Psychology

Course summary

Psychology is the science of mind and behaviour. It uses the research methods of the sciences (particularly experiments) to investigate the human mind and to find out about and make sense of human behaviour. It seeks answers to such questions as the following: why do people behave the way they do? Would you be likely to help someone if they collapsed on a subway train? Are the brains of taxi drivers different from the brains of non-taxi drivers? Why do people develop phobias? Will children imitate aggressive behaviour? There are three units: • Psychological Themes through Core Studies - You will look at ten different areas that psychologists have researched such as memory, responses to people in authority, moral development, understanding disorders, and regions of the brain. For each key theme you will look at two pieces of research - a classic study and a contemporary study. • Research Methods - You will become familiar with research methods that psychologists use such as experiments, observation, questionnaires and correlation studies. You will carry out research of your own and analyse your findings. • Applied Psychology - You will study Issues in mental health and also look at two of the following areas in which psychological research has been applied in the understanding of real-world problems. - Criminal Psychology (e.g. what makes a criminal, police interviews, imprisonment) - Environmental Psychology (e.g. aircraft noise, shift work, territorial markers) - Child Psychology (e.g. intelligence, brain development, the impact of advertising) - Sport and Exercise Psychology (e.g. controlling anxiety, audience effects).