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Obedience is when an individual acts according to orders, usually from an authority figure. It is assumed that without the order the person would not have acted in that way.

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AO stands for assessment objectives. In the AS units (Psya1 and Psya2) you are assessed on AO1 and AO2. Units 3 and 4 (Psya3 and Psya4) assess you on all three which are AO1, AO2/AO3.

But what are they? And how do they differ?

AO1 is all about describing or outlining something. This almost always forms part of the theory element. Research studies can also be used in this provided the question asks you to "discuss".

Research studies generally can also be used as AO1 provided you only try and outline research and the findings without making statements such as "this theory supports" or "this theory undermines" - the moment you start writing statements like that for your theory element, it becomes AO2 ! So do not do that when writing your theory for the ao1 section in a "discuss" question.

AO1 = Describe, Identify, Outline, Explain or even "discuss research into.."

AO2 is all about evaluating and highlighting the strengths and/or weaknesses of the AO1 study itself. A common mistake people make is simply outlining a studies strengths and weaknesses without referencing how this impacts the original theory you outlined for your AO1. This will result in basic or no marks.

The whole point of using supporting or critical research is to highlight whether the theory you mentioned for your AO1 has any value or not. Outlining the studies strengths and weaknesses does not do this and is only half the job. Once you've outlined a study thats related to your AO1 theory element, you need to make a statement to link back to the AO1 theory and whether this is supported or not.

e,g, "This study supports the theory because..."

Or
"This study undermines the theory because.."
Issues, debates and approaches (IDA) now forms part of AO2/AO3.

For Psya3 IDA is incredibly important and you can not score in the top band of marks without using them. For Psya4 they are not mandatory but if used well will score you marks.

AO2 and AO3 now go together and are known as AO2/AO3.

AO3 is all about how science works and is marked as part of AO2. AO3 criticisms would involve problems in methodology which should be put into context dependant on the example you're working on.

So saying something like "this study had a small sample of females" would not score you any marks but then adding to it along the lines of "therefore we cannot generalise the findings to the wider population and it may be that these findings lack population validity and suffer from gender bias as we cannot say for certain the male population's behaviour would be similar. Therefore this lacks external validity due to a lack of generalisation and internal validity as it is most likely only measuring the behaviours of females and not across genders"...

Although a generic example you apply it to whatever you're writing about obviously putting it into context - Notice how I keep "doubling up" on IDA points and how I jumped up from a simple small female sample AO3 point but then also added an IDA (Gender bias) and a lack of internal and external validity points too. You will find if you master your IDA points you will be able to do this with a lot of your evaluation elements and keep "doubling up" scoring 3-4 marks easily per single paragraph. This is in effect what I did within my exams and how I scored 100 UMS in both Psya3 and Psya4 papers. Mastering this is key. I have also written my model essay answer books too with these methods in mind - constantly looking to add marks in almost every sentence.

If you want further help or are struggling with AS or A2 Psychology, be sure to check out my A* model essay answers for all possible questions which cover all the Ao1, Ao2/Ao3 points in sufficient detail to score into the top banding of marks. You can get the model essays here.
How to cite this article: Loopa Psychology - http://www.loopa.co.uk/understanding-ao1-ao2-ao3-for-aqa-psychology/

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AO1, AO2, AO3 For AQA Psychology A level Explained Easily

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AO stands for assessment objectives. In the AS units (Psya1 and Psya2) you are assessed on AO1 and AO2. Units 3 and 4 (Psya3 and Psya4) assess you on all three which are AO1, AO2/AO3. But what are they? And how do they differ? AO1 is all about describing or outlining something.

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Key Terms for A Level Year 1 (AS) Psychology | Psychology | tutor2u

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Here are a series of key term glossaries for all students preparing for their A Level Year 1 (AS) exams.

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An Introduction to Stanley Milgram’s Obedience to Authority - A Macat Psychology Analysis

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Many people are only too happy to obey an authority figure, even when what they're being asked to do goes against a personal moral code. They justify their actions by convincing themselves they have little personal responsibility for what they are doing; that responsibility rests with the person giving the orders.

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The Milgram Experiment 1962 Full Documentary

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Intro to Psychology: Crash Course Psychology #1