Explaining the Evaluation Criteria for Extended Response Questions in IB Psychology: Secrets to Achieving a High Score
In the world of International Baccalaureate (IB) Psychology, the Extended Response Question (ERQ) is a crucial component of the exam. This article aims to demystify the IB Psychology ERQ rubric, providing insights into its structure and helping students maximize their marks.
The IB Psychology ERQ rubric assesses student responses based on five key criteria: Focus on the question, Knowledge and understanding, Use of research to support answer, Critical thinking, and Clarity and organization. Each criterion addresses a specific aspect of the quality, depth, and clarity of the essay response.
- Knowledge and Understanding This criterion measures how well the student demonstrates detailed and accurate psychology content knowledge relevant to the question. It's essential to use relevant psychological theories, concepts, and empirical studies, demonstrating precise, detailed, and accurate information, while avoiding generalizations or inaccuracies.
- Application and Analysis This criterion assesses the student's ability to apply concepts to the question and analyze psychological phenomena effectively. To excel in this criterion, students should apply psychological ideas directly to the question context, analyze causes, consequences, and mechanisms critically, and differentiate between descriptive and analytical responses.
- Synthesis and Evaluation This criterion looks at the level of synthesis of different perspectives and critical evaluation of theories, evidence, or methodologies. To achieve a high score, students should integrate multiple viewpoints or theories, critically assess strengths and limitations of studies or theories, consider methodology, reliability, validity, and ethical issues.
- Focus and Organization This criterion evaluates how clearly the answer stays focused on the question, with logical structure and coherent development of ideas. To ensure a high score, students should address the question directly at all times, logically sequencing and paragraphing ideas, and crafting an effective introduction and conclusion focusing on answering the prompt.
- Quality of Language This criterion considers the clarity, precision, and academic style of writing, including terminology use and proper referencing of studies. To impress the examiners, students should use formal academic language and correct psychological terminology, maintain clear sentence structure, grammar, and spelling, and appropriately cite studies to support arguments.
The rubric uses markbands, typically divided into progressive levels (e.g., 0–4 levels), with performance descriptors such as:
| Markband Level | Descriptor Summary | |----------------|------------------------------------------| | Level 0 | No creditable response or irrelevant. | | Level 1 | Limited knowledge and basic understanding; partial relevance. | | Level 2 | Adequate knowledge; some relevant application but lacking depth. | | Level 3 | Good knowledge and understanding; clear application with reasonable evaluation. | | Level 4 | Excellent and detailed demonstration of knowledge, insightful analysis, and sophisticated evaluation presented clearly and convincingly. |
Each criterion is scored independently, then combined for a total mark. The IB Psychology ERQ is usually worth 22 marks, allocated across these criteria to capture overall quality with an emphasis on depth and evaluation.
To strengthen critical thinking and research use, students can find guidance at RevisionDojo. Model ERQ responses aligned with rubric criteria are available, and practice questions with personalized feedback are offered to help students hone their skills. By understanding the official ERQ rubric, students can structure their answers to meet IB expectations and maximize their marks, boosting their IB Psychology exam confidence and results.
To increase their marks in the IB Psychology ERQ, students can review and practice with education-and-self-development resources like RevisionDojo, which provides model ERQ responses and practice questions with personalized feedback. Engaging in such practice questions helps students to effectively learn and apply psychological theories, concepts, and empirical studies, which are critical components of the Knowledge and Understanding criterion in the IB Psychology ERQ rubric.
