| Date | November 2017 | Marks available | 22 | Reference code | 17N.Paper 2.BP.TZ0.06 |
| Level | SL and HL | Paper | Paper 2 | Time zone | TZ0 |
| Command term | Contrast | Question number | 06 | Adapted from | N/A |
Question
Contrast two examples of psychological research (theories or studies) relevant to developmental psychology.
Markscheme
The command term “contrast” requires candidates to give an account of the differences between two examples of psychological research (theories or studies), referring to both of them throughout.
Candidates should address research on the topics covered in the psychology guide that is, cognitive development, social development (attachment and resilience), and identity development (adolescence and gender roles).
Although candidates are more likely to contrast two theories or two studies, it is acceptable to contrast a theory and a study.
Research may include but are not limited to:
• theories or studies on cognitive development (eg Piaget, Vygotsky, Kohlberg, Bruner)
• identity research (eg Erikson, Marcia, Elkind, Coleman)
• research on attachment (eg Bowlby, Ainsworth, Hazan and Shaver)
• theories or studies on resilience (eg Cyrulnik, Werner)
• gender role theories or studies (eg Kohlberg, Bem, Mead).
Responses may also focus on general theories such as social learning theory, psychodynamic theory or evolutionary theory. This approach is acceptable as long as these theories are relevant and clearly linked to developmental psychology.
Differences between the research may include, but is not limited to:
• contrary findings or explanations
• cultural and gender considerations
• applications of the empirical findings or theory such as the impact on education
• methodological and ethical considerations
• stages versus continuous process
Animal studies may be used to support the answer as long as they are explicitly linked to human developmental psychology.
If a candidate only describes and evaluates or compares two examples of psychological research without contrasting them, the response should be awarded up to a maximum of [6] for criterion A, knowledge and comprehension, up to a maximum of [3] for criterion B,critical thinking, and up to a maximum of [2] for criterion C, organization.
If a candidate contrasts more than two examples of research, credit should be given only to the contrast of the first two examples of research.
