REVISION SUGGESTIONS
Make sure your revision is effective
All of these ideas are better if you do them out loud.
Most of them are also better if you can do them with a
partner – they don’t necessarily need to be a psychologist –
a willing person can read questions out!
Working with someone else is excellent, but it is even more
important that your revision is your own. This isn’t anything
to do with cheating, it’s simply that you will remember much
better if you planned or wrote (or collaborated on)
something yourself than if it was exclusively someone else’s work.
Know the exam injunctions – the key words that are used in questions (eg outline, discuss,
evaluate, assess, criticise, compare etc).
Making good notes and summarising
Yes, there really is no way round it: you have to write revision notes. There are three reasons
for this.
 practice: the more times you use encounter the
same ideas, the better you will remember them
 deep processing: by summarising your notes, or
organising them differently, you are having to
think about the ideas, which means you will
understand them better and be more likely to
remember them
 minimal cues: by reducing your notes each time
you summarise a topic, you are narrowing down
the cues you need to access your memory. This
helps with the ultimate aim, ie for the few key
words in an exam question to trigger your recall
for all the detail about that topic.
Tabulate
A good way to summarise your notes is to tabulate them. You can use this technique
whenever you can make comparisons or put things into a sequence. For example:
 stages: Freud’s psychosexual theory; the Oedipus complex, the Electra complex,
 the biology of gender development, how classical conditioning works, steps in
Ainsworth’s strange situation.
 strengths and weaknesses: of studies; theories; research methods;
 experimental designs. In each case, see if you can make the rows ‘line up’
 eg if you are identifying a strength of a study in terms of validity, does it
 also have weaknesses in terms of validity (though bear in mind that won’t
 always be possible).
When evaluating studies remember:
o Generalisibility
o Reliability
o Application
o Validity
o Ethics
When evaluating theories remember:
o Strengths
o Weaknesses
o Evidence
o Alternative explanations
o Relevance to Real life
 similarities and differences: although questions asking for comparisons (similarities)
and contrasts (differences) are relatively uncommon, they could be asked. More
importantly, this exercise helps you to understand key aspects of concepts.

Illustrate and annotate
Although few topics in psychology require you to ‘learn a diagram’ (perhaps just Freud’s
‘iceberg’ model and the structure of a neuron and synapse) many aspects of psychology
can be illustrated. A simple example is using sketches to help you to remember researcher’s
names – though remember, it’s always more important to know what they did and found and
what it means. Some concepts can also be represented in diagrams. For example, in
cognitive psychology, the multi-store model and the working memory model can be
represented diagramatically. In developmental psychology the Oedipus and Electra
complexes can be illustrated, as can fixation at different stages of development. In biological
psychology, the ideas of localisation and lateralisation can be illustrated, as can changes
and differences in the brain and body relating to gender.
If you draw yourself a diagram to illustrate a topic, always add detailed notes to explain it.
Try redrawing the diagram from the notes alone. Alternatively, cover the annotations up (eg
with Post-Its) and see if you can rewrite them accurately.
However, be aware that just drawing a diagram in an exam is unlikely to earn you many if
any marks, you need to be able to explain what it shows.
Random Examiner
1. Download a random number generator (eg ‘undecided’)– or just get some dice.
2. Make two lists:
i. one of topics you can be tested on AND
ii. the other of possible question types you can be set.
For example:
a. i. research methods: eg lab experiment, field experiment, natural experiment,
correlation, observation
ii. describe, give strengths, give weaknesses
b. i. study: decide which ones you need to know eg Peterson & Peterson,
Murdock, Godden & Baddeley, Loftus & Palmer, Harlow, Stayton & Ainsworth
Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg, Hodges & Tizard, etc.
ii. aim, method/procedure, findings, conclusion, give strengths, give
weaknesses.
c. i. theories: decide which ones you need to know eg Multi-store model, working
memory model, Bowlby’s attachment theory
ii. name topic, describe, give strengths, give weaknesses
3. a) Allocate a number (from 1 upwards) to each possible (sub)topic
b) Allocate a number (from 1 upwards) to each possible question type.
Note these two lists down.
4. Use your source of random numbers to generate number pairs. The first number
determines to topic, the second what kind of question you have to answer.
5. Answer the question out load. If you are working in a pair, comment on the quality of
the answer. If you are working alone, check your revision notes for any points that
you are uncertain about.
Test yourself
To do this you can use your tables (cover up one row or column), labelled diagrams
(cover up either the annotations or the diagram) etc. Alternatively, you could make
yourself sets of cards with prompts or questions on. Practice with the ethics cards, then
others of your own. You can also make them with questions on the front and answers on
the back – practice with the Milgram cards.
Practice questions
Finally, it is critical that you practice answering questions. You should do both past
paper questions and ones which have never come up before. Working with
another students using past papers to guide you, try to make up your own
questions covering a range of topics and question types.
Downloads
http://www.uniview.co.uk/doc/Self%20test%20cards.doc
http://www.uniview.co.uk/doc/grid%20matching%20activity.doc
http://www.uniview.co.uk/doc/random%20examiner%20activity.doc