Practical Learning Approach

a Carry out an observation using participants either from real life or using another medium such as television. This practical must be designed and conducted according to ethical principles.

b The observation must focus on some aspect of learning theory (such as modelling or reinforcement) and must gather quantitative data (eg by using tallying) that leads to a chi-squared (χ2) test.

Suitable examples:

an observation of a nursery setting looking at the frequency of boys and girls’ choice of gender-specific toys

an observation of a television programme or similar media to record if positive reinforcement leads to the desired response more often than if there is no reward.

c Analyse the findings to produce results including using the chi-squared (χ2) test.

Note: with regard to inferential tests no calculations will have to be carried out in the examinations and formulae do not have to be learnt.

d Apply issues of validity, reliability, generalisability and credibility to their results.