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for teacher INSET.
Posts archived in Miscellaneous
New for 2012
The Research Methods Companion for EVERY exam board This practical activity-based textbook is designed to boost students’ confidence and provide skills, knowledge and understanding needed to get to grips with the research methods in of A Level Psychology.
The AQA AS Audio Companion These easy-to-listen-to revision files provide coverage of every AQA AS topic to reinforce learning and improve exam performance.
The AQA A2 Exam Companion The ultimate revision book! Includes practice questions, model answers and examiner commentaries to help students turn their understanding into even better exam performance.
We’re really excited about the brand new resources we’re working on for next spring. You can click on the links above to find out more or order your inspection/firm copies by emailing me at claire.beatt@oup.com
Two interesting things to note – rise in AS Psychology candidates overall last year, and fact that the market share doesn’t seem to be changing much over the years.
Inspired by Rooney, Rick is searching in his shed for old bottle of Miraclegrow.
I work as a publisher on the OUP Psychology list, supporting the Humanities Publisher, Sarah Flynn. I’ve worked with Cara and Mike on the Complete Companion series since they were merely a glimmer in the eye, over ten years ago! I do believe that the series has finally found the home it truly deserves.
At OUP the Psychology list is developed and supported by a really talented group of authors, publishers, marketeers and sales people who are committed to providing the best possible resources to support A Level Psychology. It’s a great team to be a part of – friendly, dedicated and focused on developing a range of brilliant new resources for 2012.
We are always keen to hear what you think of our publishing – what works, what doesn’t, what else we could be doing to help you. Please don’t hesitate to drop us a line, or post on our brand new forum!
I recently received a list of questions from a lovely young man, George Bannister, about to start his first year teaching. I thought some of the answers might be of interest to other teachers. Do send your own questions in – and post them on the new blog.
Q: If a question is split into an 8 mark ao1 part a and a 16 mark ao2, Should the ao1 part of the question contain any research? Would a good piece of advice be that there is NO research in a DESCRIBE/OUTLINE part a question and to focus on how the theory explains behaviour? A: There is no simple rule about this because sometimes a study can be used as part of an Read the rest of this entry »
How were you on Friday? Friday 13th?
It seems that there is a widespread fear of any Friday which is also the 13th of the month, but there is no rational explanation for this. Records and statistics do not show any increase in bad happenings on such a day. So why does does this belief exist?
Learning theory can provide explanations.
Firstly there is a learned association between Friday 13th and bad luck, an example of classical conditioning. Perhaps we hear people talking about this, and start to notice our own misfortunes that day, they get attentional processing, we become extra aware of them. This apparent support for the bad-day-theory could act as a reinforcer, so the learned association is reinforced by operant conditioning.
Then social learning could contribute, as we see other people, people we respect or admire or have as role models, also supporting the bad-day-theory. After all, the media focus on Friday 13th when it occurs, and even the Stock Market slows down on these Fridays. The number 13 on its own is also associated with bad luck, which is why many tall buildings do not have a named 13th floor and Bollywood movies are not released on the 13th of a month.But Friday seems to give the number 13 an extra depth of ill-warning. Could this be because this combination is not common? Who knows! What we do know is that expectation also is a powerful factor in our cognition. Probably people who believe in the bad-luck-day theory do notice unfortunate happenings on such a day far more than they notice good things, and far more than they notice misfortune on any other day. This then would be an example of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Friggatriskaidekaphobia is a fear of Friday the 13th
Maybe it’ll be something to do with the size of your anterior cingulate cortex:
“Previously, some psychological traits were known to be predictive of an individual’s political orientation,” said Ryota Kanai of the University College London. “Our study now links such personality traits with specific brain structure.”
Kanai said his study was prompted by reports from others showing greater anterior cingulate cortex response to conflicting information among liberals. “That was the first neuroscientific evidence for biological differences between liberals and conservatives,” he explained.
There had also been many prior psychological reports showing that conservatives are more sensitive to threat or anxiety in the face of uncertainty, while liberals tend to be more open to new experiences. Kanai’s team suspected that such fundamental differences in personality might show up in the brain”
