Introduction to IB Psychology
The aims of the IB Psychology course are:
- develop an awareness of how psychological research can be applied for the benefit of human beings
- ensure that ethical practices are upheld in psychological inquiry
- develop an understanding of the biological, cognitive and sociocultural influences on human behaviour
- develop an understanding of alternative explanations of behaviour
- understand and use diverse methods of psychological inquiry.
Syllabus outlineThe syllabus outline (for both HL and SL) is given below. Click the picture to enlarge.
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Command terms in IB PsychologyCommand terms glossaryYou can also get the command terms in document form below.
A command terms quizlet is here to test your knowledge
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Psychology and TOK
Psychology is an amazing subject for TOK. We study many of the ways of knowing experimentally, so there should be lots of TOK style ideas which present themselves to you in your lessons. The sections in this site will have regular 'TOK Link' boxes, but in addition to those, here are some general ideas to get you going...
• To what extent are the methods of the natural sciences applicable in the human sciences?• Are the findings of the natural sciences as reliable as those of the human sciences?
• To what extent can empathy, intuition and feeling be legitimate ways of knowing in the human
sciences?
• Are there human qualities or behaviours that will remain beyond the scope of the human sciences?
• To what extent can information in the human sciences be quantified?
• Do knowledge claims in the human sciences imply ethical responsibilities?
• To what extent do the knowledge claims of the social sciences apply across different historical periods
and cultures?
• Does psychological research ever prove anything? Why do we say that results only indicate or
suggest?
• How are ethics involved in the study of psychology? When and how do ethical standards change?
• Noam Chomsky has written, “ … we will always learn more about human life and human personality
from novels than from scientific psychology.” Would you agree?
• To what extent are the methods of the natural sciences applicable in the human sciences?• Are the findings of the natural sciences as reliable as those of the human sciences?
• To what extent can empathy, intuition and feeling be legitimate ways of knowing in the human
sciences?
• Are there human qualities or behaviours that will remain beyond the scope of the human sciences?
• To what extent can information in the human sciences be quantified?
• Do knowledge claims in the human sciences imply ethical responsibilities?
• To what extent do the knowledge claims of the social sciences apply across different historical periods
and cultures?
• Does psychological research ever prove anything? Why do we say that results only indicate or
suggest?
• How are ethics involved in the study of psychology? When and how do ethical standards change?
• Noam Chomsky has written, “ … we will always learn more about human life and human personality
from novels than from scientific psychology.” Would you agree?