Psychology

"The purpose of psychology is to give us a completely different idea of the things we know best."
Paul Valery (1871-1945)

Aims of the department

Aims of the psychology department are to give students a range of insights and explanations into human behaviour and thinking processes. Students will study how psychologists observe behaviour, create a theory or hypothesis to explain the behaviour and then test this using a variety of research methods. Students will also develop evaluative and analytical skills in order to understand the validity of the research and theories.

A-Level Psychology is classified in the Sector Subject Category of Science.

Why study psychology?

The skills gained from studying psychology give students the opportunity to have a deeper understanding of others and themselves. It can be studied alongside arts, humanities and science subjects. Psychology is an important part of many careers, including: law and criminal justice, medicine and health care, sport and exercise science, social care, teaching, media and journalism and human resources, amongst many others.

In order to get the most out of studying psychology, students should be prepared to do a lot of reading both inside and outside of the classroom, be able to express themselves both in written and oral communication and be able to think from a broad and multi-dimensional perspective about humankind.

The specification followed is AQA ‘A’

AS Level:

Unit 1 Cognitive and Developmental Psychology
10.1 Cognitive Psychology
Human memory: Short and long-term memory, forgetting and eyewitness testimony

10.2 Developmental Psychology:
Attachment: The development and variety of attachments, deprivation and privation and day-care

Unit 2 Physiological Psychology and Individual Differences
11.1 Physiological Psychology
Stress: Stress as a bodily response, sources of stress, stress management

11.2 Individual Differences
Abnormality: Defining psychological abnormality, biological and psychological models of abnormality, eating disorders – anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa

Unit 3 Social Psychology and Research Methods
12.1 Social Psychology
Social Influence: Conformity and minority influence, obedience to authority, ethical issues in psychological research

12.2 Research Methods
Research Methods: Qualitative and quantitative methods, experimental design and data analysis

AS Level: Methods of Assessment

Students take one examination on each of the three units – with one examination in January. Each examination lasts one hour and Unit 3 includes a compulsory Research Methods question. Each unit is worth 33.3% of the total AS marks.

A2 Level

Unit 4: Social, Physiological, Cognitive, Developmental and Comparative Psychology
Assessment: 1 ½ hour exam in which students must answer three questions, one from each of the following topics:

13.1 Social Psychology
Relationships: Attraction and the formation of relationships; Love and the breakdown of relationships; Cultural and sub-cultural differences in relationships

13.2 Physiological Psychology
Biological rhythms, Sleep and Dreaming

13.4 Developmental Psychology
Social and personality development; Personality development; Gender development; Adolescence

Unit 5: Individual Differences and Perspectives (Synoptic assessment)
Assessment: 2 hour exam in which students must answer three questions, one from each of the following topics:

14.3 Perspectives
Issues in psychology: Gender bias, cultural bias, ethical issues; the use of non-human animals

14.4 Approaches: Biological/Medical, behavioural, psychodynamic and cognitive as applied to a stimulus material question

Unit 6: Coursework

Useful websites:

www.aqa.org.uk/qual/gceasa/psya.php

www.bps.org.uk

www.psychlotron.org.uk

www.zimbardo.com

www.clickpsych.com

www.psychexchange.co.uk