Any advice for psychology next year?

[spectroscopy]

pretty self explanatory, doing psych 3/4 next year and im just wondering if anyone has any advice for the year, dos and donts, etc. anything will be much appreciated, thanks !

[danielgb123]

Get on top of your notes early on!

- I'd make a mindmap at the end of every chapter, there's a lot to cover, but studying this over 2-3 nights before a SAC meant I could virtually memorise the key areas of each chapter.
- The study design is there to assist you in what you will be tested on, refer back to it, make sure you cover everything.
- For the exams, do a lot of practice MC and short answer
- Ensure you work hard on your internal marks to get a high ranking!

[teletubbies_95]

I did Pysch with Biology this year (in Year 11). It was hard , but very enjoyable.
I would advise to start on early with notes , for the first area of study for Psych , ie. research methods , conciousness .
It's important you know the definitions very well, ie. making flashcards and looking over them everyday on the train , for me, or just walking to school . :0
Do practice papers early on and DO VCAA FIRST. You can learn by your mistakes earlier. I learnt a lot from them , and doing to the other companies practice exams, I used the same technique. (got me an a+)
Ask your teacher heaps of questions . For SACs I advise doing a lot of practice material , ie. A+ Notes.
I didnt buy checkpoints, although the extended response are very good.
If you need any help, Atar notes is here to help!!

Good luck, hope that helped.!

[brenden]

Pay close attention to key words of definitions. If you kept a glossary of definitions and read over it every second day that would put you in a stellar spot. Half the exam is definitions and half is application I reckon.
When you're studying, regardless of notes or not, have the study design with you. If you have Grivas, do the learning activities and separate them under the dot points of the study design in your exercise book. It should get to the point where when you see a practice question or someone ask a question on AN you can say "oh I see, this question targets xyz dot point on the study design."
Constantly revise research methods.
A+ Notes as said above is certainly a fantastic resource. Good questions and well presented materials.
Make as many mnemonics as you can.
I think it would be worth covering 'the brain' chapters and the ANS chapters twice, perhaps by getting ahead and then repeating it in class. This area I think is the most grueling and where students struggle most with.
Constantly revise research methods.
If you are unsure of anything, ask your teacher or ask the AN forums. If you are 99% sure, you are unsure. Like, you wanna be so damn sure that you could just tell VCAA what they should make the answers as.
If anyone else is unsure, on the forums or in your classroom, teach them. As soon as I saw a puzzled face in my class I was like "IGHT LET'S TEACH SOME PSYCH YO" - teaching is the bestbestbest way to study and reinforce your own learning. Easy way to identify what you don't fully know as well.

A technique worth trying would be to go to Unit 4 and read the info on the Biopsychosocial framework and as you go through the year mentally relate it to everything you do. Memory might also be worth a glance prior to any other learning as well so you can apply those principles in your study.
Constantly revise research methods.
Other than that I'd just be giving generic study advice. Eg revise key concepts frequently, do practice questions etc.
Also, make sure for every prac exam you do, you learn what you got wrong. And I mean properly. Like, if you get 50% on a practice exam, if I give you the same exam in four weeks time, you want to get 100% on that exam. That's how thoroughly you want to learn your mistakes. Don't bother moving onto another paper if you can't get 100% on the one you screwed up a little bit.


...Constantly revise research methods.

[spectroscopy]

wow thanks so much guys HAHHAS, ill start looking at some definitions and the brain & ANS chapters when i get my textbook !
going to bookmark this thread :3

oh and you all said A+ notes is a good resource, are there any others that are worth getting or should i be fine with the textbook and the A+ notes and practice exams? cheers !

[WINGARDIUM]

This guy was a pretty good resource  http://www.youtube.com/user/Psyccounting/videos?flow=grid&view=0

[katykins]

first piece of fantastic advice...Don't bother about the learning activities in the Grivas textbook, here is why.

1)they are merely there for you to recite information in the text (copy and paste questions)
2)they do not cover any of the tricks that vcaa often throw in.
3)complete waste of time, boring as hell and you get so much value out of doing exam type questions.

second piece of advice!
When it comes to pysch, don't 'learn' the information, 'know' the information. Be able to make links between different concpets, and often think about why the information occurs, it helps you understand it.

third piece of advice!

Checkpointscheckpointscheckpointscheckpointscheckpointscheckpointscheckpoints. I will not emphasise enough how useful this small book can be.  Full of the questions you should be answering. It gets to the stage where you have done so many questions in the checkpoints book, that you face the exam, read the first line and know what the question wants. Most questions are quite similar across the board of VCAA exams. I really recommend this book as it helps consolidate the information in your brain.

Personally i find notes a little hopeless (thats me) because i write them without making them stick and the most important thing whilst doing them is making sure they are colour coded haha. INSTEAD what i did, was identify the concepts that i found hard. wrote them on a piece of paper, read over the relevant extract in the text, and link them like a cause and effect map. What information is realted? ect... a mind map! that helped me, although i may learn differently to you

I also went to two lectures mid and end of year. I went to the NEAP ones. I found it quite valuable because it covered all the topics, and refreashed what i had learnt. Also i obtained a wealth of succesful support material that assisted me alongside checkpoints. Defs worth it, if you can afford it they are a bit pricy unfortunately

Make sure you enjoy the subject the content is great and really grabs ones interest. Although i have to say it is beneficial to have done biology, because it gives you a one up on the neural basis of pyschology but its not that hard. Anyway i have heard the study design has been modifed anyway, cutting out some of the complicated material

One last piece of advice Learn the core! not the superficial 'classification' eg.. waffle information. you have to UNDERSTAND it

Good luck, hope this helps and enjoy year 12 next year!

ps: what brenden said above. teaching is the best way of learning (got me a med A+ mid year and its great to help your friends)

[RTandon]

Have fun with it! (:
It's an awesome subject that I absolutely loved learning about!

[REBORN]

Read my guide and PM me for any further queries due to the study design change.

[Limista]

Throughout the year, there'll be heaps of times where you'll find you can apply what you're learning in psychology to an everyday/practical context. In short - always apply the knowledge you're learning in the classroom to stuff you hear and see. This helps to consolidate the material and gives you a hands-on perspective, simultaneously making the subject more interesting.

There will definitely be a time period in the following year where you feel really crap when it comes to opening your psych textbook - the above technique keeps you motivated.

You don't need to do heaps of practice papers for psych, because the questions are repetitive, and you end up rewriting definitions and stuff. This year I think I did about 3-4 practice papers all up for psych, and this was enough for me to get a gist of my typical template answer for a potential short answer question. I'd really advise constructing these template answers, because if one of them (guaranteed that atleast one will crop up!) comes up in the end of year exam, you save time because you already know what you are going to write + you are more confident than the next person. As I've said, it took me about 5 practice papers to get these template answers in my head, however, it may take you more or less. Bottom line - do as many papers as you feel you have to, in order to really establish your answers to those typical questions.

As oppose to doing vast numbers of practice papers, I did a HEAP of practice exam style questions. I got these from my teacher, who had heaps of stuff I could do. I was, however, selective in the questions I did...had a tendency to do those questions in which the theory or understanding for the psychological concept was weak. I think this is a good method to use if you're trying to be efficient.

My teacher was my biggest resource. I'd advise being best friends with your psych teacher - get his/her email and feel free to email her/him with questions everyday!

Use the A+ notes book for revising/understanding theory, but don't do the questions from there. The questions weren't that challenging, in my opinion, if you really know your stuff. However, if you're a bit rusty with the cardinals of memory, for example, definitely do these questions as they reaffirm the basics for the topic.

Good luck for next year