need to develop tools to measure it.

An example of a concept is Bandura’s self-efficacy . As a concept, self-efficacy is defined as one’s own belief as to whether one will succeed in something, based on previous experiences.

Bandura’s theory predicts that one’s self-efficacy will determine if and how hard one will try to do a certain thing. For example, a researcher might be interested in the role of self-efficacy in predicting if people will engage in regular exercise to improve their health. The researcher wants to find out if people who score high on a self-efficacy scale are more likely to engage in health-preserving behavior than those who score low on the scale. On the basis of the findings, the researcher can either support the self-efficacy theory or question its usefulness in people’s health behaviors.

Theories in psychology are not like laws in the natural sciences. Psychological theories are probable rather than certain, and therefore they are always open to some degree of doubt . It is often the case that one theory cannot explain all aspects of a psychological phenomenon. Since this doubt is part of scientific psychology, it is necessary to evaluate theories, examining their strengths and limitations.

What makes a good theory?  A good theory is first and foremost “ testable .”  This means that we could actually “prove it wrong.”  If it is not possible to test the validity of a theory, then the theory is “ unfalsifiable ,” and thus, not a good theory.   When we have personal experience that we can share that challenges or supports a theory, this is called anecdotal data.  For example, when I say that I know that hot weather makes people irritable and my evidence is that last week it was really hot and a shopkeeper was really unkind to me, this is anecdotal.  Psychologists do make use of anecdotal data, but in order to test theories, they use empirical evidence - that is, information acquired by observation or experimentation. 

Thinking critically: Testability

For each of the following statements, think about whether this is "testable" or not.  If so, how would you be able to test it to see whether it is "true" or not?  What are the problems with testing these claims?

2.  Married couples are happier than single people.

3.  Playing online games makes you smarter.

4.  Eating foods containing high levels of sugar makes you hyper.

1. This is testable.  Researchers have exposed people to the cold virus in different temperatures - for example, very cold and room temperature. There is no significant difference in the susceptibility to the cold virus depending on the temperature.  Students may want to discuss, however, if this is ethical, regardless of gaining consent.

2. Yes, this is testable.  It can be done with a simple survey.  However, the problem is that people who are married may feel a social obligation to be positive about their marital status.  This means that participant expectations may have an effect on the validity of their responses.

3. This is, theoretically, testable.  But it relies on a lot of assumptions.  First, you have to assume that we can measure how smart someone is.  This could be done with an IQ test or some other form of test - all of which are open for debate. In addition, this would have to be done over time.  It would not be something that could be accomplished in a single laboratory session.  Therefore, when the person is at home playing games, there is a lot of opportunity for other variables to interfere with the study.

4. This is also, theoretically, testable.  However, there are concerns about having people eat a diet high in sugar in order to test the hypothesis.

There are several other theories that are not really testable.  Although these theories are often “accepted,” they are done so more as an act of belief than science.

The second characteristic of a good theory is that it has empirical support .  Empirical support may be in the form of an experiment, observations, interviews, or case studies.  However, empirical support must be replicated in order for the theory to be well supported.  Conducting a single study that cannot be replicated, is not good support for a theory.  It is sometimes the problem in psychology that the results of a study are not replicated when different samples are used.

The third characteristic of a good theory is that it can be applied in many practical ways.  You will see that some theories have a lot of applications – or what we call high heuristic validity .  For example, you will see that a theory called “Social Identity Theory” can be applied to explain inter-group conflict, the origins of sexuality, one’s likelihood of supporting a charity and conformity to a group – as well as improve evacuation procedures in a disaster, reduce football hooliganism or changing one’s buying behavior. 

Another characteristic of a good theory is that its concepts are well-defined and can be measured .  As you see in Bandura’s theory above, we have to be able to measure self-efficacy. How does one do that?  It is important that a test is designed and that researchers agree that the test does what it claims to do.  There are many things that psychologists study that can be problematic when it comes to how we measure them – for example, stress, anxiety, love, level of trust, self-efficacy, or intelligence.

It is also important that a theory not be biased .  There are several types of bias that a theory may have.  First, the research could be primarily done on students.  This means that we do not have good data on a range of ages.  In addition, studies may be biased toward one gender, Western culture, or a certain class of people.  Theories can also be biased because of the goals of the researcher – whether that be that the origin of depression is biochemical, as proposed by a drug company – or that homosexuality is purely genetic – as proposed by a gay rights activist.  This does not mean that the theory may not in the end have strong support, but such bias should make us raise our eyebrows.  Finally, the theory should take into consideration other factors.  If a biological theory ignores environmental variables, then the theory has a bias toward reductionism – that is, describing a complex phenomenon in terms of simple explanations or singular variables.

Finally, a good theory predicts behavior . Even good theories are not able to predict an individual’s behavior but can predict trends within a population.

To remember what makes a good theory, you may want to use the following acronym:

Psychological theory in practice

According to Dweck’s theory, people with a fixed mindset believe that intelligence is static: because they want to appear smart; they avoid challenges, give up easily, and consider effort to be a waste of time. They tend to ignore useful negative feedback and feel threatened by the success of others. The consequence for these people is that often they do not achieve their full potential.

In contrast, people with a growth mindset believe that intelligence is not fixed: they think that it can be developed and therefore they do not mind challenges. They persist when they experience setbacks, consider effort to be part of the process of mastering something, learn from criticism, and find inspiration in the success of others. This approach reflects the belief that you can change things if you want to.

In order to test this theory, Dweck and Blackwell (2007) carried out an experiment with low-achieving students aged 12–13 years (seventh-graders). All students were given an introduction to the brain and study skills. Half of them also attended a neutral session on memory, while the other half attended a lecture on how intelligence can be developed through exercise - just as you can train your physical body. The result was that the students who were trained to adopt a growth mindset about intelligence were much more motivated, and this was demonstrated in their maths grades. Students in the group that did not attend the intelligence lecture showed no improvement, despite all the other interventions. According to Dweck, telling students that intelligence can be developed can have an incredible impact on their motivation to learn.

Thinking about research

Dweck’s theory of motivation predicts that people who attribute their failures to a lack of ability become discouraged even in areas where they are capable. Those who think they simply have not tried hard enough are encouraged to try harder when they experience setbacks.

1.  Does this theory correspond to real life? Try to evaluate the theory using some of your own experiences.

2.  To what extent could this theory be applied to different areas of human behavior – for example, exercise and health behavior, sports, or the arts?  

3.  Do you think that this theory could be biased in any way?

1. This will be a personal response.  Many students will talk about "not being an artist" or "being bad at languages."  One of the things to point out is that probably few of them have the idea that they are going to be a "poor psychology student." At this point, they have not drawn any conclusions about their ability and they may all be coming into the course with a growth mindset.

2. For exercise, a growth mindset would be that if we start small, we will be able to develop our endurance and strength.  Difficult days are seen as growth - rather than failure.  Health behavior, for example, could be that "my whole family has a weight problem" so there is no point in trying to eat healthily.  Whereas a growth model sees failures as acceptable and part of life - but then refocus on their goal.

3.  This theory is criticized for several reasons.  First, it is very "Western" in its approach.  It assumes that I have control over my life and can "be all I want to be."  It also assumes that mindset is a key reason for people not to make progress - and it does not address the limitations that socioeconomic status and health issues may pose.  This may lead to people concluding that those who are not successful have only their "mindset" to blame.

What do psychologists do?

The following list contains just some examples of potential careers in psychology.

Aviation psychologists study the behavior of pilots and flight crew, as well as how to improve airline safety.

Clinical psychologists assess, diagnose, and treat individuals suffering from psychological distress and mental illness.

Cognitive psychologists investigate how people think, including topics such as decision-making and problem-solving.

Consumer psychologists research consumer behavior and develop marketing strategies to promote businesses.

Developmental Psychologists research human development across the entire lifespan – from infancy to old age.

Educational psychologists study how people learn and develop instructional strategies and teaching techniques.

Forensic psychologists study the origins of criminal behavior as well as how psychological research can be applied to improve the justice system.

Health psychologists conduct research on community health issues. They also seek to educate the community and develop prevention programs.

Industrial-Organizational psychologists study workplace behavior such as how to select the best employees for particular jobs and how to increase worker productivity.

Military psychologists apply psychological theory to improve the military – for example, treating soldiers suffering from mental illness or emotional distress, researching different aspects of military life, and helping soldiers transition back to civilian life.

Sports psychologists study how psychological factors affect performance and how participation in sports and exercise affect psychological and physical factors .

Checking for understanding

Prejudice is an example of a(n)...

Physiological process

Which of the following is not a characteristic of a good theory?

It is able to be empirically tested.

It is reductionist - that is, it is focused on a single approach.

It predicts behaviour

Its concepts can be measured.

Several theories are reductionist, but a theory may also be more holistic.  This is true of many sociocultural theories. Although reductionism is not necessarily a good or bad characteristic of a theory, it is not a requirement for a "good theory."

What is the name given to data that is based on personal experience?

Empirical data

Heuristic data

Correlational data

Anecdotal data

Empirical data is obtained through systematic and controlled research.  There is no such thing as heuristic data.

According to Carol Dweck's theory, students who have a fixed mindset ...

listen to feedback with the goal of improving their skills.

are of limited intelligence.

are less likely to take risks because they fear failure.

complete their cognitive development by the age of 12.

Dweck argued that those who have a fixed mindset believe that their skills are a "talent."  Therefore, they do not take risks because failure would hurt their identity.

Which type of psychologist would most likely study the extent to which we can trust eyewitness testimony of children in domestic abuse trials?

Forensic psychologist

Educational psychologist

Developmental psychologist

Industrial-organizational psychologist

Which type of psychologist would most likely study strategies for getting people to stop drinking high-caffeine drinks?

Consumer psychologist

Health psychologist

Aviation psychologist

Which type of psychologist would most likely study the effects of poverty on brain development?

Clinical psychologist

Fundamentals of research