Psychology

PSYCHOLOGY

Head of Dept:

Mrs. M. Gousiou

Psychology is the study of the mind and behaviour. The department’s mission is to inspire and motivate students to investigate aspects of human functioning.

Course aims

To offer an engaging and effective introduction to Psychology
To provide opportunities to learn the fundamentals of the subject and develop skills valued by Higher Education and employers, including critical analysis, independent thinking and research.
To provide independent learning opportunities
To develop happy, enquiring, confident learners

We follow the AQA A-Level Psychology Specification.

This two-year A level course is examined across three papers at the end of the second year. An outline of the course content can be seen below:

Paper 1 – Introductory topics in psychology

including social influence (where we consider how others influence our behaviour), memory (including how we remember and why we forget), attachment (as infants how and why we form bonds with others) and psychopathology (a consideration of the causes and treatments of phobias, depression and OCD)
Section A: Social Influence (24m)
Section B: Memory (24m)
Section C: Attachment (24m)
Section D: Psychopathology (24m)

Paper 2 – Psychology in context

including approaches (where we consider the different ways psychologists approach their research), biopsychology (a look at the biological basis of behaviour) and research methods (including the ways in which psychologists collect their data, descriptive statistics and ethics)
Section A: Approaches in Psychology (24m)
Section B: Biopsychology (24m)
Section C: Research Methods (48m)

Paper 3 – Issues and options in psychology

including issues and debates (which includes whether we are free to choose the way we behave or whether it is determined by our biological or environment), gender (which considers the question: is an understanding of gender biologically determined or learned from the environment?), schizophrenia (where we consider the causes and treatment of this disorder) and forensic psychology (including offender profiling and the treatment of offenders)
Section A: Issues and debates in Psychology (24m)
Section B: Gender (24m)
Section C: Schizophrenia (24m)
Section D: Forensic Psychology (24m)

Students are required to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of scientific ideas, processes, techniques and procedures; be able to apply this knowledge and understanding to new contexts and analyse, interpret and evaluate this information. This is achieved through a variety of questioning styles, including multiple-choice and extended writing. Each examination is two hours in length.

The department runs a Psychology Society which meets once a month and encourages students to research and discuss areas of Psychology outside of the curriculum.

Looking to the future
Psychology is useful for a variety of careers. The link below shows how a number of fields of work link to the specification content.

PSYCHOLOGY

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