New IB Paper 1

  • 1 hour 30 minutes (Section A and B – do all questions, Section C – Choose one question).
  • The paper is out of 35 so around 2.5 minutes per mark.

Section A

  • Assesses two of the three Approaches: Bio, Cog and/or Sociocultural.
  • Two compulsory questions, both marked out of 4.
  • There two questions one from each approach
  • The questions will ask about one piece of “psychological terminology” from one of the CONTENT points for that approach, e.g. chemical messengers, anchoring bias.
  • Command terms include: describe, explain.

Exam advice

  • Spend about 10 minutes on each answer.
  • Answers should be 200-250 words.
  • To score in the top band (3-4) answers must include;
    • relevant and detailed knowledge of theory/content;
    • a relevant example which is well explained (e.g. a study or real life example).
  • Basically the structure should be very similar to the old SAQs but more concise.

Click the image below to download a complete set of top sheets to ensure that you have practiced every possible Paper 1 Question 1a – there are two for each of the 27 content key terms, one for describe and one for explain. There is a space to note down the context in which you covered each piece of terminology, but you may end up covering these terms several times across different contexts.

Section B

  • Assesses two of the four CONTEXTS: Learning and cognition, Human development, Human relationships and/or Health and wellbeing.
  • Two compulsory questions, both marked out of 6.
  • There will be a short extract and all questions are applied , i.e. answers must be linked to the extract.
  • The questions will include one of the “areas of study” for the named context. e.g. Cognitive models for Learning and Development
  • Command terms include: explain.

Exam advice

  • Spend about 15-20 minutes on each answer.
  • Answers should be 350-450 words.
  • To score in the top band (5-6) answers must include;
    • Accurate and detailed knowledge and understanding;
    • Well developed application of relevant knowledge.

Section C

  • Assesses conceptual understanding and critical thinking;
  • Detailed knowledge of studies is not required
  • Choose one of two essay titles; each essay will be from a different CONTEXT and will refer to one or more of the concepts.
  • Marked out of 15

Exam advice

  • Spend about 40-45 minutes
  • Answers should be around 800-1000 words
  • To score in the top band (13-15) answers must include
    • A clear focus on the question
    • Fully explained relevant accurate and detailed knowledge and understanding relating to the context/concept
    • Well developed critical analysis (e.g. PEEL)
    • Consistent and fully explained links between CONCEPTS
    • A clearly stated conclusion that is consistent with the arguments presented (just like the EE)
    • Accurate and precise use of psychological terminology.

Click the image below to download a top sheet that you can use to guide your writing and the assessment of your Paper 1 Section C 15 mark ERQs. These questions can include key terms from any of the areas of study/and or learning objectives from any of the four contexts and any of the six concepts, so there are around 230 different combinations in total.