How Useful is Psychology

[Knox]

I heard that psychology as an IB subject isn't even needed to get into the psychology field.

Also, what is the course like? interesting? ambiguous?

Thoughts and views appreciated

[Katerine]

I don't think it's required however at some schools you will be allowed to skip first year of introduction to psychology if you have had IB psychology.

I think this is an interesting subject and I feel like I've learnt a lot from it. (I also think it's a lot better that the other options in this subject group.)

In this course my class learn about the basics of psychology and different ways of analysing. We have also looked at different studies and research, but I think this course focus on newer research and theories and I kind of miss hearing more about the history of psychology as a field of research.

But all in all I would recommend psychology, because I find it very interesting. It also helps with ToK because we learn about a lot of biases and such that can be usefull there.

[Jyrgen]

Definitely an interesting subject. It kind of has practical applications in everyday life too. Though the IA can be a really frustrating project, at least in HL.

[Sean Banan Janse]

Here in Sweden all group 3 subjects give you the same merits, so you could basically do Business & Management SL and study Psychology at the university, which is kind of weird if you ask me. Then again, I know a couple of people who are done with IB and are studying Psychology now, and they have had a big head start as they have already done research (to a certain extent at least) and they got to take a test which, when they passed, meant that they didn't have to any introductory course. So I'd say it's quite useful if you're going to study Psychology, but if you're not going to, it's quite a lot of unnecessary work. I know it's interesting and all, but so is Anthropology/Eco/B&M and they're all easier I would say.

[marauder7]

Personally I find psychology very interesting. However many of my classmates were very disappointed with the subject. They thought that they would learn about how people think, this was only learned to some extent.

In reality psychology is pretty vague and has lots of limitations. Human behavior is very complex and it can't be defined so easily. You will learn about the findings of psychology and analize some research. Just familiarize yourself with the syllabus so you won't be dissappointed.

As someone said before it IS very helpful for TOK!!

[Babydolleyes]

Thus far I have found that psychology HL is quite applicable in my daily life, I feel as though I'm constantly encountering situations where I can point out various psychological concepts and try and analyse them with my boyfriend. I think it would be quite logical to take psychology HL if you intend on studying psychology after IB, even if you don't get to skip a whole year like some people do, the knowledge will still be very helpful. I do most of my studying at home, so I think''understanding'' IB psychology shouldn't depend on the competence (or incompetence) of the teacher at hand. The book and the syllabus is more than enough.

[BJD]

Well, studying Psychology at HL is very interesting, I have learnt a lot, information which I can actually put into my daily life. I particularly enjoyed the IA where we had to modify or recreate a study we learnt, I chose to do Anderson and Pichert and it was just an exciting process and it made me understand the study even more and I know when it comes to the exam and a question on Schema Theory were to come up as a 22 mark (I doubt it would) then I would definitely pick it! There can be some boring moments or confusing topics however you will definitely get the gist of it. In terms of getting into the Psychology field with Psychology at HL, I believe it is a benefit but just to make sure have a look at the requirements at university, they may want Biology at HL too or Maths Standard or Higher Level rather than mathematics studies. So just beware of your choices!