Psychology

Assessment

Year 12 This is a stand-alone qualification that does not count towards the full A level, though students opting to study only for AS will be taught in classes with the A-level students as the units overlap. There are two externally assessed units, worth equal marks, taken at the end of one year of study. Each examination will include multiple-choice, short-answer, and extended essay writing questions. During Introductory topics in psychology, students will study research into attachment, social influences on behavior, and memory, as well as discuss practical applications of these topics in everyday life, such as childcare, prejudice, and eyewitness testimony. Paper 2, Psychology in Context introduces students to the different approaches and research methods psychologists use to study behavior. In this unit students also study psychopathology, looking at depression, phobias, and OCD Year 13 There are three externally assessed units, taken at the end of two years of study. As with the AS qualification, each examination will contain multiple choices, short answers, and extended essay questions. All exams have equal weighting. Introductory topics in psychology cover four of the topics studied in the first year of the course, memory, attachment, social influences, and psychopathology together with essays on how these topics relate to issues and applications in the wider world. Paper two, Psychology in Context, covers approaches, research methods, and biopsychology. The third paper, Issues and Options in Psychology looks at issues and debates such as nature/nurture, and ethnocentrism, as well as giving students the chance to study three optional topics from a choice of nine. These are likely to be forensic psychology, eating behaviors, and relationships.