Psychology

Course summary

Psychology is a fascinating and varied subject and will interest anyone who has ever wondered why people behave in the way they do. We try to answer that question with scientific rigor. It is an academically challenging course and is seen as very good preparation for any degree or career. Many previous students have gone on to study Psychology to degree level and beyond. COURSE CONTENT • Social Influence • Memory • Attachment • Approaches in Psychology • Psychopathology • Research Methods • Issues and Debates within • One chosen topic from Relationships, Gender, and Cognition and Development • One chosen topic from Schizophrenia, Eating Behaviour, and Stress • One chosen topic from Aggression, Forensic Psychology, and Addiction Year 1 of the A level course considers how our memory works and how the accuracy of eyewitness accounts of a crime can be affected by different factors. It also looks at the process of attachment between infants and their caregivers and what can happen if this process is disrupted. Students will also explore reasons why people obey authority figures and conform to peer pressure. In Psychopathology, we look at different ways to define abnormality and examine different approaches and treatments for abnormality. As students progress through the course they will study three optional topics in more depth as well as the wider issues in Psychology itself. Throughout this course, students will develop an understanding of how psychologists use different research techniques to carry out their work as well as look at the different approaches/perspectives used by psychologists to explain human behavior.