Answering ERQs - Paper 1 (DP IB Psychology): Revision Note

Answering ERQs – paper 1

• Section C consists of two optional extended response questions (ERQs) from two of the four contexts

  • Health and wellbeing

  • Human development

  • Human relationships

  • Learning and cognition

• The questions are concept-based so are framed around themes such as:

  • bias

  • causality

  • change

  • measurement

  • perspective

  • responsibility

• Each ERQs is worth 15 marks

  • The total for Section C is 15 marks, as you only answer one ERQ

• The examiners are looking for:

  • how well you show breadth and depth of knowledge, using studies and theory

  • how well you provide a balanced evaluation (strengths, limitations, counterarguments, applications)

  • a clear structure, e.g.,

    • Introduction

    • AO1: theory/evidence

    • AO3: evaluation (strengths and limitations)

    • Conclusion

Command terms

• The command terms used in Section C include:

  • Describe (AO1)

  • State (AO1)

  • Compare and contrast (AO3)

  • Discuss (AO3)

  • Evaluate (AO3)

  • Examine (AO3)

  • To what extent (AO3)

Example question

• In the context of human development, evaluate one or more strategies used by developmental psychologists to measure attachment [15 marks]

How to answer 'Evaluate' questions

• If you are asked to evaluate, you should:

  • weigh up the strengths and limitations of one or more relevant theories, methods, or strategies

    • e.g., “measuring attachment behaviours is fraught with difficulties from the outset”

  • provide examples of methods/strategies

    • e.g., “Ainsworth’s Strange Situation (1970) uses a controlled observation with behavioural categories”

  • present strengths with expansion and explanation

    • e.g., “a strength of a controlled observation is its standardised procedure; this increases replicability and reliability”

  • present limitations with expansion and explanation

    • e.g., “a limitation is the artificial setting, which reduces ecological validity”