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IB Psychology›Psychology SL
Revision Notes

IB Psychology SL

Clear, student-friendly revision notes for the whole IB Psychology Standard Level course — health and wellbeing, human development, human relationships, learning and cognition, research methods and the exams — written for what Papers 1 and 2 actually ask.

Psychology SL · Revision Notes

Table of Contents

76 notes across 6 units. Click a unit to expand it, then open a sub-topic to see its notes.

SLSwitch to HL
1

Health and Wellbeing

Mental health, physical health problems, and what actually treats them.

20 notes▾
1.1

Mental Health Disorders

9▾
How Genes Contribute to Depression→ Neurotransmitters and Depression→ What Animal Studies Tell Us About Depression→ Beck’s Cognitive Model of Depression→ Negative Schemas and Depression→ Cultural Dimensions and Rates of Depression→ How Cultures Differ in Defining Mental Illness→ Operant Conditioning as an Explanation of Depression→ Why Social Support Protects Against Depression→
1.2

Health Problems

6▾
How Common Is Obesity?→ How Common Is Smoking?→ Why Obesity Rates Differ Between Cultures→ Why Smoking Rates Differ Between Cultures→ Social Learning as an Explanation of Obesity→ Stress, Cortisol and Weight Gain→
1.3

Prevention and Treatment

5▾
Drug Treatments for Depression→ Drug Treatments for Nicotine Addiction→ Is Drug Treatment Too Reductionist?→ Using CBT to Treat Nicotine Addiction→ Using CBT to Treat Depression→
2

Human Development

How people grow, and what shapes the person they become.

11 notes▾
2.1

Models of Development

5▾
Brain Maturation and Development→ Neuroplasticity in the Developing Brain→ Vygotsky on How Children Learn→ Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development→ Theory of Mind: Understanding Other Minds→
2.2

Development of the Self

6▾
Bowlby and the Roots of Attachment→ What Happens When Attachment Is Missing→ Enculturation and a Sense of Self→ Peers, Social Identity and Who You Become→ How Childhood Poverty Shapes Development→ Growing Up in a Conflict Zone→
3

Human Relationships

Behaviour inside groups, and what draws two people together.

10 notes▾
3.1

Group Behaviour

6▾
Acculturation and Its Effect on Mental Health→ Commitment as a Compliance Technique→ Why People Conform to a Group→ Cultural Dimensions and How Groups Behave→ Social Identity Theory Applied to Groups→ Social Learning Theory Applied to Groups→
3.2

Interpersonal Relationships

4▾
Dopamine and Romantic Attraction→ The Matching Hypothesis: Do Likes Attract?→ Self-Disclosure and Growing Closer→ Social Exchange Theory: Relationships as Trade-Offs→
4

Learning and Cognition

How we learn, think and remember, and the ways all three go wrong.

15 notes▾
4.1

Thinking and Learning

7▾
Anchoring Bias: Why the First Figure Sticks→ Confirmation Bias: Seeing What You Expect→ Classical Conditioning: Learning by Association→ Operant Conditioning: Learning by Consequence→ The Dual Process Model of Thinking→ Schema Theory: The Mind’s Shortcuts→ Social Learning Theory in Practice→
4.2

Cognitive Processing

8▾
What Brain Damage Reveals About Memory→ Atkinson and Shiffrin’s Multi-Store Model→ Working Memory and Cognitive Load→ Multi-Store or Working Memory: Which Fits Better?→ How Culture Shapes What We Remember→ How Learning Changes Spatial Memory→ Cultural Schemas and Memory Distortion→ Do Computer Games Affect Memory?→
5

Research Methods

How psychologists gather evidence, and how to judge whether it holds up.

13 notes▾
5.1

Methods of Research

6▾
Experiments and Their Designs→ Observations: Watching Behaviour Directly→ Questionnaires and Survey Design→ Interviews and What They Reveal→ Correlational Studies and Their Limits→ Case Studies: Depth Over Breadth→
5.2

Research Design

7▾
Reliability: Getting the Same Result Twice→ Validity: Measuring What You Meant To→ Generalisability: Who Else Do the Results Apply To?→ Bias in the Researcher and the Participant→ Reflexivity: The Researcher in the Research→ Credibility and Transferability→ Sampling Techniques and Who Takes Part→
6

Exam Guidance and Skills

What each paper wants, and how to write answers that score.

7 notes▾
6.1

The Exam Papers

2▾
What Paper 1 Asks For→ What Paper 2 Asks For→
6.2

Answering Exam Questions

4▾
Writing a Strong SAQ in Paper 1→ Writing a Strong ERQ in Paper 1→ Writing a Strong SAQ in Paper 2→ Writing a Strong ERQ in Paper 2→
6.3

The Key Concepts

1▾
The Six Key Concepts Explained→

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