Psychology is the study of the mind and behaviour. Psychologists seek to understand all aspects of human and animal behaviour. Psychology is the study of how and why people behave and think about themselves and the world they live in. Advanced Level Psychology is a two-year course that covers a range of psychological approaches, studies, key topic themes and research methods. Psychological approaches that will be studied include behaviourism, social learning theory, cognitive, biological, psychodynamic and cognitive neuroscience. These approaches are applied to a range of topics including attachment, psychopathology, memory, social influence and forensics. In addition, students study issues and debates in Psychology, these include the nature versus nurture debate, the freewill versus determinism debate, ethics in Psychology and whether Psychology should be considered scientific. Students study and conduct their own small scale psychological investigations using a variety of research methods, these include observations, questionnaires, interviews and experiments. The final course assessment consists of three examination papers that are taken at the end of Year 13. Each examination paper is worth a third of the overall A Level, these consist of a combination of multiple choice, short answer questions and extended essay writing. The three exams last 2 hours and are worth 96 marks each. Paper 1 Introductory Topics in Psychology Students will study • Social influence • Memory • Attachment • Psychopathology Paper 2 Psychology in Context Students will study • Approaches • Biopsychology • Research methods Paper 3 Issues and Options in Psychology Students will study • Issues and Debates • Cognition & Development • Schizophrenia • Forensic Psychology