Discuss the contribution that psychology has made to contemporary society.
Since Psychology has been known as a subject, it is very broad, and has contributed to many areas of society to the work place, school, prison and institutions.
In the work place, managers are trained to deal and communicate effectively with employees and customers alike. This helps to keep both parties happy, and this causes less distress. Most work places are under law in which even people with mental health issues are allowed to be employed, and only in severe cases they will be unaccepted to the job. An occupational psychologist is able to find a job for those who are disabled and that would be able to meet their skills and knowledge. A couple of centuries ago, people who had mental illnesses wouldn’t be able to get a job, and are likely to be distinguished as ‘insane’ or ‘crazy’, because of the lack of help that was given at that time.
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Peer Reviews
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Quality of writing
The QUality of Written Communication (QWC) is fine. There are no glaring mistakes, nor anything that could compromise the meaning of the candidate's answer. Though it should be recommended and duly adhered to that spell-checking and proof-reading are imperative to ensure the accuracy of the writing. All candidates must expect to be marked specifically on their QWC and so should take care not to leave any mistakes after submission/closing the exam booklet.
Level of analysis
The candidate provides a good, clear understanding of how to use psychological terminology (operant conditioning, role play, token economy) well to best express their answer, though much more could be used (Piaget's conservation theory, positive/negative reinforcement,etc). Use of appropriate terminology is good because it shows the candidate has the ability to use prescribed lexes that are specifically orientated around their areas of study with confidence. The structure of the essay is also very good, addressing, in turn, points that prove Psychology has contributed to society. However, there could be greater emphasis on providing evidence for these assertions. Without emprical support from a psychological study that has been researched, a lot of the answer is based on knowledge without evidence - examiners must see an understanding of how to assign theoretical understanding to appropriate practical research (such as Johansson's study on Stress in the Workplace, for the paragraph on work equality). Also, there could be more depth to the analysis. At this current stage, the candidate should expect to receive a middle C grade, but with more analysis and specific examples of evidence, this answer could easily shift up another grade to a strong B.
Response to question
This essay response is for a question that asks in general about how Psychology has contributed to society. The candidate covers a range of uses of Psychology within our current day to day lievs and how it has influenced many ethical and social standards of today. In each example, there should be a psychological study/experiment included to back-up and fortify the candidate's points, though this attempt has only been made in their second point about the National Curriculum. To score higher, the candidate would have to provide empirical evidence for each assertion they make.
