Psychology

Course summary

Unit 1 • Social influence. • Memory. • Attachment. • Psychopathology. These topics investigate the underlying principles of psychology and examine ideas and concepts such as: • Factors affecting whether people conform and obey. • How do we remember and why do we forget? • The accuracy of eyewitness testimony. • The nature of caregiver-infant interactions. • Definitions of abnormality. • Explanations and treatment of phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and depression. Unit 2 • Approaches in Psychology. • Biopsychology. • Research Methods. These topics investigate the underlying principles of psychology and examine ideas and concepts such as: • The basic assumptions of the main psychological schools of psychology (biological; behaviourist; social learning theory; cognitive; psychodynamic and humanistic). • Understanding of the structure and function of the neurons and synaptic transmission. Localisation of function in the brain and the genetic basis of behaviour. This section gives students the basic knowledge in understanding of human behaviour. • The nature of the scientific enquiry in psychology. Unit 3 • Issues & Debates. • Gender. • Schizophrenia. • Aggression. These topics develop an understanding of concepts and theories, study research methods and ethical issues in psychology such as: • Gender and culture, free will and determinism, nature and nurture, holism and reductionism. • Biological and psychological explanations of gender development. • Schizophrenia: the classifications, explanations and treatments of schizophrenia. • Aggression-Explanations of aggression, including the effects of prison and media on aggressive behaviour. • Students’ knowledge of research methods and mathematical skills will be assessed throughout the course