1. Welcome to the Psychology Department
Psychology A Level
Welcome to the Psychology Department

2. Starter activity – 5 minutes
We nearly always do starter activities to check your learning, so before we even know who you are, we’ll do a starter.
Take a card
Write a question based on something from your summer homework
Write the answer on the back
Check with the person next to you if the answer is correct. Any doubts, ask the teacher
Move around the room and ask people your question. If they get it right give them your card. If they get it wrong tell them the answer. Your partner now does the same thing to you. You could tell each other your names at this point
If they got it wrong and you’ve told them the answer, ask them the question again. Hopefully they will get it right this time. Give them the card. Once you have both swapped cards, do the same with someone else but with your new card
Aim to see at least ten different people, don’t worry if you get your original card back, you’ll soon swap it again
Question
What is a laboratory experiment?
Answer
A highly controlled study where the researcher manipulates the IV and keeps all other variables constant

3. What to do today
Set prep Meet your colleagues Check summer homework Expectations within the Psychology Department Check that you know the key terminology

4. Prep work
Prep: We demand a lot from you. The college expects at 4.5 hours each subject per week. (13.5 ours per week in total)
You have already completed the summer homework, but you’ll need to complete the next prep ready for next lesson.
Go to and go to the “First Two Weeks 2018” button. On the home page Then click on “prep for lesson 2” and complete the work for the next lesson
It would also be a really good idea if you completed prep for lessons 3 and 4 well in time for those lessons. This maybe a significant departure from what you are used to at school, so make sure you use your non-timetabled periods for this purpose.

5. But first – progress cards and homework
These will be used to track your progress and for parents evening, subject reviews/one-to-one’s and tutorial.
Assessment scores/marks will be recorded on here.
You will be expected to ensure you have reflected on each formal assessment you do.
Student Handbooks. Don’t lose these, Bring them with you to each lesson. Turn to page 9 and fill in the details about your class buddies. Then glance at the specification on pages 4,5 and 6. You’ll know all of that in 20 months!
Homework:
You will be expected to complete ALL homework tasks.
No excuses will be accepted on the day it is due and you will be expected to write the reason for your non-completion of work on your progress card.
‘I have forgotten it’ – simply put, don’t do this!
If you do not complete your homework, you will be expected to stay behind at the end of the lesson to talk to your teacher.

6. Meet your colleagues and checking summer homework
Human Bingo
Please get all of your summer homework out and place it on the desk in front of you to be checked by your teacher as you do the human bingo.
Take Human Bingo sheet
You are going to move round the room
Try to fill in as much of your sheet as possible

7. homework quiz – do you know your psychology?
We do a lot of testing at A level, making sure you know what you know and where you need to improve. Take five minutes to skim read through your homework sheets that you completed over the summer
Now go up to the big white boards (BWBs) around the room and in groups, answer these questions corresponding to your group number.

8. Here are your questions
Group 1
Why can’t we trust our intuition (hunches, instinct) when we are explaining behaviour?
Group 3
What is a theory in science?
Group 5
Why do we want to replicate the findings in research
Group 4
What is a hypothesis in science?
Group 2
Why do we have scientific inquiry in psychology?

9. Additional thoughts: discuss in your groups
What is the difference between a theory and a hypothesis?
Do you think that we can use non-scientific methods in psychology?
Is the word ‘science’ interchangeable with ‘fact’
Why might replication guarantee against fraud in psychology?
Fraud is a thing! Dutch researcher, Dr. Diederik Stapel has published about 150 papers, many of which, like the seem devised to make a splash in the media. The study published in “Science” (journal) claimed that white people became more likely to “stereotype and discriminate” against black people when they were in a messy environment, versus an organised one. Another study, published in 2009, claimed that people judged job applicants as more competent if they had a male voice. He fabricated the results (in other words, he cheated and lied!) (New York Times, 2011)

10. Here are your questions
Group 1
What is a case study in psychology?
Group 3
What are interviews and surveys?
Group 5
What are correlations?
Group 4
What are experiments?
Group 2
What is a naturalistic observation?

11. Additional thoughts: discuss in your groups
Why is it unwise to base a whole scientific theory on the behaviour of one individual?
When observing people, should we safeguard their privacy?
Why doesn’t a correlation mean that there is causation?
In a questionnaire, do people always tell the truth?
Consider this dilemma. There is a cage of 5 mice that will receive a painful electric shock in 20 seconds. You can choose to stop this by pressing a key on the computer keyboard. However, if you do this, the electric shock is transferred away from the five mice onto another cage containing 1 mouse. Do nothing, and the five mice get the shock. What would you do?

12. Do people tell the truth on questionnaires?
In one study, when participants were asked this question, 2/3rds said they wouldn’t act, but when a similar group were in the situation for real and had to actually make the choice, 2/3rds did (don’t worry, the mice weren’t actually electrocuted).
What does this show about how people answer questionnaires, surveys and interviews compared with how they might actually act?
So what does this tell us about using questionnaires to collect data?

13. Psychology - Define the term
Now get into pairs (make one three if there is an odd number)
One of you face the back wall and one of you face the board. The one facing the board should stand up (in a three, have two people facing the back wall)
The person looking at the board will see the psychological term, you have to describe it to your partner. You CANNOT say any part of the term or sentence that you see. You have just 10 seconds to get the answer from your friend’s description
You must use a psychological definition. No spelling the word or rhyming or other cheats!
The person answering remembers how many they get correct out of 10.
It’ll get noisy, and it is a competition, because you’ll swap roles half way through.
Your trying to win as a pair, so add your scores at the end

14. Are you ready?
Press here to begin

15. Mean Average

16. Science

17. Hypothesis

18. Observation

19. Evolution

20. Replication

21. Pilot study

22. Field experiment

23. Median average

24. Informational social influence

25. Swap
Click slide to begin

26. Genetics

27. Psychology

28. Independent variable

29. Last one
laboratory

30. Case Study

31. Dependent variable

32. Quasi-experiment

33. Qualitative data

34. Secondary data

35. Double blind

36. The end

37. Plenary
Today we looked at information research methods and other key terms Write down on paper anything from today that you found that you didn’t understand or only partially understood. Research this for next lesson and if you still do not understand, ask colleague/teacher.