Psychology

Course summary

Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behavior. Studying psychology will give you an understanding of the fascinating subject of human behavior and the reasons that we behave the way we do. The course covers a broad range of topics, approaches, and areas of psychology as well as studying some applied topics in more depth – below are examples of some of the questions we will consider; Paper 1 – Introductory topics in psychology - Social influence – Can we explain why Nazi soldiers obeyed orders? - Memory – Why do we forget things? - Attachment – What happens if we don’t form attachments in childhood? - Psychopathology – Why do people develop depression / phobias / OCD? Paper 2 – Psychology in Context - Approaches in psychology – How do the different schools of thought in psychology explain our behaviour? - Biopsychology – How does our brain function? - Research Methods – How do psychologists conduct their research? Paper 3 – Issues and options in psychology - Issues and debates in psychology – Is free will an illusion? - Relationships – Why do we choose the partners that we do? - Schizophrenia – How can we explain and treat schizophrenia? - Forensic psychology – Are criminals born or made? Is prison the best treatment for offenders? Psychology provides you with a wide range of transferable skills relevant to any career or further study, such as the ability to analyze, evaluate, think critically, conduct investigations and write reports. Psychology is both relevant and useful for any career that involves other people and as such the list is endless and there are lots of options in terms of career. Careers that use psychology include psychologists (such as clinical or educational psychologists), education, research, health and social care, sport, public services, marketing and PR, management and human resources. Psychology particularly goes well with mathematical and scientific subjects.