how to answer psychology essay questions

How to Write a Psychology Essay

Saul Mcleod, PhD

Editor-in-Chief for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester

Saul Mcleod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

Learn about our Editorial Process

Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc

Associate Editor for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education

Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.

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Before you write your essay, it’s important to analyse the task and understand exactly what the essay question is asking. Your lecturer may give you some advice – pay attention to this as it will help you plan your answer.

Next conduct preliminary reading based on your lecture notes. At this stage, it’s not crucial to have a robust understanding of key theories or studies, but you should at least have a general “gist” of the literature.

After reading, plan a response to the task. This plan could be in the form of a mind map, a summary table, or by writing a core statement (which encompasses the entire argument of your essay in just a few sentences).

After writing your plan, conduct supplementary reading, refine your plan, and make it more detailed.

It is tempting to skip these preliminary steps and write the first draft while reading at the same time. However, reading and planning will make the essay writing process easier, quicker, and ensure a higher quality essay is produced.

Components of a Good Essay

Now, let us look at what constitutes a good essay in psychology. There are a number of important features.

• Global Structure – structure the material to allow for a logical sequence of ideas. Each paragraph / statement should follow sensibly from its predecessor. The essay should “flow”. The introduction, main body and conclusion should all be linked.
• Each paragraph should comprise a main theme, which is illustrated and developed through a number of points (supported by evidence).
• Knowledge and Understanding – recognize, recall, and show understanding of a range of scientific material that accurately reflects the main theoretical perspectives.
• Critical Evaluation – arguments should be supported by appropriate evidence and/or theory from the literature. Evidence of independent thinking, insight, and evaluation of the evidence.
• Quality of Written Communication – writing clearly and succinctly with appropriate use of paragraphs, spelling, and grammar. All sources are referenced accurately and in line with APA guidelines.

In the main body of the essay, every paragraph should demonstrate both knowledge and critical evaluation.

There should also be an appropriate balance between these two essay components. Try to aim for about a 60/40 split if possible.

Most students make the mistake of writing too much knowledge and not enough evaluation (which is the difficult bit).

It is best to structure your essay according to key themes. Themes are illustrated and developed through a number of points (supported by evidence).

Choose relevant points only, ones that most reveal the theme or help to make a convincing and interesting argument.

Knowledge and Understanding

Remember that an essay is simply a discussion / argument on paper. Don’t make the mistake of writing all the information you know regarding a particular topic.

You need to be concise, and clearly articulate your argument. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences.

Each paragraph should have a purpose / theme, and make a number of points – which need to be support by high quality evidence. Be clear why each point is is relevant to the argument. It would be useful at the beginning of each paragraph if you explicitly outlined the theme being discussed (.e.g. cognitive development, social development etc.).

Try not to overuse quotations in your essays. It is more appropriate to use original content to demonstrate your understanding.

Psychology is a science so you must support your ideas with evidence (not your own personal opinion). If you are discussing a theory or research study make sure you cite the source of the information.

Note this is not the author of a textbook you have read – but the original source / author(s) of the theory or research study.

For example:

Bowlby (1951) claimed that mothering is almost useless if delayed until after two and a half to three years and, for most children, if delayed till after 12 months, i.e. there is a critical period.

Maslow (1943) stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs. When one need is fulfilled a person seeks to fullfil the next one, and so on.

As a general rule, make sure there is at least one citation (i.e. name of psychologist and date of publication) in each paragraph.

Remember to answer the essay question. Underline the keywords in the essay title. Don’t make the mistake of simply writing everything you know of a particular topic, be selective. Each paragraph in your essay should contribute to answering the essay question.

Critical Evaluation

In simple terms, this means outlining the strengths and limitations of a theory or research study.

There are many ways you can critically evaluate:

Methodological evaluation of research

Is the study valid / reliable ? Is the sample biased, or can we generalize the findings to other populations? What are the strengths and limitations of the method used and data obtained?

Be careful to ensure that any methodological criticisms are justified and not trite.

Rather than hunting for weaknesses in every study; only highlight limitations that make you doubt the conclusions that the authors have drawn – e.g., where an alternative explanation might be equally likely because something hasn’t been adequately controlled.

Compare or contrast different theories

Outline how the theories are similar and how they differ. This could be two (or more) theories of personality / memory / child development etc. Also try to communicate the value of the theory / study.

Debates or perspectives

Refer to debates such as nature or nurture, reductionism vs. holism, or the perspectives in psychology . For example, would they agree or disagree with a theory or the findings of the study?

What are the ethical issues of the research?

Does a study involve ethical issues such as deception, privacy, psychological or physical harm?

Gender bias

If research is biased towards men or women it does not provide a clear view of the behavior that has been studied. A dominantly male perspective is known as an androcentric bias.

Cultural bias

Is the theory / study ethnocentric? Psychology is predominantly a white, Euro-American enterprise. In some texts, over 90% of studies have US participants, who are predominantly white and middle class.

Does the theory or study being discussed judge other cultures by Western standards?

Animal Research

This raises the issue of whether it’s morally and/or scientifically right to use animals. The main criterion is that benefits must outweigh costs. But benefits are almost always to humans and costs to animals.

Animal research also raises the issue of extrapolation. Can we generalize from studies on animals to humans as their anatomy & physiology is different from humans?

The PEC System

It is very important to elaborate on your evaluation. Don’t just write a shopping list of brief (one or two sentence) evaluation points.

Instead, make sure you expand on your points, remember, quality of evaluation is most important than quantity.

When you are writing an evaluation paragraph, use the PEC system.

• Make your P oint.
• E xplain how and why the point is relevant.
• Discuss the C onsequences / implications of the theory or study. Are they positive or negative?

For Example

• Point: It is argued that psychoanalytic therapy is only of benefit to an articulate, intelligent, affluent minority.
• Explain: Because psychoanalytic therapy involves talking and gaining insight, and is costly and time-consuming, it is argued that it is only of benefit to an articulate, intelligent, affluent minority. Evidence suggests psychoanalytic therapy works best if the client is motivated and has a positive attitude.
• Consequences: A depressed client’s apathy, flat emotional state, and lack of motivation limit the appropriateness of psychoanalytic therapy for depression.

Furthermore, the levels of dependency of depressed clients mean that transference is more likely to develop.

Using Research Studies in your Essays

Research studies can either be knowledge or evaluation.

• If you refer to the procedures and findings of a study, this shows knowledge and understanding.
• If you comment on what the studies shows, and what it supports and challenges about the theory in question, this shows evaluation.

Writing an Introduction

It is often best to write your introduction when you have finished the main body of the essay, so that you have a good understanding of the topic area.

If there is a word count for your essay try to devote 10% of this to your introduction.

Ideally, the introduction should;

Identify the subject of the essay and define the key terms. Highlight the major issues which “lie behind” the question. Let the reader know how you will focus your essay by identifying the main themes to be discussed. “Signpost” the essay’s key argument, (and, if possible, how this argument is structured).

Introductions are very important as first impressions count and they can create a h alo effect in the mind of the lecturer grading your essay. If you start off well then you are more likely to be forgiven for the odd mistake later one.

Writing a Conclusion

So many students either forget to write a conclusion or fail to give it the attention it deserves.

If there is a word count for your essay try to devote 10% of this to your conclusion.

Ideally the conclusion should summarize the key themes / arguments of your essay. State the take home message – don’t sit on the fence, instead weigh up the evidence presented in the essay and make a decision which side of the argument has more support.

Also, you might like to suggest what future research may need to be conducted and why (read the discussion section of journal articles for this).

Don”t include new information / arguments (only information discussed in the main body of the essay).

If you are unsure of what to write read the essay question and answer it in one paragraph.

Points that unite or embrace several themes can be used to great effect as part of your conclusion.

The Importance of Flow

Obviously, what you write is important, but how you communicate your ideas / arguments has a significant influence on your overall grade. Most students may have similar information / content in their essays, but the better students communicate this information concisely and articulately.

When you have finished the first draft of your essay you must check if it “flows”. This is an important feature of quality of communication (along with spelling and grammar).

This means that the paragraphs follow a logical order (like the chapters in a novel). Have a global structure with themes arranged in a way that allows for a logical sequence of ideas. You might want to rearrange (cut and paste) paragraphs to a different position in your essay if they don”t appear to fit in with the essay structure.

To improve the flow of your essay make sure the last sentence of one paragraph links to first sentence of the next paragraph. This will help the essay flow and make it easier to read.

Finally, only repeat citations when it is unclear which study / theory you are discussing. Repeating citations unnecessarily disrupts the flow of an essay.

Referencing

The reference section is the list of all the sources cited in the essay (in alphabetical order). It is not a bibliography (a list of the books you used).

In simple terms every time you cite/refer to a name (and date) of a psychologist you need to reference the original source of the information.

If you have been using textbooks this is easy as the references are usually at the back of the book and you can just copy them down. If you have been using websites, then you may have a problem as they might not provide a reference section for you to copy.

References need to be set out APA style :

Author, A. A. (year). Title of work . Location: Publisher.

Journal Articles

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (year). Article title. Journal Title, volume number (issue number), page numbers

A simple way to write your reference section is use Google scholar . Just type the name and date of the psychologist in the search box and click on the “cite” link.

Next, copy and paste the APA reference into the reference section of your essay.

Once again, remember that references need to be in alphabetical order according to surname.

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Student Resources

How To Cite A YouTube Video In APA Style – With Examples

How to Write an Abstract APA Format

APA References Page Formatting and Example

APA Title Page (Cover Page) Format, Example, & Templates

How do I Cite a Source with Multiple Authors in APA Style?

Lab Report Format: Step-by-Step Guide & Examples

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The answer to every question in psychology

Travis Dixon September 27, 2021 Revision and Exam Preparation

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I’m about to tell you the answer to every essay question in IB Psychology. It’s a simple two word answer. 

WARNING: you’re probably not going to like the answer. It may frustrate or disappoint you. You might think this is useless and no help whatsoever. If that’s your reaction, then you’re not ready for the IB Psychology exams. Or at least, you’re ready to ACE them. Once you can understand and appreciate this answer, you’ll see it everywhere and perhaps not just in psychology. If you can articulate this answer clearly, using research and multiple examples your essays will score top marks.

• Example Essay: Research methods (case studies) in the biological approach
• Essay Writing Tips: Three Rules of Three
• Example Essays for Paper One

So are you ready to hear the answer to every essay question in IB Psychology?

It’s….complicated.

That is the answer. It’s complicated. Every conclusion you write for an IB Psychology essay should convey this point. The command terms themselves require you to show this idea:

Discuss : you can’t just show one side of the argument. If you provide a simple, straightforward answer without nuance then you aren’t “providing a balanced review.” A discussion of any topic in Psychology should show a realization that there are at least two sides to every story. i.e. it’s complicated.

The command terms require your essays to show “it’s complicated.” 

For example, if you’re asked to discuss the effects of a biological factor like pheromones on behaviour, you would first establish an argument that pheromones do influence behaviour and you’d have some supporting studies. But in order to write an excellent essay you have to show that it’s more complicated than that. There are limitations to the research. There are doubts about the existence of human pheromones. There are other explanations for that same behaviour. In conclusion, the answer to the question of how pheromones affect behaviour is complicated.

Evaluate : this is essentially the same as a discussion with a focus on strengths and limitations. It is mostly used for questions about theories or research methods. Just like a discussion, at first you need to explain whatever you’re evaluating and use some supporting studies. You put forth some kind of central argument for the topic. But in order to evaluate properly you also have to show limitations. You might say a particular theory is valid, supported by evidence and has strengths but you also have to say, “but look it’s not perfect.” Can the theory explain behaviour? Well, kind of. It’s complicated. Is the research method effective for studying human behaviour? Sometimes, but it’s complicated.

To what extent:  just like a discussion and an evaluation, this command term necessitates counter-arguments. You can’t just be arguing one side of the question. Yes, you have to explain the topic and use supporting evidence. In other words, you develop an argument in response to the question and use studies to support your argument. But if you never show the limitations of this argument, then you aren’t addressing the “to what extent” part of the question. To quote Alexey Popov, the answer to any to what extent question is always “to some extent.” In other words, you’re showing that “hey, it’s complicated.”

Once you accept that there are rarely straightforward explanations for human behaviour, you’re ready to write excellent essays.

For example, you might get asked “to what extent does one cultural dimensions affect one behaviour.” First you’d choose a dimension like individualism and collectivism, explain what this is and how it affects behaviour using some studies to support your answer. Yet again, however, you can’t just leave your answer here. If your conclusion is that cultural dimensions undeniably influence human behaviour and there’s no doubt about this, then your essay is weak. You must show that there are limitations to this explanation, including alternative arguments, limitations with the theory and the research.

Human behaviour is complex, and complex problems require complex explanations. In the early weeks and months of your psychology career you probably won’t like this answer, that “it’s complicated.” You want something easier, more straightforward. But as you study topic after topic, write essay after essay, you will learn to appreciate the nuance. Understand the black and white first, and then learn to live in the grey areas.

In a world filled with clickbait, tweets and tiktoks, learning to appreciate nuance is a valuable skill that will not only prepare you for success in IB Psych exams, but in the wider world as well.

Travis Dixon is an IB Psychology teacher, author, workshop leader, examiner and IA moderator.

Rosie Psychology: Your online tutor

Tips for revising for psychology essay-based exams

Overall tips for essay-based exam questions

Essay-based exam questions when you don’t know what the questions will be can be daunting. Sometimes when you first open the exam book, the essay questions can be worded in a way that might throw you – you might worry that you’ve only revised a very specific part of that essay question, for example. This is a completely normal, and a sometimes inevitable, reaction. Because you have spent a long time revising a topic in a specific way that’s best for you, thinking about it in a different way (that reflects how the question has been worded) can make you question whether you know how to answer the question and get a good mark. If you’ve revised the topic broadly with some key specific information about a topic, then I can assure you that you can answer the question.

Overcoming this initial worry is entirely possible. In many ways, you can do this by turning the question into something you have revised , and answering the question accordingly. This can take a bit of practice, so it’s important to do some practice exam questions before your exam day.

The way to do it is simple: pick out the key parts of the essay question . Sometimes questions can have superfluous information, so the key parts you want are the topic of the question and how to answer it. Remember: You don’t need to talk about everything you’ve revised or covered.

• If the question says compare and contrast or critically discuss , you know how to write the information. (I’ve provided a couple of definitions below for these key terms below.)
• If the question mentions a broad topic/phenomenon (e.g. language disorders), then talk about the key aspect of that broad topic that you have revised.

Before writing the essay question I recommend always creating a plan structure for your essay question. (You can scribble it out at the end.) This is a brief structure for the main points in your essay. Doing this at the start can actually help trigger your memory for some other pieces of information you could talk about. I’ve provided a general structure below that you can use to help start planning for any question.

A general structure to use for every essay-based exam question:

• What is a definition of the topic?
• This should be a brief overview of describing what the topic in the question is.
• You could mention an implication of why its important to study this topic.
• What is a theory of the topic? Or why does it happen?
• Brief summary of a theory or two of the topic.
• What is the evidence for the topic?
• Are there any clinical case studies to use as an example of how this approach has been tested?
• You could consider how difficult a topic it is to study. Is getting good quality evidence for this topic an easy or a hard thing (and how?), for example.
• Are there any other ways of assessing or understanding this topic?
• What assessment tools can we use to understand this topic, are there any other theories you could mention here, any other studies?
• ­This should always summarise an answer to the question and be reasonably conclusive. You could reiterate all of the key parts of the essay structure above.
• For example, if your question is asking about compare and contrast two theories, make sure to summarise which you think is better in the conclusion.

What do the key terms mean?

• Critically discuss/evaluate – go beyond purely describing a theory or an approach. Critically discuss/evaluate means evaluating what our current understanding is of a phenomenon: is the quality of the evidence good, do we have a lot of evidence (if not, what are we missing), are many of the studies outdated, how difficult of a topic is it to study? It can mean using a clinical case study to demonstrate the existence of an approach, and then critically evaluating whether a case study is a good source of evidence. I have a whole blog post on how to demonstrate critical evaluation here .
• Compare and contrast – Describe two theories/approaches for a topic, and then use critical discussion of which is more effective at explaining a phenomenon. A conclusion should be clear as to which is more effective.

Some pointers to help prepare :

As a general rule of thumb, try to do these things (in order):

• As it’s impossible for anyone to remember all of the information across a set of modules, which can be overwhelming, it pays to spend time before you start revising to look over your lecture notes and format the information to revise in a way that’s easy for you to read and understand.

This might involve creating a mind map or a table of information on a topic that you feel comfortable revising from. It should include (at minimum) all the parts of the general structure above:

• A definition for the topic,
• A description of theory of the topic,
• A study exploring the topic (which you can critically evaluate in some way and cite; you could search for one that you can remember in detail on Google scholar). This is where you can show further reading (by finding another study not mentioned in the slides), and
• An alternative piece of information that you can use to contrast the topic (e.g. a theory, another study).
• Think about any general difficulties of researching each topic. For example, studying language disorders is difficult because they could be a rare phenomenon. Therefore, we rely on case studies to understand the disorder, which do not provide us with a generalizable understanding of the disorder that may apply to everyone with the disorder.

Spend time creating this information for each module is important before you start revising.

2. Use general revision techniques to remember this information. Read and make sure you understand the topic.

3. Use practice exam questions and test yourself. Put yourself in the environment you will be in in the exam. Create your own questions based on the information you’ve revised. If you want to write your own questions, keep them reasonably broad for the general topic. Get in the habit of writing the same information twice but in slightly different ways (e.g. to compare and contrast or to critically discuss). You can create practice questions easily by going through your lecturer’s slides.

Want to know what you need to definitely pass?

A final way to help prepare is to know what you’re being tested on. You can usually find this information by looking at the overall learning outcomes for the module . This may include, demonstrating knowledge of the topic, synthesizing literature on the topic, and critically discussing the evidence for the topic. Make sure to include this information in any mindmap/table of information you use for each topic in your revision.

Other useful sources:

• https://www.oxbridgeessays.com/blog/essay-exams-make-revision-notes/
• https://tavistocktutors.com/blog/7-steps-to-revising-for-essay-based-exams

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• Educational and developmental psychology

How to Write a Psychology Paper: An Expert Guide

How to Write Brilliant Psychology Essays

• Paul Dickerson - University of Roehampton, UK
• Description

“This book is one I wish I had bought at the start of my Psychology degree.” – Five-star review Essay writing is a key part of the Psychology degree and knowing how to write effective and compelling academic essays is key to success.  Whether it's understanding how to implement feedback you receive on essays, how to stop procrastinating or what makes an effective introduction, this book covers it all. Drawing on insights derived from teaching thousands of students over a 25-year period How to Write Brilliant Psychology Essays provides the keys that will unlock your writing potential.

Ace your Assignment  provide practical tips to help succeed

Exercises  help try the theory out in practice

Take away  points highlight the key learnings from each chapter

Online resources  provide even more help and guidance.

Supplements

Paul Dickerson, Emma McDonald and Christian van Nieuwerburgh discuss  study skills, wellbeing and employability  and explore   how university lecturers and student welfare teams can better  support Psychology students  through their university journey.

Students enjoyed this text - they found it easy to read and the author's dry sense of humour appealed to many. Not just for psychologists!

A really useful guide for students, breaking down the components of what constitutes a good essay and written from a subject-specific view - highly recommend

I have recommended this to my first year tutorial groups as it provides them with everything they need to know about producing an excellent psychology essay.

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• Focus and Precision: How to Write Essays that Answer the Question

About the Author Stephanie Allen read Classics and English at St Hugh’s College, Oxford, and is currently researching a PhD in Early Modern Academic Drama at the University of Fribourg.

We’ve all been there. You’ve handed in an essay and you think it’s pretty great: it shows off all your best ideas, and contains points you’re sure no one else will have thought of.

You’re not totally convinced that what you’ve written is relevant to the title you were given – but it’s inventive, original and good. In fact, it might be better than anything that would have responded to the question. But your essay isn’t met with the lavish praise you expected. When it’s tossed back onto your desk, there are huge chunks scored through with red pen, crawling with annotations like little red fire ants: ‘IRRELEVANT’; ‘A bit of a tangent!’; ‘???’; and, right next to your best, most impressive killer point: ‘Right… so?’. The grade your teacher has scrawled at the end is nowhere near what your essay deserves. In fact, it’s pretty average. And the comment at the bottom reads something like, ‘Some good ideas, but you didn’t answer the question!’.

If this has ever happened to you (and it has happened to me, a lot), you’ll know how deeply frustrating it is – and how unfair it can seem. This might just be me, but the exhausting process of researching, having ideas, planning, writing and re-reading makes me steadily more attached to the ideas I have, and the things I’ve managed to put on the page. Each time I scroll back through what I’ve written, or planned, so far, I become steadily more convinced of its brilliance. What started off as a scribbled note in the margin, something extra to think about or to pop in if it could be made to fit the argument, sometimes comes to be backbone of a whole essay – so, when a tutor tells me my inspired paragraph about Ted Hughes’s interpretation of mythology isn’t relevant to my essay on Keats, I fail to see why. Or even if I can see why, the thought of taking it out is wrenching. Who cares if it’s a bit off-topic? It should make my essay stand out, if anything! And an examiner would probably be happy not to read yet another answer that makes exactly the same points. If you recognise yourself in the above, there are two crucial things to realise. The first is that something has to change: because doing well in high school exam or coursework essays is almost totally dependent on being able to pin down and organise lots of ideas so that an examiner can see that they convincingly answer a question. And it’s a real shame to work hard on something, have good ideas, and not get the marks you deserve. Writing a top essay is a very particular and actually quite simple challenge. It’s not actually that important how original you are, how compelling your writing is, how many ideas you get down, or how beautifully you can express yourself (though of course, all these things do have their rightful place). What you’re doing, essentially, is using a limited amount of time and knowledge to really answer a question. It sounds obvious, but a good essay should have the title or question as its focus the whole way through . It should answer it ten times over – in every single paragraph, with every fact or figure. Treat your reader (whether it’s your class teacher or an external examiner) like a child who can’t do any interpretive work of their own; imagine yourself leading them through your essay by the hand, pointing out that you’ve answered the question here , and here , and here. Now, this is all very well, I imagine you objecting, and much easier said than done. But never fear! Structuring an essay that knocks a question on the head is something you can learn to do in a couple of easy steps. In the next few hundred words, I’m going to share with you what I’ve learned through endless, mindless crossings-out, rewordings, rewritings and rethinkings.

Top tips and golden rules

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been told to ‘write the question at the top of every new page’- but for some reason, that trick simply doesn’t work for me. If it doesn’t work for you either, use this three-part process to allow the question to structure your essay:

1)     Work out exactly what you’re being asked

It sounds really obvious, but lots of students have trouble answering questions because they don’t take time to figure out exactly what they’re expected to do – instead, they skim-read and then write the essay they want to write. Sussing out a question is a two-part process, and the first part is easy. It means looking at the directions the question provides as to what sort of essay you’re going to write. I call these ‘command phrases’ and will go into more detail about what they mean below. The second part involves identifying key words and phrases.

2)     Be as explicit as possible

Use forceful, persuasive language to show how the points you’ve made do answer the question. My main focus so far has been on tangential or irrelevant material – but many students lose marks even though they make great points, because they don’t quite impress how relevant those points are. Again, I’ll talk about how you can do this below.

3)     Be brutally honest with yourself about whether a point is relevant before you write it.

It doesn’t matter how impressive, original or interesting it is. It doesn’t matter if you’re panicking, and you can’t think of any points that do answer the question. If a point isn’t relevant, don’t bother with it. It’s a waste of time, and might actually work against you- if you put tangential material in an essay, your reader will struggle to follow the thread of your argument, and lose focus on your really good points.

Put it into action: Step One

Let’s imagine you’re writing an English essay about the role and importance of the three witches in Macbeth . You’re thinking about the different ways in which Shakespeare imagines and presents the witches, how they influence the action of the tragedy, and perhaps the extent to which we’re supposed to believe in them (stay with me – you don’t have to know a single thing about Shakespeare or Macbeth to understand this bit!). Now, you’ll probably have a few good ideas on this topic – and whatever essay you write, you’ll most likely use much of the same material. However, the detail of the phrasing of the question will significantly affect the way you write your essay. You would draw on similar material to address the following questions: Discuss Shakespeare’s representation of the three witches in Macbeth . How does Shakespeare figure the supernatural in Macbeth ?   To what extent are the three witches responsible for Macbeth’s tragic downfall? Evaluate the importance of the three witches in bringing about Macbeth’s ruin. Are we supposed to believe in the three witches in Macbeth ? “Within Macbeth ’s representation of the witches, there is profound ambiguity about the actual significance and power of their malevolent intervention” (Stephen Greenblatt). Discuss.   I’ve organised the examples into three groups, exemplifying the different types of questions you might have to answer in an exam. The first group are pretty open-ended: ‘discuss’- and ‘how’-questions leave you room to set the scope of the essay. You can decide what the focus should be. Beware, though – this doesn’t mean you don’t need a sturdy structure, or a clear argument, both of which should always be present in an essay. The second group are asking you to evaluate, constructing an argument that decides whether, and how far something is true. Good examples of hypotheses (which your essay would set out to prove) for these questions are:

• The witches are the most important cause of tragic action in Macbeth.
• The witches are partially, but not entirely responsible for Macbeth’s downfall, alongside Macbeth’s unbridled ambition, and that of his wife.
• We are not supposed to believe the witches: they are a product of Macbeth’s psyche, and his downfall is his own doing.
• The witches’ role in Macbeth’s downfall is deliberately unclear. Their claim to reality is shaky – finally, their ambiguity is part of an uncertain tragic universe and the great illusion of the theatre. (N.B. It’s fine to conclude that a question can’t be answered in black and white, certain terms – as long as you have a firm structure, and keep referring back to it throughout the essay).

The final question asks you to respond to a quotation. Students tend to find these sorts of questions the most difficult to answer, but once you’ve got the hang of them I think the title does most of the work for you – often implicitly providing you with a structure for your essay. The first step is breaking down the quotation into its constituent parts- the different things it says. I use brackets: ( Within Macbeth ’s representation of the witches, ) ( there is profound ambiguity ) about the ( actual significance ) ( and power ) of ( their malevolent intervention ) Examiners have a nasty habit of picking the most bewildering and terrifying-sounding quotations: but once you break them down, they’re often asking for something very simple. This quotation, for example, is asking exactly the same thing as the other questions. The trick here is making sure you respond to all the different parts. You want to make sure you discuss the following:

• Do you agree that the status of the witches’ ‘malevolent intervention’ is ambiguous?
• What is its significance?
• How powerful is it?

Step Two: Plan

Having worked out exactly what the question is asking, write out a plan (which should be very detailed in a coursework essay, but doesn’t have to be more than a few lines long in an exam context) of the material you’ll use in each paragraph. Make sure your plan contains a sentence at the end of each point about how that point will answer the question. A point from my plan for one of the topics above might look something like this:

To what extent are we supposed to believe in the three witches in Macbeth ?  Hypothesis: The witches’ role in Macbeth’s downfall is deliberately unclear. Their claim to reality is uncertain – finally, they’re part of an uncertain tragic universe and the great illusion of the theatre. Para.1: Context At the time Shakespeare wrote Macbeth , there were many examples of people being burned or drowned as witches There were also people who claimed to be able to exorcise evil demons from people who were ‘possessed’. Catholic Christianity leaves much room for the supernatural to exist This suggests that Shakespeare’s contemporary audience might, more readily than a modern one, have believed that witches were a real phenomenon and did exist.

My final sentence (highlighted in red) shows how the material discussed in the paragraph answers the question. Writing this out at the planning stage, in addition to clarifying your ideas, is a great test of whether a point is relevant: if you struggle to write the sentence, and make the connection to the question and larger argument, you might have gone off-topic.

Step Three: Paragraph beginnings and endings

The final step to making sure you pick up all the possible marks for ‘answering the question’ in an essay is ensuring that you make it explicit how your material does so. This bit relies upon getting the beginnings and endings of paragraphs just right. To reiterate what I said above, treat your reader like a child: tell them what you’re going to say; tell them how it answers the question; say it, and then tell them how you’ve answered the question. This need not feel clumsy, awkward or repetitive. The first sentence of each new paragraph or point should, without giving too much of your conclusion away, establish what you’re going to discuss, and how it answers the question. The opening sentence from the paragraph I planned above might go something like this:

Early modern political and religious contexts suggest that Shakespeare’s contemporary audience might more readily have believed in witches than his modern readers.

The sentence establishes that I’m going to discuss Jacobean religion and witch-burnings, and also what I’m going to use those contexts to show. I’d then slot in all my facts and examples in the middle of the paragraph. The final sentence (or few sentences) should be strong and decisive, making a clear connection to the question you’ve been asked:

  Contemporary suspicion that witches did exist, testified to by witch-hunts and exorcisms, is crucial to our understanding of the witches in Macbeth.  To the early modern consciousness, witches were a distinctly real and dangerous possibility – and the witches in the play would have seemed all-the-more potent and terrifying as a result.

Step Four: Practice makes perfect

The best way to get really good at making sure you always ‘answer the question’ is to write essay plans rather than whole pieces. Set aside a few hours, choose a couple of essay questions from past papers, and for each:

• Write a hypothesis
• Write a rough plan of what each paragraph will contain
• Write out the first and last sentence of each paragraph

You can get your teacher, or a friend, to look through your plans and give you feedback . If you follow this advice, fingers crossed, next time you hand in an essay, it’ll be free from red-inked comments about irrelevance, and instead showered with praise for the precision with which you handled the topic, and how intently you focused on answering the question. It can seem depressing when your perfect question is just a minor tangent from the question you were actually asked, but trust me – high praise and good marks are all found in answering the question in front of you, not the one you would have liked to see. Teachers do choose the questions they set you with some care, after all; chances are the question you were set is the more illuminating and rewarding one as well.

Image credits: banner ; Keats ; Macbeth ; James I ; witches .

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AP® Psychology

How to answer ap® psychology free response questions.

• The Albert Team
• Last Updated On: March 1, 2022

One of the unique characteristics of AP® Psychology is the fact that the FRQ section accounts for just a third of a student’s score. While the free response may not be as greater weighted as the FRQs of other Advanced Placement classes, the two questions posted are still very important to a student’s ability to score a 3, 4, or 5. In this post, we’re going to review the best tips and tricks for answering AP® Psychology free response questions so you can feel confident about your FRQs.

Keep reading to get the scoop on everything you need to make the most of your AP® Psychology exam review. 

What We Review

5 Steps on How to Write Effective AP® Psychology Free Responses

There are a few vital steps when it comes to putting your best foot forward in your AP® Psychology free response section.

1. Understand the difference between the concept application question and the research question.

The concept application and the research question are the two types of questions you’ll find on the AP® Psychology free response section. 

For the concept application question, you’ll be presented with a scenario in which you will need to apply concepts to the scenario to demonstrate your content mastery. The intent of this question is to assess what the College Board calls Skill Category 1: Concept Understanding. 

Concept Understanding is the ability to define, explain, and apply concepts, behavior, theories, and perspectives. 

For the research question, you’ll often be given data from some form of research (i.e. experiment, survey, etc) and you’ll be assessed on your mastery of analyzing research studies.

The two skill categories assessed here are Data Analysis and Scientific Investigation. 

Data Analysis is as you can imagine, the ability to read and interpret quantitative data. 

Scientific Investigation is the ability to analyze psychological research studies. 

A few years ago, it wasn’t always guaranteed that students would receive a research question; however, the College Board in recent years has made this more explicit that students should expect one of the two FRQs to be research questions. 

Here are two examples of concept application questions from the 2019 and 2018 AP® Psychology exams:

Source: College Board

Notice how the key directive for students in these concept application questions is to explain and apply concepts you learned in class. 

Here are two examples of research questions from 2019 and 2017: 

Notice how in these research questions, one part is dedicated to assessing your ability to analyze the set up of the research study, while the other part is more similar to a concept application question and requires explanation of how certain concepts relate to the scenario. 

Here is a link for AP® Psychology past released exams

These past exams include scoring guidelines PDFs which outline how points were distributed for each respective question. 

2. Learn from the mistakes of students from the past exams.

The nice thing about AP® Psychology is that it hasn’t changed all that much in the last decade. This means referencing past released exams can be a way to gain more insight than you might be able to get from other places. 

You can learn a lot from these scoring guidelines. For example, if you read through the 2017-2019 guidelines, you’ll notice the College Board emphasizes a few general rules of thumb regarding the concept application question:

• Answers need to be complete sentences (but spelling or grammatical mistakes are not penalized).
• Just defining concepts or repeating terms given in the prompt is not enough to earn the point. 
• You can’t lose points for misinformation unless it directly contradicts correct information that would have scored a point. 

When it comes to the research question:

• Answering the wrong question won’t score you points (this shouldn’t be a big surprise).
• Wishy washy answers do not score points. For example, if you’re asked whether or not the data supports the hypothesis, a response that falls into “it depends on how you view it” would not score points. 
• Connecting the concept to the behavior addressed in the question was one of the most common student mistakes. Students knew the general idea of a concept but couldn’t apply it. 
• Correlation does not equal causation. 
• Just knowing methods of research is not enough; you need to be able to compare and contrast related research methods and psychology concepts with each other. 

Work your way through the last three year’s worth of scoring guidelines and read about the mistakes of past students. This will help familiarize you understand what to be mindful of when you start answering your own FRQs. 

3. Underline or circle what each question part is asking you.

The bulk of the time, you will be asked to identify, describe, or explain. 

To properly identify , you must provide 1-2 sentences where you directly answer the question. You will need to name the particular concept and connect it to the question prompt. 

To describe , you’ll need to characterize something. This will typically take 2-3 sentences since after you characterize it, you’ll want to apply it back to the prompt. Similar directives more occasionally used could be expressed as show or illustrate .

When asked to explain , these responses often will be three sentences. One sentence to directly respond to the question, followed by 2-3 supporting and specific facts that support your answer. You’ll need to go into depth about how the particular concept or theory connects back to the prompt. Teachers often refer to these questions as ones where you want to “show the why”. Similar directives could be expressed as discuss or relate .

Aside from the directives, build the habit of also marking key vocabulary words or influential people brought up. 

4. Plan out your response BEFORE you start writing.

Taking just a couple minutes to think about your response to each part of the AP® Psychology free response questions can make a huge difference in the thoroughness of your answers.

Consider what studies from your class you can bring in; citing past studies you’ve been exposed to is a stronger response than giving a personal life example when responding to an FRQ. Think about how clear it is as to why you’re bringing up an example or study. 

Finally, consider what your topic sentence will be in each explanation of yours. Writing one can help bring clarity to your thoughts as you mold your response to the question. 

Remember, the College Board uses the free response of the AP® Psychology exam to assess your ability to apply concepts, read and interpret data, and analyze psychological research studies. 

This means this section just recalling definitions is not enough to earn you points. You must be able to apply what you know to the situations described to you.

5. Practice, practice, and then practice some more.

There is no better way to build your AP® Psychology free response test-taking confidence than through practicing. 

You need to practice in order to gain exposure to enough past AP® Psych FRQs to better understand what sorts of questions will be asked of you. 

For example, when it comes to the research question, you’ll be tested to demonstrate you know what is a hypothesis, independent variable, dependent variable, random sample, potential biases, and more. 

The College Board provides a plethora of past released exams to help you navigate the preparation process, so use them! 

We recommend teaming up with a friend or two to work on the same year together. Then, use the scoring guidelines to review the sample responses, and then to grade each other’s work. This will help you understand how a peer may have responded to the same question you answered, as well as what would and would not score you points. 

20 AP® Psychology FRQ Tips to Scoring a 4 or 5

Now that we’ve gone over five steps to writing effective AP® Psychology free response questions, we can dig into test taking tips and strategies to help with approaching the concept application and research question. 

We recommend you read through a few of these every time you start and end your AP® Psychology FRQ practice. Then, in the days leading up to your exam, read the entire list so they stay fresh in your mind. 

7 AP® Psychology Concept Application Question Tips and Test Taking Strategies

• Be mindful of your time spent for the concept application question. The research question typically takes more time so you need to allocate time accordingly. 
• Always define your term before you provide an example that relates back to the prompt. This helps serve as backup and demonstrates what you know.
• Remember to apply the term. Defining the term alone is not enough. 
• Some teachers have told their students to underline the term in their responses; this is up to you, but could be a nice way to cue your reader in when they’re looking for whether or not you understand the definition of the term. 
• One way to remember the last time is UDA: underline the term or concept being tested, define the term without using the term itself in the definition, and apply the term to an example. 
• Use synonyms when elaborating on your definition of a term. Don’t use the term itself with its definition. 
• Leave a line break or space after each part of your response. This makes it easier for your reader to follow along vs. a long block of text. 

3 AP® Psychology Research Question Tips and Test Taking Strategies

• Review your definitions every day in the two weeks leading up to the exam. Make sure you’re confident in identifying the operational definition of different variables, what is a hypothesis, independent variable vs. dependent variable, etc. Here is a link to a series of operational definition flashcards.
• Include topic sentences when you’re explaining. They help give your responses direction as you translate the question for yourself. 
• When providing supporting examples or studies, clearly state the purpose of you doing so. Avoid abstract references. 

10 General AP® Psychology Free Response Tips and Test Taking Strategies

• Write in complete sentences. You should not outline or bullet your AP® Psychology free response answers.
• Outline your responses before you begin writing by using your question sheet. 
• Be concise and direct. Don’t skirt around in your responses. 
• This is not an AP® History class. There is no need for an introduction or conclusion paragraph. 
• Don’t make diagrams or lists; you only get points for responses that use sentences.  
• Use the appropriate psychological terms when responding to the FRQs. Same goes for the proper names of theories and theorists. 
• Remember you can’t lose points for incorrect answers unless they contradict part of a correct response. 
• Answer what you know first. Leave space for the things you don’t know or need more time to think about to go back to that part later. 
• If you’re low on time and need to squeeze out a response, feel free to scratch out what you don’t want your reader to read. An erasable pen can also be helpful. 
• Watch YouTube videos to refresh your memory on key concepts and theories. Crash Course has a great playlist that is a little dated but still helpful here .

Wrapping Things Up: How to Write AP® Psychology FRQs

We’ve gone over a lot in this AP® Psychology study guide. At this point, you should have everything you need to begin practicing writing your concept application and research question responses. 

As we wrap things up, here are a few takeaways to remember:

• It’s important to always define the term, and then apply the term to an example. One cannot happen without the other. 
• Create a system for yourself on how you’ll respond to each part of both questions. Consider using the UDA method for term-based questions. This is where you’ll underline the term, define the term, and then apply it.
• Plan your responses before you start writing by using your question sheet. Make sure your response is concise and direct, and structured in a way that is easy to grade.
• Master all your key psychological terms. Go through at least three years of past exams to familiarize yourself with the sorts of questions asked on the research question.
• Budget your time accordingly. Make sure you do not spend too much time on one question that you’re left with insufficient time to fully address the other question. 

We hope you’ve taken away a lot from this AP® Psychology review guide.

If you’re looking for more free response questions or multiple choice questions, check out our website! Albert has tons of original standards-aligned practice questions for you with detailed explanations to help you learn by doing and score that 4 or 5.

If you found this post helpful, you may also like our AP® Psychology tips here or our AP® Psychology score calculator here .

We also have an AP® Psychology review guide here .

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• Use the notes on this website to create Mind Maps, Cue Cards, Glossaries of key terms etc
• REMEMBER – Its not just about creating revision resources – you need to learn these resources and be able to recall them, without the aid of the resource
• Ensure that any description you write as part of an essay is both accurate and detailed.
• When writing evaluation it is important that you use a perfect paragraph rule (something like PEE (Point, Evidence/Example, Elaborate) or PEEL).
• The exam-board don’t award marks for the number of evaluation points stated. Marks are awarded for quality not quantity – using PEE/PEEL will ensure you write quality evaluation paragraphs.
• For a 16 mark essay, include no less than three evaluation paragraphs
• It is difficult to say how many A4 pages a student should write for their 16 mark essay (the size of our handwriting is different).
• It is hard to remember so many paragraphs of evaluation – learning how to use and apply the PEE/PEEL paragraphs effectively can help to cut down your revision – don’t aim to remember the paragraphs word for word, learn how to formulate the perfect paragraphs and then all you will need to remember is the additional research to support/refute the AO1 you have described.
• You can use research methods as part of your evaluation also – having a good knowledge of research methods can also help to cut down your revision. However, it is important that you don’t rely completely on using research methods to evaluate in your essays. Showing that you have a knowledge of additional research/studies is also important and will help you to get the best grade possible.

The Key Assessment Objectives:

AO1 Effectively Outlining a Study!

Key Exam Tip!!  

Remember, when outlining a study, in order to achieve the highest possible AO1 marks, it is important that your description is both accurate and detailed! In order to ensure that you include all the necessary details when you are describing a study, make sure you outline the studies A IM, P EOCEDURE, F INDINGS and C ONCLUSION (the APFC method).

AO1 Exam Tip!

Key Exam Tip!!   One of the questions you may get asked in the exam is to outline (a study, theory, definition etc…)

This type of question is looking at your ability to meet Assessment Objective 1 – AO1 for short.

In order to achieve the highest possible mark in one of these AO1 questions, it is important that you outline the study/theory/definition in an accurate and detailed manner.

AO3 Key Evaluation Exam Tip!

Key Exam Tip!! Another type of question that you may get asked in the exam is to evaluate  (a study, theory etc…)

This type of question is looking at your ability to meet Assessment Objective 3 – AO3 for short. In order to achieve the highest possible mark in one of these AO3 questions, it is important that you evaluate effectively. Many psychology teachers encourage their students to use a perfect paragraph method in order to evaluate effectively (something along the lines of the P.E.E rule – P oint, E vidence/ E xample and E laborate. ).

Click this perfect paragraph link in order to learn about the P.E.E rule. Practice implementing this rule as part of your revision.

Download Section

Glossary of key terms:.

Create one of these for every topic. List as subject specific key terms and check that you’re able to define each of the key terms when starting revision for each topic. In the exam, you may get asked to define a key term, so make sure you know your terms inside out. Ask family members/friends to test you, create a set of match up cards to help you memorise terms.

Download file here:    Glossary of terms

Star Words Revision Sheet

This is a fantastic resource for helping students to remember the key words associated with a research study and theories.

Follow the instructions of the revision handout which can be downloaded below:

Download file here: Star Words

Research Study Revision Sheet

This helps students to remember the key elements of research studies using the structure; aim, procedure, findings and conclusion.

This revision sheet also has a section for a summary of key evaluation.

Download file  here:   Bubble Summary of Research Mind Map

Theory Revision Sheet

Similar to the revision sheet for research, only it has been adapted to allow for revision of a theory.

Download file here: Bubble Theory and Evaluation Summary Sheet 2016

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How To Write Aqa Psychology Essays For 16 Marker Questions

Advice on how to answer essays, including key terms in questions and how to meet the assessment criteria.

Date : 13/02/2020

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Psychology Department

Major Application Short Answer Essay Questions

The  Major Application Short Answer Essay Questions * provide students interested in applying to WWU's psychology or human development majors an opportunity to convey who they are and how their individual lived experiences, values, and goals align with their intended major.

Please respond to both prompts with no more than 250 words each (overall word limit of 500 words; exceeding 250 words per prompt will result in application points lost): 

• In the Department of Psychology, we encourage and educate majors to apply psychological science to address societal needs and problems. What societal issues motivate you to pursue a degree in psychology? How and why? Please provide at least one specific example.
• Review the  Psychology Department Values Statement  and reflect on your own goals and values. In your own words, describe specific ways your participation in the major would contribute to creating this learning community for all members of the psychology program. These specific examples should derive from your upbringing, lived experiences, goals, personal values, and/or interests. 

*These prompts must be submitted before your new major application can be evaluated. The application portal will open at the beginning of fall, winter, and spring quarter.

Can't access the Short Answer Essay Questions?  Self-enroll in our Psychology Interest Canvas course

Curious about the Department of Psychology's DEI commitment? Check out our DEI Initiatives Webpage

Writing Tips to Consider

-Before crafting your response, reflect on your individual lived experience, strengths, academic history, etc.

-Address the prompts directly

-Think and write deeply, with full transparency

-Provide specific examples when possible

-Make sure who you are and how your goals/values align are crystal clear in your responses; consider what makes you a good fit in the Psychology Department

Remember: Quality of writing is not being evaluated; however, please use spell check and write in complete sentences to make sure your ideas come across as clearly as possible. Plagiarism of any kind is not tolerated.

Looking for Essay Response Support?

The WWU  Hacherl Research & Writing Studio  is ready to support your major application essay response writing process with a variety of connection options:

Daily Studio Hours :  https://library.wwu.edu/rws Request an Appointment :  https://wwu.libcal.com/appointments/rws Online Chat :  https://askus.library.wwu.edu/chat/widget/9c7774dae5b758529d82f5bc433029ca Submit a Draft :  https://library.wwu.edu/node/2341

Essay responses are the #1 way you can influence and improve your major application outcome.

Connect today!

Spring '24 Major Application

Available Friday 4/5 @ 8:30AM through Friday 4/19 @ 11:59PM

Apply in THREE easy steps:

1. Submit a  Major Application Webform

2. Complete the  Major + Graduation Requirement Review  that matches your intended major

3. Submit responses to the  Major Application Essay Questions

Need access to the review and essay questions?  Self-Enroll Here

Currently enrolled in PSY 203 as a transfer student?

Optional Step #4: Submit a  Major Application Exception

Past acceptance rates and data can be found  here

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66 Short Answer/Essay Questions

Try these AFTER you have thoroughly studied the chapter.  You should not have to look back at the text to answer them (only to check your answer!).  Remember, the point is NOT to memorize parts of the textbook but rather to understand the material and describe it in your OWN WORDS.

If you are going to write more than a couple of paragraphs, think about the structure of your answer.

• Describe Freud’s stages of psychosexual development.
• Describe the five factors in the five-factor model of personality.
• What is a projective measure of personality? Describe one such measure.
• How can the study of twins shed light on the influence of nature and nurture on personality?

Introduction to Psychology Study Guide Copyright © 2021 by Sarah Murray is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Sales Associate Job Interview Questions Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

One of the most important aspects of a recruitment process is interviewing candidates to identify whether they fit the position requirements. In this regard, candidate interviewing becomes a pivotal process in the overall human resource management of the company since the success of the interview predetermines the consecutive steps in employing, developing, and promoting the candidate. In other words, a properly conducted interview might minimize company losses in terms of hiring practices and obtain the best talent for the organization. For that matter, an interviewer should be properly prepared for the interview, know the position requirements and job description, and be knowledgeable about the particularities of questioning and communicating with the candidates to retrieve the necessary implicit and explicit information to make a correct decision. Therefore, this answer is aimed at presenting several examples of interview questions and answers to them to illustrate how interviewing serves as a valuable source of information about a candidate.

Different types of questions might be helpful in handling the interview and obtaining truthful answers demonstrating the personality and competence particularities of a candidate. The versatility of questions is an important aspect of a qualitative interview for a job position since it allows for minimizing the risks of candidates’ fake answers. According to Melchers et al. (2020), faking at job interviews is a common phenomenon that is validated by candidates’ willingness to represent themselves from a better side to convince the employer of their worthiness of being hired. In the scholarly literature, faking is defined as “conscious distortions of answers to the interview questions in order to obtain a better score on the interview and/or create favorable perceptions” (Melchers et al., 2020, p. 124). Thus, to ensure that the interviewer receives the most relevant and truthful information about the candidate, one should ask several types of questions.

The first category of interview questions is situational ones, which imply the obtainment of information on the decision-making ability of a candidate in a hypothetical job-related situation. For the illustrative purposes of this assignment, a hypothetical interview with a candidate applying for sales associate will be crafted. Thus, possible situational questions within the scope of the interview might be as follows:

• How would you identify which product to offer to a customer with uncertain selection criteria?
• What would your decision-making strategy be if you were about to fail to meet a monthly quota in sales and had an unattended customer complaint? Which issue would you prioritize?
• What would you say, and what would your actions be if a customer accidentally damaged a product in the store?

The answers to these questions will demonstrate the level of a prospective employee’s competence in performing in difficult situations and their capability of maintaining professionalism. Moreover, the answer to these situational questions will illustrate how a candidate handles conflicts and dilemmas, unfolding their personal characteristics (Tappoon, 2022). Thus, both psychological and responsibility-related information might be retrieved from the candidate both implicitly and explicitly when asking the above-mentioned questions.

The second category of questions is the behavioral questions, which are aimed at identifying the past experiences of the employee pertaining to the current job position. Indeed, for the sales associate position, behavioral questions might be as follows:

• What is your most proud professional achievement throughout your experience in sales?
• Tell me about a time when you had to handle a challenging situation in your job related to managing communication with a difficult customer.
• How do you usually react and respond to negative feedback from a client?

The answers to these behavioral questions will allow an interviewer to collect information about the candidates’ prior experience and their ability to reflect and demonstrate the path of professional growth.

Finally, the third set of questions is one aimed at evaluating the candidate’s job knowledge. In particular, these questions might include the following:

• What is the proper way of operating a cash register?
• What actions and decisions will you make when there are too many customers in the store?
• How would you introduce and promote one of our company’s products to a customer with the aim of selling it to them?

The answers to these questions will demonstrate the candidates’ communicative skills and show their professional capacity (Tappoon, 2022). Although these questions are simple, the character and volume of answers might be evaluated for accuracy and clarity, which will signify the candidate’s competence and expertise.

When exemplifying good, average, and poor answers to one of these questions, one might speculate on the first behavioral question on the proudest job experience. A poor answer would be: “I do not recall any events in my professional experience that would make me proud.” An average answer would be: “In my career, I have always been proud of reaching sales levels higher than my coworkers.” Finally, a good answer to this question would be as follows: “I recall several particular moments in my professional life that I feel most proud of. However, the one that I would like to share is the challenging situation I managed to handle in my previous place of work. As we approached the end of the month, I understood that our department was at risk of not reaching the quota because we had many customers who bought only one or two items. In that situation, I shared an idea with the leadership, suggesting a discount for the products that had lacked customer demand for a long time, and I was pursuant to offering the discount to all customers. The monthly quota was reached, and I was promoted to a higher position.”

Melchers, K. G., Roulin, N., & Buehl, A. K. (2020). A review of applicant faking in selection interviews. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 28 (2), 123-142.

Tappoon, A. (2022). A case study of communication strategies used by Thai business students in an English online job interview test. Asia Social Issues, 15 (6), 1-16.

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IvyPanda. (2024, May 26). Sales Associate Job Interview Questions. https://ivypanda.com/essays/sales-associate-job-interview-questions/

"Sales Associate Job Interview Questions." IvyPanda , 26 May 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/sales-associate-job-interview-questions/.

IvyPanda . (2024) 'Sales Associate Job Interview Questions'. 26 May.

IvyPanda . 2024. "Sales Associate Job Interview Questions." May 26, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/sales-associate-job-interview-questions/.

1. IvyPanda . "Sales Associate Job Interview Questions." May 26, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/sales-associate-job-interview-questions/.

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IvyPanda . "Sales Associate Job Interview Questions." May 26, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/sales-associate-job-interview-questions/.

Ivan Pavlov: the Maestro of Mind Melodies

This essay about Ivan Pavlov explores his profound impact on psychology and neuroscience. From his pioneering experiments with dogs to his theoretical insights into conditioned reflexes, Pavlov’s work laid the foundation for classical conditioning and revolutionized our understanding of behavior. His contributions transcended disciplinary boundaries, influencing fields such as philosophy, education, therapy, and advertising. Pavlov’s legacy serves as a testament to the power of empirical inquiry and continues to resonate in the ongoing quest to unravel the mysteries of the human mind.

How it works

In the symphony of scientific discovery, one name stands out as a maestro whose compositions continue to resonate across disciplines: Ivan Pavlov. Born into the rich tapestry of 19th-century Russia, Pavlov’s journey from physiology to psychology wove threads of insight that transformed our understanding of the human mind.

Pavlov’s magnum opus emerges from his laboratory, where he orchestrated a harmonious convergence of physiological inquiry and behavioral observation. Initially captivated by the symphony of digestion, Pavlov’s ears perked up when he noticed a curious cadence: the dogs under study salivated not just at the sight of food, but also at the mere footfall of their caretakers.

This discordant note in the melody of reflexes prompted Pavlov to conduct a virtuoso experiment that would reverberate through the corridors of academia for centuries to come.

In his laboratory, Pavlov conducted a symphony of stimuli, pairing the ringing of a bell with the presentation of food to his canine companions. What ensued was a crescendo of conditioning, as the dogs learned to anticipate the feast at the sound of the bell alone. This composition of conditioned reflexes, now known as classical conditioning, laid the groundwork for a new movement in psychology—one that explored the intricate interplay between stimuli and response, melody and harmony.

Yet, Pavlov’s symphony did not end with the echoes of bell and salivation. His theoretical overtures resonated with philosophers and scientists alike, sparking a cacophony of discourse on the nature of mind and consciousness. Pavlov’s concept of the conditioned reflex struck a chord with behaviorists such as John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner, who sought to compose a symphony of behavior stripped of subjective melody. This movement, known as behaviorism, sought to unravel the complexities of mind by focusing solely on observable behavior—an approach that echoed Pavlov’s emphasis on empirical inquiry.

Beyond the confines of psychology, Pavlov’s melodies echoed through the halls of neuroscience, where researchers sought to decode the symphony of synaptic connections that underlie behavior. By dissecting the neural mechanisms of conditioned reflexes, Pavlov conducted a symphony of dissection, revealing the inner workings of the brain’s orchestration of behavior. His exploration of the cerebral cortex and the autonomic nervous system laid the groundwork for a symphony of discoveries that continue to resonate in the field of neuroscience today.

Moreover, Pavlov’s symphony of science transcended disciplinary boundaries, weaving threads of insight into fields as diverse as education, therapy, and advertising. His compositions found resonance in the classrooms of educators who sought to orchestrate a symphony of learning through the principles of conditioning. In therapy, Pavlov’s melodies inspired clinicians to conduct a symphony of interventions aimed at reshaping maladaptive behaviors through the power of associative learning. And in the realm of advertising, Pavlov’s symphony of stimuli became a symphony of persuasion, as marketers sought to orchestrate consumer behavior through the strategic use of conditioned cues.

In the grand symphony of scientific inquiry, Ivan Pavlov stands as a towering figure whose melodies continue to reverberate across disciplines. From his pioneering experiments with dogs to his theoretical insights into conditioned reflexes, Pavlov composed a symphony of discovery that transformed our understanding of the human mind. His legacy serves as a testament to the power of empirical inquiry and the enduring impact of scientific exploration. And as we continue to unravel the mysteries of the mind, Pavlov’s melodies serve as a guiding score, leading us ever closer to the harmonious understanding of human behavior.

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'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?

ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.

When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.

ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form .

What is ChatGPT and why does it matter? Here's what you need to know

What is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is an AI chatbot with natural language processing (NLP) that allows you to have human-like conversations to complete various tasks. The  generative AI  tool can answer questions and assist you with tasks such as composing emails, essays, code, and more.

Also :  How to use ChatGPT: What you need to know now

It's currently  open to use for free . A paid subscription version called ChatGPT Plus launched in February 2023 with access to priority access to OpenAI's latest models and updates.

Who made ChatGPT?

AI startup OpenAI launched ChatGPT on November 30, 2022. OpenAI has also developed  DALL-E 2  and DALL-E 3 , popular  AI image generators , and Whisper, an automatic speech recognition system. 

Who owns ChatGPT currently?

OpenAI owns ChatGPT. Microsoft is a major investor in OpenAI thanks to multiyear, multi-billion dollar  investments. Elon Musk was an investor when OpenAI was first founded in 2015, but has since completely severed ties with the startup and created his own AI chatbot, Grok .

How can you access ChatGPT?

On April 1, 2024, OpenAI stopped requiring you to log in to use ChatGPT. Now, you can access ChatGPT simply by visiting  chat.openai.com . You can also access ChatGPT  via an app on your iPhone  or  Android  device.

Once you visit the site, you can start chatting away with ChatGPT. A great way to get started is by asking a question, similar to what you would do with Google. You can ask as many questions as you'd like.

Also: ChatGPT no longer requires a login, but you might want one anyway. Here's why

There are still some perks to creating an OpenAI account, such saving and reviewing your chat history and accessing custom instructions. Creating an OpenAI account is entirely free and easy. You can even log in with your Google account.

For step-by-step instructions, check out ZDNET's guide on  how to start using ChatGPT . 

Is there a ChatGPT app?

Yes, an official ChatGPT app is available for both iPhone and Android users. 

Also: ChatGPT dropped a free app for iPhones. Does it live up to the hype?

Make sure to download OpenAI's app, as there are a plethora of copycat fake apps listed on Apple's App Store and the Google Play Store that are not affiliated with the startup.

Is ChatGPT available for free?

ChatGPT is free to use, regardless of what you use it for, including writing, coding, and much more. 

There is a subscription option , ChatGPT Plus, that users can take advantage of that costs $20/month. The paid subscription model guarantees users extra perks, such as priority access to GPT-4o and the latest upgrades. 

Also: ChatGPT vs ChatGPT Plus: Is it worth the subscription fee?

Although the subscription price may seem steep, it is the same amount as Microsoft Copilot Pro and Google One AI, Microsoft's and Google's premium AI offerings. 

The free version is still a solid option as it can access the same model and most of the same perks. One major exception: only subscribers get guaranteed access to GPT-4o when the model is at capacity. 

I tried using ChatGPT and it says it's at capacity. What does that mean?

The ChatGPT website operates using servers. When too many people hop onto these servers, they may overload and can't process your request. If this happens to you, you can visit the site later when fewer people are trying to access the tool. You can also keep the tab open and refresh it periodically. 

Also: The best AI chatbots

If you want to skip the wait and have reliable access, you can subscribe to  ChatGPT Plus  for general access during peak times, faster response times, and priority access to new features and improvements, including priority access to GPT-4o.

You can also try using Bing's AI chatbot, Copilot . This chatbot is free to use, runs on GPT-4, has no wait times, and can access the internet for more accurate information.

What is ChatGPT used for?

ChatGPT has many functions in addition to answering simple questions. ChatGPT can compose essays , have philosophical conversations, do math, and even code for you . 

The tasks ChatGPT can help with also don't have to be so ambitious. For example, my favorite use of ChatGPT is for help creating basic lists for chores, such as packing and grocery shopping, and to-do lists that make my daily life more productive. The possibilities are endless. 

ZDNET has published many ChatGPT how-to guides. Below are some of the most popular ones. 

Use ChatGPT to: 

• Write an essay
• Create an app
• Build your resume
• Write Excel formulas
• Summarize content
• Write a cover letter
• Start an Etsy business
• Create charts and tables
• Write Adruino drivers

Can ChatGPT generate images?

Yes, ChatGPT can generate images, but only for ChatGPT Plus subscribers. Since OpenAI discontinued DALL-E 2 in February 2024, the only way to access its most advanced AI image generator, DALL-E 3, through OpenAI's offerings is via its chatbot and ChatGPT Plus subscription.

Also: DALL-E adds new ways to edit and create AI-generated images. Learn how to use it

Microsoft's Copilot offers image generation, which is also powered by DALL-E 3, in its chatbot for free. This is a great alternative if you don't want to shell out the money for ChatGPT Plus.

How does ChatGPT work?

ChatGPT runs on a large language model (LLM) architecture created by OpenAI called the  Generative Pre-trained Transformer  (GPT). Since its launch, the free version of ChatGPT ran on a fine-tuned model in the GPT-3.5 series until May 2024, when the startup upgraded the model to GPT-4o. 

Also:   Here's a deep dive into how ChatGPT works  

With a subscription to ChatGPT Plus , you can access GPT-3.5, GPT-4, or  GPT-4o . Plus, users also have the added perk of priority access to GPT-4o, even when it is at capacity, while free users get booted down to GPT-3.5. 

Generative AI models of this type are trained on vast amounts of information from the internet, including websites, books, news articles, and more.

What does ChatGPT stand for?

As mentioned above, the last three letters in ChatGPT's namesake stand for Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT), a family of large language models created by OpenAI that uses deep learning to generate human-like, conversational text. 

Also: What does GPT stand for? Understanding GPT 3.5, GPT 4, GPT-4 Turbo, and more

The "Chat" part of the name is simply a callout to its chatting capabilities. 

Is ChatGPT better than a search engine?

ChatGPT is a language model created to converse with the end user. A search engine indexes web pages on the internet to help users find information. One is not better than the other, as each suit different purposes. 

When searching for as much up-to-date, accurate information as you can access, your best bet is a search engine. It will provide you with pages upon pages of sources you can peruse. 

Also: The best AI search engines of 2024: Google, Perplexity, and more

As of May, the free version of ChatGPT can get responses from both the GPT-4o model and the web. It will only pull its answer from, and ultimately list, a handful of sources, as opposed to showing nearly endless search results.

For example, I used GPT-4o to answer, "What is the weather today in San Francisco?" The response told me it searched four sites and provided links to them. 

If you are looking for a platform that can explain complex topics in an easy-to-understand manner, then ChatGPT might be what you want. If you want the best of both worlds, there are plenty of AI search engines on the market that combine both.

What are ChatGPT's limitations?

Despite its impressive capabilities, ChatGPT still has limitations. Users sometimes need to reword questions multiple times for ChatGPT to understand their intent. A bigger limitation is a lack of quality in responses, which can sometimes be plausible-sounding but are verbose or make no practical sense. 

Instead of asking for clarification on ambiguous questions, the model guesses what your question means, which can lead to poor responses. Generative AI models are also subject to hallucinations, which can result in inaccurate responses.

Does ChatGPT give wrong answers?

As mentioned above, ChatGPT, like all language models, has  limitations  and can give nonsensical answers and incorrect information, so it's important to double-check the data it gives you.

Also: 8 ways to reduce ChatGPT hallucinations

OpenAI recommends that you provide feedback on what ChatGPT generates by using the thumbs-up and thumbs-down buttons to improve its underlying model. You can even join the startup's Bug Bounty program , which offers up to $20,000 for reporting security bugs and safety issues.

Can ChatGPT refuse to answer my prompts?

AI systems like ChatGPT can and do reject  inappropriate requests . The AI assistant can identify inappropriate submissions to prevent the generation of unsafe content.

Also:  6 things ChatGPT can't do (and another 20 it refuses to do)

These submissions include questions that violate someone's rights, are offensive, are discriminatory, or involve illegal activities. The ChatGPT model can also challenge incorrect premises, answer follow-up questions, and even admit mistakes when you point them out.

These guardrails are important. AI models can generate advanced, realistic content that can be exploited by bad actors for harm, such as spreading misinformation about public figures and influencing elections .

Can I chat with ChatGPT?

Although some people use ChatGPT for elaborate functions, such as writing code or even malware , you can use ChatGPT for more mundane activities, such as having a friendly conversation. 

Also:  Do you like asking ChatGPT questions? You could get paid (a lot) for it

Some conversation starters could be as simple as, "I am hungry, what food should I get?" or as elaborate as, "What do you think happens in the afterlife?" Either way, ChatGPT is sure to have an answer for you. 

Is ChatGPT safe?

People are expressing concerns about AI chatbots replacing or atrophying human intelligence. For example, a chatbot can write an article on any topic efficiently (though not necessarily accurately) within seconds, potentially eliminating the need for human writers.

Chatbots can also write an entire essay within seconds, making it easier for students to cheat or avoid learning how to write properly. This even led  some school districts to block access  when ChatGPT initially launched. 

Also:  Generative AI can be the academic assistant an underserved student needs

Now, not only have many of those schools decided to unblock the technology, but some higher education institutions have been  catering their academic offerings  to AI-related coursework. 

Another concern with AI chatbots is the possible spread of misinformation. ChatGPT itself says: "My responses are not intended to be taken as fact, and I always encourage people to verify any information they receive from me or any other source." OpenAI also notes that ChatGPT sometimes writes "plausible-sounding but incorrect or nonsensical answers."

Also:  Microsoft and OpenAI detect and disrupt nation-state cyber threats that use AI, report shows

Lastly, there are ethical concerns regarding the information ChatGPT was trained on, since the startup scraped the internet to train the chatbot. 

It also automatically uses people's interactions with the free version of the chatbot to further train its models, raising privacy concerns. OpenAI lets you turn off training in ChatGPT's settings.

Does ChatGPT plagiarize?

Yes, sort of. OpenAI scraped the internet to train ChatGPT. Therefore, the technology's knowledge is influenced by other people's work. Since there is no guarantee that when OpenAI outputs its answers it is entirely original, the chatbot may regurgitate someone else's work in your answer, which is considered plagiarism. 

Is there a ChatGPT detector?

Concerns about students using AI to cheat mean the need for a ChatGPT text detector is becoming more evident. 

In January 2023, OpenAI released a free tool to target this problem. Unfortunately, OpenAI's "classifier" tool could only correctly identify 26% of AI-written text with a "likely AI-written" designation. Furthermore, it provided false positives 9% of the time, incorrectly identifying human-written work as AI-produced. 

The tool performed so poorly  that, six months after being released, OpenAI it shut down "due to its low rate of accuracy." Despite the tool's failure, the startup claims to be researching more effective techniques for AI text identification.

Also: OpenAI unveils text-to-video model and the results are astonishing

Other AI detectors exist on the market, including GPT-2 Output Detector ,  Writer AI Content Detector , and Content at Scale's AI Content Detection  tool. ZDNET put these tools to the test, and the results were underwhelming: all three were found to be unreliable sources for spotting AI, repeatedly giving false negatives. Here are  ZDNET's full test results .

What are the common signs something was written by ChatGPT?

Although tools aren't sufficient for detecting ChatGPT-generated writing, a  study  shows that humans could detect AI-written text by looking for politeness. The study's results indicate that  ChatGPT's writing style is extremely polite . And unlike humans, it cannot produce responses that include metaphors, irony, or sarcasm.

Will my conversations with ChatGPT be used for training?

One of the major risks when using generative AI models is that they become more intelligent by being trained on user inputs. Therefore, when familiarizing yourself with how to use ChatGPT, you might wonder if your specific conversations will be used for training and, if so, who can view your chats.

Also:  This ChatGPT update fixed one of my biggest productivity issues with the AI chatbot

OpenAI will use your conversations with the free chatbot to automatically training data to refine its models. You can opt out of the startup using your data for model training by clicking on the question mark in the bottom left-hand corner, Settings, and turning off "Improve the model for everyone."

What is GPT-4?

GPT-4 is OpenAI's language model that is much more advanced than its predecessor, GPT-3.5. Users can access GPT-4 by subscribing to ChatGPT Plus for $20 per month or using Microsoft's Copilot.

Also: What does GPT stand for? Understanding GPT-3.5, GPT-4, and more

GPT-4 has advanced intellectual capabilities, meaning it outperforms GPT-3.5 in a series of simulated benchmark exams. The newer model also supposedly produces fewer hallucinations. 

What is GPT-4o?

GPT-4o is OpenAI's latest, fastest, and most advanced flagship model. As the name implies, it has the same intelligence as GPT-4. However, the "o" in the title stands for "omni," referring to its multimodal capabilities, which allow it to understand text, audio, image, and video inputs and output text, audio, and image outputs. 

Also:  6 ways OpenAI just supercharged ChatGPT for free users

The model is 50% cheaper in the API than GPT-4 Turbo while still matching its English and coding capabilities and outperforming it in non-English languages, vision, and audio understanding -- a big win for developers.

Are there alternatives to ChatGPT worth considering?

Although ChatGPT gets the most buzz, other options are just as good -- and might even be better suited to your needs. ZDNET has created a list of the best chatbots, which have all been tested by us and show which tool is best for your requirements. 

Also: 4 things Claude AI can do that ChatGPT can't

Despite ChatGPT's extensive abilities, there are major downsides to the AI chatbot. If you want to try the technology, there are plenty of other options: Copilot , Claude , Perplexity ,  Jasper , and more.  

Is ChatGPT smart enough to pass benchmark exams?

Yes, ChatGPT is capable of passing a series of benchmark exams. A professor at Wharton, the University of Pennsylvania's business school, used ChatGPT to take an MBA exam and the results were quite impressive. 

ChatGPT not only passed the exam, but the tool scored between a B- and a B. The professor, Christian Terwiesch, was impressed at its basic operations management, process analysis questions, and explanations.

OpenAI also tested the chatbot's ability to pass benchmark exams. Although ChatGPT could pass many of these benchmark exams, its scores were usually in the lower percentile. However, with GPT-4, ChatGPT can score much higher.

For example, ChatGPT using GPT-3.5 scored in the lower 10th percentile of a simulated Bar Exam, while GPT-4 scored in the top 10th percentile. You can see more examples from OpenAI in the chart below.

Can ChatGPT be used for job application assistance?

Yes, ChatGPT is a great resource to help with job applications. Undertaking a job search can be tedious and difficult, and ChatGPT can help you lighten the load. ChatGPT can build your resume  and write a cover letter .

Also :  How to use ChatGPT to write an essay

If your application has any written supplements, you can use ChatGPT to help you write those essays or personal statements . 

What are the most common ChatGPT plugins, and how do I use them?

Plugins allowed ChatGPT to connect to third-party applications, including access to real-time information on the web. The plugins expanded ChatGPT's abilities , allowing it to assist with many more activities, such as planning a trip or finding a place to eat. 

Also:  My two favorite ChatGPT Plus features and the remarkable things I can do with them

On March 19, 2024, however, OpenAI stopped allowing users to install new plugins or start new conversations with existing ones. Instead, OpenAI replaced plugins with GPTs , which are easier for developers to build. 

Users can find 3 million ChatGPT chatbots, also known as GPTs, on the GPT store. Unfortunately, there is also a lot of spam in the GPT store.

What is Microsoft's involvement with ChatGPT?

Microsoft was an early investor in OpenAI, the AI startup behind ChatGPT, long before ChatGPT was released to the public. Microsoft's first involvement with OpenAI was in 2019, when the company invested $1 billion, and then another $2 billion in the years after. In January 2023, Microsoft extended its partnership with OpenAI through a multiyear, multi-billion dollar investment .

Also: ChatGPT vs. Copilot: Which AI chatbot is better for you?

 Neither company disclosed the investment value, but unnamed sources told Bloomberg that it could total $10 billion over multiple years. In return, OpenAI's exclusive cloud-computing provider is Microsoft Azure, powering all OpenAI workloads across research, products, and API services.

Microsoft has also used its OpenAI partnership to revamp its Bing search engine and improve its browser. 

On February 7, 2023, Microsoft unveiled a new Bing tool , now known as Copilot, that runs on OpenAI's GPT-4, customized specifically for search.

What does Copilot (formerly Bing Chat) have to do with ChatGPT?

In February 2023,  Microsoft unveiled  a new version of Bing -- and its standout feature was its integration with ChatGPT. When it was announced, Microsoft shared that Bing Chat, now Copilot, was powered by a next-generation version of OpenAI's large language model, making it "more powerful than ChatGPT." Five weeks after the launch, Microsoft revealed that Copilot had been running on GPT-4 before the model had even launched. 

How does Copilot compare to ChatGPT?

Copilot uses OpenAI's GPT-4, which means that since its launch, it has been more efficient and capable than the standard, free version of ChatGPT. At the time, Copilot boasted several other features over ChatGPT, such as access to the internet, knowledge of current information, and footnotes.

In May 2024, however, OpenAI supercharged the free version of its chatbot with GPT-4o. The upgrade gave users GPT-4 level intelligence, the ability to get responses from the web via ChatGPT Browse with Bing, analyze data, chat about photos and documents, use GPTs, access the GPT Store, and Voice Mode. Therefore, after the upgrade, ChatGPT reclaimed its crown as the best AI chatbot. 

What is Gemini and how does it relate to ChatGPT?

Gemini is Google's AI chat service, a rival to ChatGPT. On February 6, 2023, Google introduced its experimental AI chat service, which was then called Google Bard. Over a month after the announcement, Google began rolling out  access to Bard first via a waitlist . Now, it is available to the general public. 

Artificial Intelligence

Chatgpt vs. copilot: which ai chatbot is better for you, what does gpt stand for understanding gpt-3.5, gpt-4, gpt-4o, and more, chatgpt vs. chatgpt plus: is a paid subscription still worth it.