I don't think doing MBB1 or MBB2 is all that beneficial for 2nd year psych subjects but I guess it gives you a general idea of what psychology is about and the types of concepts you'll be learning. Off the top of my head there's not too much that builds from the first year subjects other than a bit of quantitative methods and learning how to write lab reports. It's fairly easy to catch up on though, especially if you're mathematically minded. Ballerina's right though, if you dislike academic writing then 2nd year psych subjects might not be for you as a good chunk of your grade is from a lab report (40%+ varying in different subjects). If you had to take a first year psych subject though, I'd take MBB2.
From personal experience:
- In terms of difficulty: developmental > cognitive > biological > P&S
- In terms of my grades: biological > developmental > P&S > cognitive
- In terms of enjoyment: P&S > biological = cognitive > developmental
I actually have the grade distributions from Developmental and Biological psychology from last year if anyone is interested:
PSYC20008 Developmental Psychology
H1 -22.21%
H2A - 21.72%
H2B - 25.28%
H3 - 14.91%
P - 14.42%
(Fails were not included)
PSYC20006 Biological Psychology
H1 - 22.53%
H2A - 18.62%
H2B - 18.78%
H3 - 18.15%
P - 21.28%
(Fails were not included)
I don't have the results for Cognitive or Personality & Social Psych, but I would imagine they would be similar.
I hope that's helped you! Psychology is terrific to study and I'd highly recommend taking a few of the subjects as breadth if you're interested.
Yes! MBB1-2 has mild repetition with second year psych content, but statistics won't be an issue if you hail from a science background. It's moreso the overlap with course structure rather than content.
In MBB2, assessments involve a lab report to write where we submit an introduction with three hypotheses. We collected the data for the control group and were given the data for the experimental group. We then had to resubmit the introduction with our tutor's corrections, followed by the submission of the discussion. The other assessment was a multiple choice exam.
In Biological Psychology, assessments involve a lab report to write where we submit an introduction and methods with three hypotheses. We collected the data for the control group and were given the data for the experimental group. We then had to resubmit the introduction and methods with our tutor's corrections, followed by the submission of the discussion. The other assessment was a multiple choice exam.
The eerie deja vu means it's less that skipping MBB2 disadvantages you, but rather that it advantages everyone else. I knocked off my lab report (Assignment 1) this year in a couple of hours and did very well. It was as though I had already written the lab report and only needed to rewrite it (indeed, I found my lab report from last year and copied the formatting styles aha). There are so many little observations you pick up from MBB2. For instance, Biological Psychology tutorials will tell you to write the report in APA 6 style, and will tell you it means you will need to use most of the authors names during intext citations etc, but the tutorials won't tell you all the technicalities of APA 6 that you are assessed on. You don't include the heading 'Introduction' at the start of your lab report, but you do for Methods/Discussion/etc. You explain your study's aims and your hypotheses separately, but don't break them into separate paragraphs. You center, bold, and uppercase 'Methods' because it's a Level 1 heading, but left-align, bold, and uppercase 'Participants' because it's a Level 2 heading.
You also learn to ask tutors about their personal preferences. My tutor in MBB2 wanted all three hypotheses in one sentence during the Introduction, but I was deducted marks for not breaking my three hypotheses into three difference sentences for Biological Psychology. When you report how many overall participants you have, some prefer you report the number only the number of males ~or~ the number of females, but not both, because the remainder is implied. So, so many strange technicalities. I'm relieved I took MBB2 first. That being said, again manyyy students receive H1s in second year psychology without MBB1-2.
Awh yes, I heard personality psychology is so much fun! I was really tempted to enroll, but idk how seriously I could take the content rofl.
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