Psychology (A Level)

Psychology is a fascinating science concerned with the study of the human mind and behaviour. Anyone who has an interest in analysing human behaviour from a scientific perspective will enjoy psychology. You should be interested in the wide range of influences on behaviour, from the biological (e.g. neurotransmitters, hormones and genes), to the social (e.g. peer groups or those in authority), and be prepared to learn about theories of human behaviour and the research studies that underpin our current understanding.

What you will learn

The A level course content provides students with the opportunity to study a wide range of psychological approaches to explaining behaviour including, biological, cognitive, psychodynamic and social approaches. The course also includes the opportunity to consider the explanations of specific behaviours, such as aggression and psychopathologies, including depression and OCD. Throughout the course there is a strong focus on developing an understanding of the nature of science and conducting valid and reliable psychological research.

Studying Psychology will enable you to consider questions such as: What is schizophrenia? Why is eyewitness testimony often wrong? Do we have free will? Why can jealousy cause aggression?

How you will learn

We encourage you to be independent and proactive in your learning. You will need a detailed and accurate knowledge of the content we cover and much of this will be delivered through lectures that you will access both in and outside of the classroom. Classroom activities focus on discussion, extension and application of your knowledge, in addition to developing your precision in answering both short questions and longer extended essays.

Psychology can be a practical subject. Psychological understanding is primarily developed through research studies and you will get the opportunity to act as a participant in these studies, in addition to developing your knowledge through practical application tasks, where you will get the opportunity to design and conduct your own small scale research.

Year 1

• Research Methods.
• Psychopathology: definitions of abnormality, phobias, depression and obsessive compulsive disorder, behavioural, cognitive and biological approaches to explaining psychopathology.
• Memory: models of memory, explanations for forgetting, eyewitness testimony.
• Attachment: types of attachment, explanations for attachment, maternal deprivation and the influences of early attachment on adult relationships.
• Approaches to psychology: origins of psychology, the learning, biological, psychodynamic and humanistic approaches.
• Social Influence: conformity and obedience, resistance to social influence, minority influence and social change.
• Biopsychology: the nervous system, the structure and function of neurons, endocrine system, fight or flight response, localisation of function in the brain, ways of studying the brain, biological rhythms.

Year 2

• Research Methods.
• Issues and debates in psychology: gender and culture in psychology, free will and determinism, the nature-nurture debate, holism and reductionism, idiographic and nomothetic approaches, ethical implications of research studies and theories.
• Gender: sex and gender, sex-role stereotypes, androgyny, the role of chromosomes and hormones, cognitive, psychodynamic and social learning theory, explanations for gender development and atypical gender development.
• Schizophrenia: classification of schizophrenia, positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia, reliability and validity in classification and diagnosis, biological explanations, psychological explanations, drug therapies, cognitive behavioural therapy, family therapy, token economies, interactionist approach in explaining and treating, the diathesis-stress model.
• Aggression: neural and hormonal mechanisms in aggression, the ethological explanations of aggression, social psychological explanations of aggression, institutional aggression in the context of prisons, media influences on aggression.

Assessment 1. Introductory Topics in Psychology, written examination, 2 hours, 33.3% of final grade.

This exam covers the content from year one, including memory, attachment, social influence and psychopathology.

Assessment 2. Psychology in Context, written examination, 2 hours, 33.3% of final grade.

This exam covers the psychological approaches, biopsychology and research methods content from year one and two.

Assessment 3. Issues and Options in Psychology, written examination, 2 hours, 33.3% of final grade.

This exam covers issues and debates in psychology. A detailed analysis of aggression, gender and schizophrenia is also conducted. This is content taught in year two.

College basic entry requirements

• Grade 6 or above in GCSE English
• Grade 5 or above in GCSE Science

Where Next?

Psychology has a broad range of real world applications in everyday life, ranging from stress, health, mental illness, artificial intelligence and human-machine interaction, to personal development, social interaction and the environment, to name but a few. Psychology also offers good career prospects. There are a large number of careers available in psychology such as Educational Psychologist, Criminal Psychologist or Health Psychologist and many psychology students will go on to pursue other career paths, in which the skills and knowledge they have gained will be readily transferable.

Course Combinations

Psychology requires diverse skills and has links with a variety of disciplines such as the biological, computer and forensic sciences, as well as with the humanities such as history and sociology. Psychology combines particularly well with Sociology, Biology, History, Politics and English courses. The research methods content facilitates a good combination with the Sciences and Mathematics.