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2010 Assessment Resource - Internal
Level 1 Psychology
27255, Describe approaches to psychology
Credits: 6
Teacher guidelines:
The following guidelines are supplied to enable teachers to carry out valid and consistent
assessment using this internal assessment resource.
Context/setting:
In this activity students will study psychological approaches to behaviour, key figures and
their contribution to psychology.
References may be oral, visual and/ or written and may be selected from one or several
text types. At least one text must be student selected. Texts should be appropriate to
Level 6 of the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC), or have characteristics that enable
students to meet the expected level of understanding.
Conditions:
Assessment for this standard will be a written, oral or audio-visual presentation.
Students can read texts, collect information and develop ideas for the assessed
presentation both in and out of class time. Teachers will need to schedule frequent
checkpoints to ensure authenticity.
Teachers should not ‘teach to the assessment’ as they discuss psychological behaviour
in class. It is essential that, as part of the assessment, students make their own
descriptions and understandings independently.
It is expected that teachers would pre-teach at least five of the approaches prior to the
assessment.
Where student work is to be presented for assessment, constructive feedback should not
compromise authenticity but can validly include suggestions about areas where further
developments are needed. Students should have the opportunity to receive feedback,
and edit and revise before assessment judgements are made.
Approaches to psychology refer to various underlying principles for understanding
different perspectives used to investigate mental processes and behaviour. These
approaches may include but are not limited to, three of - behavioural, biological,
cognitive, evolutionary, humanistic, psychodynamic, and socio-cultural.
Key figures refer to people who have made a significant contribution to approaches in
the study of psychology.
Contribution to the development of psychology includes biography of the key figure
relevant to their contribution to psychology.
© New Zealand Qualifications Authority 2011
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Resource requirements:
References may be oral, visual and/ or written and may be selected from one or several
text types. Texts should be appropriate to Level 6 of the NZC, or have characteristics
that enable students to meet the expected level of understanding. Assessment of this
standard also provides opportunities for students to develop aspects of the key
competencies of the NZC.
Students need to keep a record of all the source material they use. A suggested
reference record for source material has been provided. To encourage students into the
habit of using citation styles as used by psychologists across the world, teachers can
teach them how to cite references using the American Psychological Association (APA)
citation style. Guidance on APA citation style can be found through
http://www.apastyle.org/ or through the referencing functions provided by various
software programmes.
Additional information:
Teaching and learning guidelines that inform psychology as it is taught in New Zealand
can be found at http://www.tki.org.nz/ncea/.
Information on psychology as it is practiced in New Zealand is available from the New
Zealand Psychological Society, http://www.psychology.org.nz.
© New Zealand Qualifications Authority 2011
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27255, Describe the approaches to psychology
Credit: 6
Student Instructions Sheet
During your Psychology programme in class, your teacher will work with you on a variety
of written, oral and visual texts. You will do a wide range of activities in class which will
help you.
Your teacher will also give you opportunities to identify distinctive features, describe
approaches to the study of behaviour, summarise biographical data, summarise
contextual details and the contribution to psychology by key figures.
Your teacher will pre-teach at least five of the approaches prior to assessment.
You will choose three psychological approaches that interest you, and convey aspects of
the approaches in a written, oral or audio-visual presentation.
Your presentation should:
 focus on the core ideas of each approach
 summarise key figures’ contribution to each approach.
 contain detailed points that relate to each other.
For merit or excellence your presentation may also include:
 examples to support the core ideas
 your own ideas and references
 comparisons between the approaches
 a comprehensive understanding of the approaches
Your teacher will guide you in your choice of approaches and key figures.
Choosing approaches
Your teacher will discuss with the class a wide range of ideas and possibilities for a
choice of approaches for this activity.
Suggestions for the approaches may arise from books that class members may have
read, films that have been viewed, television programmes or other class work that has
been done.
You will be given two weeks of class time to gather relevant information for your
presentation. Work can also be done out of class time. As you will be able to undertake
research outside of class time, you will be required to complete a declaration of
authenticity.
Exploring approaches
As part of your Psychology programme your teacher will work with you to source
reference texts or other materials.
© New Zealand Qualifications Authority 2011
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Assessment guide
For achieved
For merit
For excellence
The candidate must
describe three approaches
used in psychology, identify
a key figure for each
approach, and describe
each key figure's
contribution to the
development of psychology.
The candidate must
describe in detail different
approaches used in
psychology.
The candidate must
describe in depth different
approaches used in
psychology.
Keeping a record of reference or sourced material
As you create your presentation you will need to keep a record of all the source material
you will use. Your source material can include books, websites, podcasts, journals,
newspapers, magazines, photographs. Draw up a record sheet so that you can record
your sources in an ongoing way over the course of work. To get you into the habit of
using citation styles as used by psychologists across the world, please cite your
references using the American Psychological Association (APA) citation style. Guidance
on APA citation style can be found through http://www.apastyle.org/ or through the
referencing functions provided by various software programmes.
Example of reference record
Source description
APA Reference
Book – Psychology in
Aotearoa/New Zealand
Weatherall, A., Wilson, M., Harper, D., McDowall, J.,
(2007) Psychology in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Pearson: Auckland.
Biography of B.F. Skinner
<link to
http://www.psychology.org/links/People_and_History/>
My approaches are:
Approach
Title of
reference
material
Author, Director, Main Ideas
web page
(traceable
reference)
© New Zealand Qualifications Authority 2011
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Presenting your approaches
Written report, data show, audio-visual etc
1)
For each approach you have chosen:
 outline of the approach
 features of the approach - three main ideas accurately stated
 describe an example of how each approach can be or has been applied.
2)
Contributions of one key figure for each of your three approaches by describing:
 individual biography for the key figure
 their contribution to psychology
 the important ideas and/or thinking of their time.
3)
Your presentation should also include:
 an introduction which identifies your three chosen approaches
 a description of the influence of each of your three approaches to our current
understanding of behaviour
 a reference list.
© New Zealand Qualifications Authority 2011
N.B. The following Evidence Statements are indicative and not exclusive.
PC 1.1 Biological
#1
Approaches 1 Evidence Statements: Describe biological approach to psychology and contributions of a key figure
Achievement
Describe:
Make some points relevant to the
biological approach, and summarise a
key figures’ contribution to the
development of psychology.
Achievement with Merit
Describe in detail:
Make some coherent relevant points of
the biological approach, and summarise
a key figures’ contribution to the
development of psychology.
Achievement with Excellence
Describe in depth:
Develop and integrate coherent and
relevant points of the biological approach,
and summarise a key figures’ contribution
to the development of psychology.
Relevant points biological approach
 Hormones/chemicals can
affect/influence mood or behaviour
 Some chemicals can make us more
alert
 Drugs (Ritalin) can affect the (frontal)
brain
 Genes influence our personality
 The left side of the brain controls the
right side of the body (and vice versa).
Coherent points biological approach
 Hormones such as adrenaline
stimulate the ANS/PNS/stress
response, which makes us more
alert.
 Drugs such as Ritalin dampen down
impulsive behaviour by stimulating
the frontal brain. The frontal brain is
involved in planning and thinking
ahead.
Integrated points biological approach
 Thoughts, emotions and behaviour are
caused/influenced/explained by chemical
or electrical patterns in the brain and
nervous system + developed with related
examples: Serotonin↓ →depression↑;
Acetylcholine↑, caffeine↑ or adrenaline↑
→ Arousal↑
 Different levels of biological organisation
can affect behaviour: chemical
(hormone, neurotransmitter, gene);
cellular (neuron); tissue (hippocampus);
system (endocrine, autonomic NS); brain
structure; and organ levels of
organisation + developed with related
e.g: Cortisol↑→ hippocampus ST to LT
memory fn↓; Perceptual system (Ames
illusion), child pedestrian stepping onto
road appears further away cf adult.
© New Zealand Qualifications Authority 2011
PC 1.2 Biological
Biography – Hans Seyle (1907-1982)
(Born Vienna, became a Doctor of Medicine & Chemistry in Prague 1929. (Went to Johns Hopkins University on a Rockerfeller
Foundation Scholarship 1931. (Then to McGill university Montreal where he started researching stress in 1936. (Professor and
Director of the Institute of Experimental Medicine and Surgery at the Université de Montréal where he had 40 assistants and
worked with 15,000 lab animals. Made a Companion of the Order of Canada (1968) (Founded the Hans Seyle Foundation
(1975) and the Canadian Institute of Stress (1979) with eight Nobel Laureates. (Died Oct 1982 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Source: Wikipedia
Contribution to psychology
Identified the general Adaption Syndrome (GAS) –a non-specific physiological response that occurs to a variety of stimuli.
GAS= Alarm (physiological response), Resistance (behavioural coping style/cognitive style/gender and cultural factors),
Exhaustion (immune system, heart disorders, obesity, anger/frustration, depression/helplessness & anxiety) First to describe
the HPA axis
© New Zealand Qualifications Authority 2011
PC 1.1 Behavioural
#2
Approaches 2 Evidence Statements: Describe behavioural approach to psychology and contribution of a key figure
Achievement
Describe:
Make some points relevant to the
behavioural approach, and summarise a
key figures’ contribution to the
development of psychology.
Achievement with Merit
Describe in detail::
Make some coherent relevant points of
the behavioural approach, and
summarise a key figures’ contribution to
the development of psychology.
Achievement with Excellence
Describe in depth:
Develop and integrate coherent and
relevant points of the behavioural
approach, and summarise a key figures’
contribution to the development of
psychology.
Relevant points behavioural approach
 Concerned with how we learn from the
environment or learning is based on
experience
 Apart from inborn reflexes, all
behaviour is learned (mind starts as a
tabula rasa)
 We associate or connect (S-R) events
which occur in sequence
(=conditioning)
 Behaviour is understood as being
linked to stimuli or ‘triggers’ in the
environment.
 Observable behaviour, not minds are
studied.
Coherent points behavioural approach
 Pavlov conditioned dogs to salivate to
the sound of a bell/tuning fork by first
pairing the presentation of meat
powder with the sound of the
bell/tuning fork, which caused the dogs
to salivate. Subsequently, the dogs
salivated to the sound of the bell/tuning
fork alone.
 Some food phobias can be learnt by a
single association of two stimuli with
the response of stomach aches or
vomiting. The food that is initially
associated with the response of
stomach aches/vomiting caused by
bacteria, is able to subsequently elicit
nausea or avoidance behaviour by
itself.
Integrated points behavioural approach
Points are explicitly or implicitly
integrated around classical and/or
operant conditioning.
e.g. classical conditioning
 In classical conditioning behaviour
(UCR) previously elicited by an
environmental stimulus (UCS) comes
under the control of a previously
neutral stimulus (NS) after the UCS
and NS are temporally paired. The
new stimulus (CS) alone, comes to
elicit the behaviour.
© New Zealand Qualifications Authority 2011
PC 1.2 Behavioural
Biography –John Watson (1878-1958)
(Grew up in South Carolina. (Entered Furman university at the age of 16 and after graduating five years later with a masters
degree, he spent a year as a principal for grade school. (Studied at the university of Chicago, gaining his Ph.D in 1903. (Began
teaching psychology at John Hopkins University in 1908. (Gave a seminal lecture at Colombia University 1913 titled Psychology
as the Behaviourist Views It (=behaviourist manifesto) (Carried out Little Albert experiment with Rosalie Rayner 1920.
(Resigned form JH Uni 1920 & married Rosalie Rayner 1921. (Wrote book on child rearing 1928. (Worked in advertising where
he applied behaviourist principles (Rayner died 1935 (Watson retired to a farm c1945
Source: Wikipedia
Contribution to psychology
Proposed that psychologists should confine themselves to studying behaviour (not mental life), since this can be measured
and studied objectively =behaviourism. Championed behaviourism as the scientific way forward for psychology (cf
introspection and psychoanalysis) Demonstrated how behaviour (phobias/fears) can be explained in simpler (reductionist)
terms. Led to deconditioning studies. Or other; systematic desensitisation, aversion therapy.
Notes:
 Evidence statements are indicative and not exclusive.
 Distinctive points are exclusive to a perspective and do not generally apply to a different perspective.
 The three distinctive points required for each perspective must be over and above any contradictions or errors.
E.g: with one contradiction or error four distinctive points would be required.
 Three approaches are required, only two are exemplified here.
© New Zealand Qualifications Authority 2011
Judgement Statement
Achievement
Achievement with Merit
Achievement with Excellence
Describe:
Make relevant points for each
approach, and summarise a key
figures’ contribution to the development
of psychology.
Describe in detail:
Make coherent and relevant points for
each approach.
Describe in depth:
Develop and integrate coherent and relevant points
for each approach.
Three distinctive, relevant points
accurately described for each of three
approaches.
Each of the distinctive, relevant points
The distinctive, relevant points are logically
are structured with linked ideas or
developed towards an integrated accurate
examples accurately described for each description for each of three approaches.
of three approaches.
AND
Describe a key figure’s contribution to the development of psychology for each of the three approaches chosen by including:
 a summary of relevant biographical data for each individual
 a description of their contribution to the development of psychology
© New Zealand Qualifications Authority 2011