Psychology

Course summary

Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behaviour and is applicable to all areas of life. Psychologists work in education and child development, in clinical work dealing with mental illness, in the courtroom acting as expert witnesses, in industry helping to increase the effectiveness of organisations or improve the job satisfaction of workers and in universities researching into every branch of human behaviour. Component 1: Within this component you will study Social Influence, looking at conformity and obedience; Memory including eyewitness testimony; Attachment and relevant theories, and Psychopathology including phobias, depression and obsessive compulsive disorder. Component 2: Here you will study psychological theories that underpin explanations of human behaviour; Biopsychology including the functioning of brain and nervous systems as well as biological rhythms and what influences them. You will also study Research Methods including quantitative and qualitative methods and the use of statistical analysis in Psychology. Component 3: This consists of Issues and Debates in Psychology; Gender, including the influence of biology, cognition and culture; Schizophrenia and its symptoms, causes and treatments and Addiction; including biological and psychological explanations for the initiation and maintenance of such behaviour and why people relapse after a period of abstinence.