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The Human Memory
Title: The Human Memory
Timeframe: From August to November 2023
AIMS/OBJECTIVES
- A main point of this unit is to learn the language of Psychology and begin developing a “critical thinking toolbox”. During this the focus will be on research within Psychology with a primary focus on quantitative research.
- In order to learn the language of Psychology and how research is conducted within Psychology, the fundamental terms and concepts will be connected to parts of The Core of IB Psychology with the focus of the unit on The Human Memory. The cognitive approach will be at the centre of the unit focusing on memory, including memory models, the question of the reliability of memory, and the role of emotion on the formation and retrieval of memory. The biological approach will look at the role of biological factors in memory, which includes techniques to study the brain, localization of function, neuroplasticity, and neurotransmission. Finally, the sociocultural approach will be included to shed light on how culture and social factors may influence the formation and retrieval of memory.
- Building on the acquired knowledge on research, the students will finally be introduced to Paper 3, developing their understanding of the different research methods and sampling methods, analysing ethical considerations related to specific research, and being able to discuss the possibility of generalizing/transferring the results of the study.
Essential understandings:
- There are strengths and limitations associated with different research methods
- Biological, cognitive, and sociocultural factors interact to determine our behaviour
- Mental processes guide behaviour
- We do not have to be passive responders to out environment. We are active processors of information
Inquiry questions:
1. What considerations must a psychologist make when setting up a research experiment?
2. How do psychologists study the effect of biological factors on human behaviour and cognition?
3. How does our brain organize data?
4. To what extent are our memories reliable?
5. How do cultural, environmental, and biological factors influence our memory?
ACADEMICS
- Enable the student to collect, describe and analyze data used in studies of society, to test hypotheses, and to interpret complex data and source material
- Ensure that ethical practices are upheld in psychological inquiry
- Understand and use diverse methods of psychological inquiry
- Demonstrate knowledge and comprehension of key terms and concepts in psychology
- Demonstrate knowledge and comprehension of psychological research methods
- Evaluate research methods used to investigate behavior
SKILLS
Personal skills
- Demonstrate the acquisition of knowledge and skills required for experimental design, data collection and presentation, data analysis, and interpretation
- Writing and testing a hypothesis
- Propose a research design and procedure to test a hypothesis
- Demonstrate an ability to use examples of psychological research and psychological concepts to formulate an argument in response to a specific question, and develop an argument using appropriate evidence
- Evaluate the strengths and limitations of theories and research
- Apply psychological theory to solve a problem
- Reflect on how what they are learning may affect how they study
Social skills
- Communicate ideas to others graphically and in written formats
- To understand that cognitive strategies are not necessarily universal, but may be influenced by sociocultural factors, including socioeconomic status and culture
- The question of sampling bias is addressed and the problem of highly Western, wealthy, educated samples in Psychology is discussed
- Students are asked to be inquirers, for example on developing research hypotheses and designs. They are encouraged to be communicators in the classroom, expressing what they have learned, but also listening and reacting to the ideas and evidence presented by their peers
TOK
- How is Psychology a science and why does it matter?
- The difference between quantitative and qualitative data – is one superior to the other?
- Ethical considerations in psychological research. Does the end justify the means?
- The unit will go in depth with the reliability of memory. The theory of reconstructive memory and how this affects what we know and who we are is a large part of the unit
- Schema theory will in addition to this include how cognitive filters often determine our behaviour based on past experience
CAS
- The question of how to carry out research to investigate a problem could be applied to how we address social problems
- The knowledge and understanding gained in this unit with regard to memory and how we learn could be included in the mentor classes and with the “trivselsambassadører”
STUDY
- The materials used in class is from the InThinking Subject Site: IBDP Psychology by John Crane. The site includes among others sections a Psychology textbook and a Student resources.
ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION
- The students will throughout the course be introduced to answering Short Answer Questions (SAQs) from studying examples and structuring answers together in class, to answering SAQs in class with assistance and finally being able to write them individually. Through this approach the students will experience a running evaluation of their work on SAQs, making it clear to them how they can improve their answers.
- The same approach is used when teaching the students how to answer Paper 3: the students will work together or individually in class. First highly supervised, but increasingly more on their own, as they learn the required format.
- Twice during the unit, the students will be tested in class on their acquired knowledge. First after finishing the cognitive section and second after the biological section.
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