Psychology

INTRODUCTION | 5WHO IS THE STUDY GUIDE FOR?We can see how this book will be useful forteachers and psychologists but we’ve reallywritten it for students. However much teachingand instruction students get, when it comes tothe exam it is all down to them.WHY HAVE WE WRITTENHIS BOOK?We’re both very interested in researching andteaching psychology. That’s anunderstatement, really. It sounds odd but it’swhat we do most of the time. When we arenot teaching or examining psychology we talkabout psychology, and think about how bestto investigate it and how best to teach it. Thestudy guide gives us the chance to do all ofthese things, and pass onsome of our knowledge andexperience to those who willbenefit most – students.Our work as examiners hasshown us that it is not justremembering the informationthat counts, it isunderstanding how to answerthe questions. Sometimes thehardest exam papers to markare those that clearly arewritten by capable studentswho have answered thequestions in ways that make itdifficult or impossible for us togive them marks! A littleknowledge about how to approach examquestions can go a very long way, and we’veincluded more than a little advice on that inthis study guide.It doesn’t matter which textbook you’veused in studying psychology, or even if you’venot used one at all. We’ve written the studyguide so that it is carefully focused on theAQA(A) AS specification and will be extremelyuseful for anybody taking that examination.FURTHER HELPWe’ve included a good summary of theinformation you’ll need to revise for theexamination, but we know that some studentslike additional support, and some really like tostretch themselves. For more detailedinformation and for any clarification you thinkyou may need, we’ve written The Student’sTextbook (ISBN: 978-184590093-9).KEY FEATURES OF THE BOOKEach chapter covers a section of thespecification and contains a summary of thekey information needed for success in theexam. It is presented in a clear, concise andhighly visual format.APPLY YOUR KNOWLEDGEOne of the most challenging aspects of theexamination is those questions that requireyou to apply your knowledge of psychology tonovel situations. There is no rote learning this– you really do have to understand what youlearn in order to do well. Of course, practicein these analysis and application questionswill do you a load of good and because of thiswe’ve written lots of questions that give you a