Psychology

Areas covered in the first year are chosen to give a broad understanding of the whole subject and apply these to everyday behaviours.

Social Psychology: Social psychology is covers aspects of human behaviour that involve the individual’s relationship to other persons, groups and society, including cultural influences on behaviour. Individual differences and developmental psychology must be considered when learning about obedience, prejudice, personality and cultural influences on social behaviour. For example: How can knowledge of social psychology be used to understand gang violence?

Cognitive Psychology: Cognitive Psychology investigates the role of cognition/cognitive processes in human behaviour. Processes include perception, memory, selective attention, language and problem solving. The cognitive topic area draws on the likeness of cognitive processing to computer processing. Individual differences and developmental psychology must be considered when learning about memory differences, memory deficits and how this develops as the brain ages. For example: How does memory span develop with age?

Biological Psychology: Biological Psychology looks at the mechanisms within our body and understanding how they affect our behaviour, focusing on aggression. Individual differences and developmental psychology must be considered when learning about issues such as aggression caused by an accident and how the function of structures of the brain can be affected by the environment. For example: What is the effect of recreational drugs on the central nervous system?

Learning theories: This area covers learning from the environment and the effects of conditioning, reinforcement, punishment, the role of reward and social learning on the organism. Individual differences and developmental psychology must be considered when learning about the effect of rewards and punishment on individuals and how children develop through the different ways of learning, including social learning. For example: How learning theories explain the acquisition and maintenance of phobias, and how learning theory can form the basis for treatments for phobias.

In the Second Year, students explore the following:

Clinical Psychology: Explaining and treating mental health issues, and of the different ways of treating them, including counselling and drug treatments. Individual differences and developmental psychology must be considered when learning about links between personality factors and mental disorders and genetic influences (nature) or environmental influences (nurture) within different explanations for mental health disorders. For example: Explanations for schizophrenia and anorexia nervosa.

Criminal Psychology investigates the definition and causes of crime and anti-social behaviour, and the identification and treatment of offenders undertaken by forensic investigators. Individual differences and developmental psychology must be considered when learning about the possible causes of criminal behaviour, such as labelling, self-fulfilling prophecy and social learning. For example: Factors influencing jury decision-making, including characteristics of the defendant and pre-trial publicity.

Psychological skills is synoptic in which students will be asked to draw on other areas of the qualification in order to understand conceptual and methodological issues. Students will develop an understanding of how to use theories and evidence from many areas of psychology and apply them to the issues. Research Methods are an integral part of the Psychology syllabus and students will have the opportunity to carry out first hand research throughout the course.

You will be assessed on three papers at the end of the two-year course. Paper 1 and Paper 2 are each 35% of the A Level, 2 hours and 90 marks, whilst Paper 3 is 30% of the A Level, 2 hours and 80 marks. The papers consist of short answer questions and longer essay type questions. There are data response questions as well as calculations.

Psychology is a science with cutting edge research that has real world applications to issues in everyday life. An understanding of psychology is useful as a basis for every career. A psychology degree can be used as a starting point for a career as a psychologist, for example, educational, forensic, clinical, counselling, occupational. All these require further work experience and training, and a Masters or Doctorate degree. It is also useful for any job or career where you are working with people, or where you can use the skills you have gained on your degree such as: communication, analysis, research, critical and independent thinking, reasoning and problem solving.

Psychology is a great subject for students who are interested in people. It is an academic subject and you will develop a wide range of skills: how to view the world around you from different perspectives, how to put across your point of view fluently, and critical reasoning skills to evaluate research studies, theories and methods.