My A-level results

I found out my A-level results almost three weeks ago, and they were:

Biology: A

Psychology: B

German: B

Chemistry: A*

I was satisfied with the Biology and German results; I got a B in BIO4, so an A* was out of reach, and although I got an A in the German paper, my speaking was slightly weaker this year, so I'm still pleased with the result.

At first I was disappointed about the B in Psychology, but in hindsight I think there was a trade-off between Psychology and Chemistry, and ultimately, rather than revising to an A standard for both subjects, Psychology lost out while Chemistry gained. Before the start of the exam period I was hoping for an A* in Chemistry, but the horror of the F334 exam really dented my confidence, so this achievement was a brilliant surprise.

Thankfully, my UCAS Track status had been updated by the time I logged on at 8:03 am, so I knew that I'd been accepted by the University of Bristol before I found out my results. This was an immense weight off my mind, and now that I will definitely be studying pharmacology, it makes sense for this blog to undergo the same transformation, from bio-chem-psych-deutsch-student to something like pharmacology-student!

Psychology Unit 3 Online Conference

After school today I watched Cara Flanagan and Mike Cardwell's unit 3 revision conference, and picked up many useful revision and exam technique tips. The seminar was split into three half-hour sections: AO1, AO2, and putting them both together. A key point from the AO1 presentation was that less is more; it's important to explain what you know in detail, so it's better to give fewer points, but say more about them. This information should also be structured and organised into four paragraphs of roughly 50 words in length.

The AO2 content should be a maximum of eight 50-word points, no more than two of which should be IDA.  Supporting studies suggest that the original study has good ecological validity an is externally reliable. This in turn suggests that the original research or theory is credible and valuable. Naturally, non-supporting research suggests the opposite. Moreover, a gender or culture differences point can become IDA if the link back states that the theory or explanation may not be universal and so is culture- or gender-biased.

In terms of writing a full answer, it is noteworthy that one theory or explanation can yield two thirds of the marks if the question specifically asks for two. This further stresses the "less is more" point, and Cara advised learning one theory in detail, and another in enough detail to write a third of an answer, to prepare for the possibility of a question like this coming up.

Wider Reading: Behavioural Epigenetics

Grandma's Experiences Leave a Mark on Your Genes

This article introduces the idea that genetic information can be influenced by both nature and nurture, suggesting that life experiences are able to alter chemical signals to determine exactly which genes are transcribed. The field of epigenetics is concerned with  extra chemicals, such as the methyl group, which attach themselves to the genes that are necessary to produce the proteins required by the cell. Epigenetic changes can occur throughout life and can be triggered by a variety of factors, including diet, and can even be inherited, despite not actually being part of DNA itself; this is known as postnatal inheritance. A methyl group inhibits transcription of the gene it attaches to by tightening the DNA around the histone, making it much harder for DNA helicase to unzip this portion of DNA. To investigate the effect of life experiences on epigenetics, a natural experiment was conducted on rats whose mothers were either very attentive or very inattentive. This study found that genes regulating sensitivity to stress hormones were far more methylated the brains of those with inattentive mothers. This means that, for those with less attentive mothering, the genes which protect against the effects of stress were not transcribed as fully; therefore, the offspring were more susceptible to the effects of stress. In a follow up study, offspring of inattentive mothers were placed with attentive mothers and vice versa, and again the rats raised by the inattentive mothers had the most methylation in their anti-stress genes. Studies of human blood have shown that these changes can be present in humans too, and this could lead to the development of drugs to control or remove methyl groups, which may be useful in treating disorders such as depression. However, there are ethical issues with this type of treatment, most notably, is it right to alter inherited information?

Psychology Conference 12/11/12

I had no lessons last Monday because I attended a conference at the Colston Hall, titled : "Science and Pseudoscience". Throughout the day we had talks, ranging in length from 30 minutes to about an hour. First of all we were told to be sceptical, then the psychologist who organised the event defended the integrity and importance of lab experiments (probably the most relevant part to my studies, but not the most interesting). "Dr Dance" Peter Lovatt told us some surprising things about the psychology of dance and attraction, then after a lunch break, we were treated to some magic tricks and learned that psychology could help change the world. Finally, it was time for the most humorous part of the day, hypnosis, in which a boy was stuck with his finger up his nose and other participants cuddled up to each other - it was hilarious!