Psychological Concepts Assignment Brief | The Open University

Part A Explaining psychological concepts

Write the text of a reply to the email given in the scenario below. Your response needs to draw on psychological evidence, but bear in mind that the person who will read your reply is not studying psychology. You will therefore need to describe the psychological concepts for them and explain how those ideas relate to the question they've asked 

Scenario

Imagine that you have been sent the email below by a friend, who has started an online course in politics.

Hi, can I ask you about something? I'm really enjoying my course, but I find that, even though I do all of the recommended reading, I really struggle to remember the material. I saw this advert on my Facebook feed and I'm wondering if it's true. 

Unlock the secret to having a perfect memory, with Brain Train TM. Brain Train is guaranteed to improve your recall memory in 30 days, to give you a head-start in your work or studies! 

Scientifically proven to work, this course will enable you to process what you read on a deeper level. By using techniques designed to increase active engagement when reading, you will boost your memory by 70% or more! 

Have you come across anything like this on your module? Do you think it's worth doing the course?

Write a suitable reply to this email, drawing on the module material. You can be somewhat informal in your writing style (e.g. it is fine to use contractions such as 'it's', 'can't', 'don't', etc.) and you can use everyday language (e.g. 'thinking'), rather than having to stick to technical terms (e.g. 'cognition'). However, you should still maintain an appropriate tone (e.g. avoid swearing or offensive terms). Focus on explaining the relevant concept as clearly as possible.

As the person you're writing for doesn't have access to an academic library, you don't need to worry about providing them with formal citations and a references section like the ones in your module materials. However, you should give an indication that your response is based on evidence. For example, instead of making a general comment such as 'We know that...', you might say 'Psychologists such as [name] have discovered that ...'.

Part B Understanding methods and skills

Question

Outline two types of research methods used in psychology, and briefly explain why psychologists might use these approaches.