Psychology

Course summary

Psychology is one of the social sciences and is the study of human behaviour and experience. It is about studying people, why we think and behave in the way that we do, and how we develop. During this A-Level course, you will learn about how our behaviour is influenced by other people and external stimuli such as stress, how psychology is employed by the media and psychopathology. You'll also study and explore different research methods and how to apply these to psychological experiments. Psychology is the study of human behaviour, and aims to explain how we develop and predict patterns of behaviour by using scientific observation and experimentation. During this A-Level course, you will learn about how our behaviour is influenced by other people and external stimuli such as stress, how psychology is employed by the media and psychopathology. You'll also study and explore different research methods and how to apply these to psychological experiments. Although Psychology is technically considered a science-related subject, is is an excellent accompanying subject to almost any combination of A Levels. Studying in conjunction with other science subjects (Biology or Chemistry) it can lead to careers in Clinical Psychology or research. It can also provide a good balance to other subjects; for example, taken alongside Media Studies or Health & Social Care/Sociology an understanding of psychology will be beneficial for careers in criminal psychology/policing or the health/social care industries. The skills you will learn in psychology are highly transferable and will likely benefit you in higher education and employment, even if you don't choose to study Psychology as your main subject or work in the industry. For instance, you'll develop critical reasoning skills (essential for any degree course), learn to analyse and interpret data, and how to put across your point of view fluently.