The IB Psychology exam assesses students by combining results on 3 or 4 assessments, depending on if a student is taking SL or HL. These parts are Paper 1; which assesses biological, cognitive, & sociocultural approaches, Paper 2; which assesses applications of these approaches to more specific areas of psychology (1 area for SL, 2 for HL), Paper 3; which assesses knowledge of research methods (HL only), and an Internal Assessment, which assesses application of research methods in a report on a student-conducted experiment.
This means the curriculum for IB Psychology offers a bit of flexibility and choice for which areas of psychology are focused on in Paper 2, and whether or not students take SL or HL (if offered at their school). This can make the details on the IBO website a little complicated for new students, so below you can find a straight-forward breakdown of how the external assessment works for both SL and HL students.
*For more on how these assessments are combined into an overall score, you can try out the grade calculators on this page: https://psychexamreview.com/how-are-ib-psychology-grades-calculated/
*For details on how essays are assessed, see this post: https://psychexamreview.com/how-is-the-ib-psychology-exam-graded/
Paper 1 (SL & HL) – 2 hours
Paper One focuses on the three main perspectives in psychology: biological, cognitive, and sociocultural. Paper 1 consists of 3 Short-Answer-Questions (SAQ) and Extended-Response Question (ERQ). There’s one SAQ for each perspective, and one hour to complete all three SAQs; each SAQ is worth 9 marks, for a total of 27 marks.
For the ERQ, students choose one of 3 prompts (there’s one from each perspective) and have one hour to complete writing a response. For HL students, one or more of the ERQ prompts may be related to the HL-extensions for each perspective. For Biological the HL-Extensions relate to animal research, for Cognitive they relate to cognition & the digital world, and for Sociocultural they relate to globalization. The ERQ response for Paper 1 is worth 22 marks.
Paper 2 – Options – (SL – 1 hour, HL – 2 hours)
The assessment for Paper 2 is a one-hour ERQ from a choice of 3 prompts for each of the options below. SL students answer one option (so the paper is one hour) while HL students will answer 2 options and thus take 2 hours. Like Paper 1, each ERQ response is worth 22 marks and is assessed using the same rubric. After Paper 2, SL students are finished with the external assessment, while HL students have one more section.
- Abnormal Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Health Psychology
- Psychology of Human Relationships
Paper 3 – Qualitative Research Methods (HL Only – 1 hour)
Paper 3 for HL focuses on approaches to research in psychology. The paper consists of 3 questions, all of which must be answered. A research scenario is presented in a reading passage, then students answer questions related to the methods and conclusions of the research presented.
Question 1 consists of 3 parts, all of which must be answered for a total of 9 marks – 3 marks each.
- (a) Identify the research method used and outline two characteristics of the method.
- (b) Describe the sampling method used in the study.
- (c) Suggest an alternative or additional research method giving one reason for your choice.
Question 2 will be one of the following prompts worth a total of 6 marks. Only one of these prompts will appear on the assessment (students will not have a choice).
- Describe the ethical considerations that were applied in the study and explain if further ethical considerations could be applied.
- Describe the ethical considerations in reporting the results and explain additional ethical considerations that could be taken into account when applying the findings of the study.
Question 3 will be one of the following 3 prompts worth a total of 9 marks. Only one of these prompts will appear on the assessment (students will not have a choice).
- Discuss the possibility of generalizing the findings of the study.
- Discuss how a researcher could ensure that the results of the study are credible.
- Discuss how the researcher in the study could avoid bias.
The Internal Assessment (SL and HL)
In addition to the external assessment, there’s also the internal assessment, which is completed, graded by the course instructor, and submitted for review prior to the external assessment.
Preparing for the IB Psychology Exam? The Master Introductory Psychology guide can help!
