How do you format your psychology notes?

[ibprincess]

Hi!

 

all through my schooling, I have managed to succeed in humanity subjects by just reading the textbook through a few times and writing down significant stuff and the important information would just stick in my head. I've just finished IB one, and with minimal study for psychology HL, I've managed to top my class. The thing is, I've been trying to study psychology but I have trouble with knowing the best way to format my notes so how do you all make your notes?

 

I've tried

• Cornell note taking (two column table with main idea on the left and explanation on the right)
• this works well for me and I can generally memorise most of what I need in the writing process but I'm trying to get in the habit of handwriting my notes and I just find this really boring when I'm handwriting them and I end up really distracted and bored 
• -----
• Essay plans saying exactly what to put in each paragraph and focusing mostly on the formatting
• my teacher swears by these but I find them really hard to study from because there's generally too much writing and focus on the formatting which doesn't help me for notes
• ----
• mindmaps (done by hand)
• I like using mind maps with different colours for each idea but I find I fill up the page really quickly and end up having the most important parts scribbled into a corner which isn't nice to study from
• ----

and if you use flashcards, how do you use them for psychology? I have definitions of words on flashcards but I'm trying to find a way to synthesise whole outcomes onto one flashcard maybe through trigger words??

 

please tell me how you do your notes, i'm desperate for a way that works effectively!!

 

[Pink97]

I sort of use the essay plan structure your teacher recommends. What I do is I write the learning outcome on the top of the page, then I write an introduction which explains things (definitions, theories etc) that are relevant to the outcome. I then write around 2-3 studies in depth - there is no need to write more than 2-3 studies as you'll be asked to write 1-3 studies max depending on whether its a SAQ or long response question - description of the study, aim, method, results, conclusion, link to learning outcome, evaluation (strengths/weaknesses). Depending on the learning outcome I may write around 4 studies, for example if I'm writing about hormones, I'll write a paragraph about adrenaline, adrenal glands etc and then i'll write a study or two that looks at the effects of adrenaline, I'd then repeat this for another hormone.

 

That is basically what I do for each learning outcome, it works perfectly for me and I have been getting 7's thus far! I should mention that you should know all the research methods by heart whenever you're going into an exam as that will make the evaluation part of the 22 mark questions much easier as you'll already know the general strengths/weaknesses of each research method and all you'll need to do in your test or exam is apply those strengths/weaknesses to the study you're writing about.

 

Hope that helps!

[ibprincess]

Thanks very much deary!!

 

 I then write around 2-3 studies in depth - there is no need to write more than 2-3 studies as you'll be asked to write 1-3 studies max depending on whether its a SAQ or long response question - description of the study, aim, method, results, conclusion, link to learning outcome, evaluation (strengths/weaknesses). 

how do you go about using the same study for multiple outcomes? do you write it out each time or how??

[Pink97]

Thanks very much deary!!

 

I then write around 2-3 studies in depth - there is no need to write more than 2-3 studies as you'll be asked to write 1-3 studies max depending on whether its a SAQ or long response question - description of the study, aim, method, results, conclusion, link to learning outcome, evaluation (strengths/weaknesses).

how do you go about using the same study for multiple outcomes? do you write it out each time or how??

 

If I'm going to use a study for multiple learning outcomes, I copy/paste the study (from my previous notes) - easiest thing to do or if I'm feeling lazy I just write the name of the study (e.g. Schatcher & Singer) but that requires me to refer back to my previous notes which is annoying so I rarely use that technique. 

[elliex0x0x]

I use microsoft one note. First I separate my notes into subsections for different topics (eg sociocultural, biological, cognitive) and then each of those topics I divide into 2 subtopics - theories and studies. In the "theories" I write down on a separate page each theory I need to know and the details of the theory, and then in the "studies" I write down the researcher of each research and then which theory it is associated with. Make sure you do this as it can be easy to have a study written down but no idea which theory it goes with! And then I source my notes from class, the textbook and the original study papers where I can. 

 

For example: 

 

Albert Bandura's social learning theory assumes that humans learn behavior by observing others. Examples of this type of learning is learning to fold origami or to apply winged eyeliner. Social learning theory is also how societies and cultures pass on their norms (set of rules on behavior based of culturally shared beliefs) to individuals and through generations. According to Bandura,  social learning relies of 4 main points:

1. Attention - learner must actively watch the model demonstration
2. Retention - learner must remember the behavior in order to imitate it later
3. Reproduction - learner must have the motor skills in order to reproduce the behavior
4. Motivation - learner must have sufficient motivation to demonstrate or practise what has been taught

 

Motivation can be affected by factors including

• Consistency - the model has to demonstrate consistency for the behavior to be replicated
• Identification with the model - the learner is more likely to imitate a likeable model
• Liking the model - friendly models are more likely to be copied than ill-tempered models
• Reward and punishment - watching whether the model is rewarded or punished influences the likelihood of the learner copying the behavior

 

Social learning theory could explain aggression in children due to the role of violence on the television.

 

And then on a separate page I write down a study (or two if necessary) related to the theory:

 

 

Bandura 1961 aimed to investigate whether learning can take place by simply watching a role model and imitating their behavior. 36 boys and 36 girls, ages 3 to 6, were subjects in this experiment.  They were split into 3 groups of 24, each comprised of 12 boys and 12 girls. They were subjected to the following conditions before being taken into a separate room and observed for a further 10 minutes.

 

Group 1: each child sat alone for 10 minutes with no adult. They were not very aggressive with the toys

Group 2: each child sat in the room with an adult, who after the first minute started to verbally and physically attack the bobo doll. This group was more likely to imitate aggressive behavior upon the doll

Group 3: each child played with the toys alongside an adult for 10 minutes. This group showed less aggressive behavior

 

Boys were 3 times more likely to replicate physical violence but girls were more likely to imitate verbal aggression. This theory supports social learning theory and also holds implications about the effect of media violence upon children.