The IB Psychology IA presents a challenging yet rewarding task. It grants you the opportunity to conduct your own psychological experiment and report your findings. With 25% of your final grade allocated for the standard level and 20% for the higher level, it holds significant weight in determining your academic achievement.
This article aims to equip you with helpful tips and strategies on how to effectively structure and excel in your IB Psychology IA.
Understand the Criteria and Requirements:
To begin, having a thorough understanding of the criteria and requirements is paramount. While similar to experimental sciences like Chemistry, Biology, and Physics, the IB Psychology IA possesses unique elements that set it apart from others. To engage in this IB Psychology IA project, form a group comprising two to four students.
Together, you will plan, prepare, and execute an experiment that either reproduces or modifies a previously published study, theory, or model linked to your learning. Additionally, each member is required to write an individual report spanning 1,800 – 2,200 words summarizing their experiment and its outcomes.
The report comprises four main sections: Introduction, Exploration, Analysis, and Evaluation.
To achieve favorable scores, ensure that all specific criteria outlined in the IB Psychology IA guide or on the IB website are addressed and met.
Choose a Suitable Study and Topic:
In the process of conducting your Intermediate of Arts, one crucial step lies ahead: selecting a suitable study and topic for your experiment. This decision holds immense importance as it determines factors like scope, feasibility, and overall quality. When making this choice, consider opting for a study that genuinely interests you and has connections to your IB Psychology IA learning. Ensure that the selected study allows you to manipulate an independent variable while measuring a dependent variable.
However, it is important to note certain limitations imposed on the types of experiments allowed. Avoid any studies involving placebos, ingestion or inhalation procedures, deprivation, conformity, or obedience experiments with participants under 12 years old, non-human animals, or any type of physical or psychological harm. Additionally, steer clear of natural or quasi-experimental designs as you need to retain control over the independent variable.
In the realm of research, it is advisable to steer clear of using overly familiar or extensively covered studies. These include works such as Loftus and Palmer’s groundbreaking study from 1974, Glanzer and Cunitz’s influential work published in 1966, the widely known Stroop effect, Anderson, and Pichert
To assist in selecting a suitable study and topic, one can draw upon various sources of inspiration and information. For instance, it is possible to utilize the suggested list of studies provided by the teacher or textbook.
Additionally, websites like Clastify or Lanterna offer examples of previously conducted IB Psychology IAs that can serve as references for replicated or modified studies. Nonetheless, it is crucial to highlight that copying or plagiarizing any existing IA constitutes a grave academic offense with potential severe consequences.
Plan and Conduct Your Experiment:
Once you have chosen your study and topic, you need to plan and conduct your experiment in collaboration with your group members. This involves several steps that you need to complete carefully and thoroughly.
- First, formulate your research question and hypothesis based on the original study you are replicating or modifying. Ensure that your research question is clear, specific, and focused on one independent variable and one dependent variable. Your hypothesis should be either directional or non-directional, depending on whether you predict the direction of the effect.
- Next, design your experiment following the experimental method. This involves operationalizing your variables (defining how they will be measured), selecting participants (determining their characteristics and sampling procedure), assigning them to conditions (deciding how they will be allocated into different groups), controlling for confounding variables (identifying and minimizing factors that may influence results), and selecting appropriate materials.
- Lastly, it is essential to obtain ethical approval from your teacher. This ensures that your experiment aligns with the ethical guidelines outlined in the IB Psychology IA course. For instance, you must seek informed consent from all participants, protect their anonymity and confidentiality, provide them with a debriefing after the experiment, and respect their right to withdraw.
- Once you have obtained ethical approval, it is vital to proceed with conducting your experiment according to the planned procedure. This means adhering to the same steps for each participant or group involved in the study. It’s important to accurately and systematically record all data gathered during the process while ensuring that your experiment maintains reliability and validity.
Write Your Report:
Once your experiment is complete and data has been gathered, it is essential to compose an individual report consisting of 1,800 – 2,200 words. This report serves as the final submission evaluated by IB examiners and determines your grade for the IA. Here’s a concise breakdown of what each section should encompass:
Introduction:
- A brief overview of the topic and its relevance to psychology
- A summary of the original study that you are replicating or modifying, including its aim, method, results, and conclusion
- A clear statement of your research question and hypothesis
- A justification of your research question and hypothesis based on the original study and relevant theories or models
Exploration:
- A description of your independent variable and dependent variable, including how they were operationalized
- A description of your participants, including how they were selected and assigned to conditions
- A description of your materials, including what tools or instruments you used
- A description of your procedure, including what steps you followed for each participant or group
- A description of how you controlled for confounding variables and ensured ethical considerations
Analysis:
- A presentation of your descriptive statistics, including measures of central tendency and dispersion for each condition
- A presentation of your inferential statistics, including the test that you used, the level of significance that you set, the observed value that you obtained, and the critical value that you compared it with
- A statement of whether you accepted or rejected your hypothesis based on the inferential statistics
- An interpretation of your results in relation to your research question and hypothesis
- An interpretation of your results in relation to the original study and relevant theories or models
Evaluation:
- An identification of at least two strengths and two limitations of your experiment
- An explanation of how each strength or limitation affected the reliability or validity of your experiment
- A suggestion of how each limitation could be improved or addressed in future research
- A reflection on the implications or applications of your results for psychology or society
Proofread and Submit Your Report:
To complete your report in line with the IB guidelines, you need to follow a few important steps.
- First, make sure to thoroughly proofread your work for any errors or mistakes in spelling, grammar, punctuation, formatting, referencing, or word count. It is crucial to maintain originality and avoid plagiarism or collusion. During the proofreading process, utilizing online tools like Grammarly or Turnitin can be helpful.
- Additionally, it’s necessary to adhere to the IB’s formatting guidance for written eCoursework. This includes using a font such as Arial with a minimum size of 11 and employing single (or greater) line spacing.
- Moreover, ensure that each page is numbered and set in portrait orientation without including any identifying marks like your name, session number, school name, or number.
Conclusion in IB Psychology IA:
The IB Psychology IA presents a formidable yet gratifying task that empowers students to conduct their own psychological experiments and report their findings. This comprehensive guide offers valuable tips and strategies on how to structure and excel in your IB Psychology IA, ultimately aiming for a remarkable score of 7, thereby enhancing your overall psychology grade. Wishing you the utmost success throughout your IB journey!
