Psychology

Course summary

Psychology is the scientific study of the brain and behavior and involves evaluating theories on the basis of research evidence in order to better understand and predict human behavior. Paper 1: Introductory Topics in Psychology (2 hours) • Social Influence - conformity and obedience, resisting social influence, social change. • Memory - types of memory, forgetting, eyewitness testimony. • Attachment - development, explanations, and variations of attachment and the implications of attachment for later relationships. • Psychopathology - causes, and treatments of phobias, OCD, and depression. Paper 2: Psychology in Context (2 hours) • Approaches in Psychology Behaviourist, Cognitive, Biological, Psychodynamic and Humanistic. • Biopsychology - structure and functions of the brain and nervous system, biological rhythms. • Research Methods - designing and evaluating experimental and nonexperimental methods, analyzing and reporting results. Paper 3: Issues, Options and Debates • Issues and debates - Bias in psychology determinism, reductionism, the influence of nature and nurture. • Gender - Anydrogyny, development of gender, the influence of media and culture on gender. • Schizophrenia - explanations of and therapies for schizophrenia. • Aggression - explanations of and factors affecting aggression, media influences.