Exam Board: AQA
Level: 2

Course Overview

This course introduces students to the fundamentals of psychology, developing critical analysis, independent thinking and research skills.
The students sit two external examinations (each worth 50%) at the end of Year 11. Both exams are 1 hour 45 minutes and are compiled from short and longer style exam questions.

Course Content

Paper 1: Cognition and Behaviour

• Memory - What is memory and to what extent is it accurate?

• Perception - How do we perceive the world?

• Development - What are the features of cognitive development? How does this influence learning?

• Research Methods - How do we conduct research methods in psychology?

Paper 2: Social Context and Behaviour

• Social Influence: How is group behaviour influenced by various factors?

• Language, Thought and Communication - What’s the relationship between language thought and communication?

• The Brain and Neuropsychology - How has neuropsychology advanced the study of psychology?

• Psychological Problems -How does improving our understanding of mental illness allow us to treat it better?

Assessment: 100% Examination

Term 1:

• Research Methods: hypotheses, variables, types of experiments, experimental designs, sampling, ethical considerations, interviews.

• Memory: processes of memory, types of long term memory, the multi-store model of memory, primacy and recency effect, Bartlett War of Ghosts study.

Term 2:

• Research Methods: questionnaires, observation studies, correlations, case studies, reliability, validity, types of data, descriptive statistics, computation 

• Memory: processes of memory, types of long term memory, the multi-store model of memory, primacy and recency effect, Bartlett War of Ghosts study.

• Development: early brain development, Piaget's theory of cognitive development, McGarrigle and Donaldson's Naughty Teddy study

Term 3:

• Development: Hughes 'policeman doll study, stages of cognitive development, Piaget's theory: application in education, Dweck's mindset theory of learning, the role of praise and self-efficacy, learning styles, Willingham's learning theory.
• Research Methods: Consolidation of content, recap and application to exam questions and topics.

Term 4:

• Perception: sensation and perception, visual cues and constancies, visual illusions, Gibson's theory of perception, Gregory’s theory of perception, factors affecting perception.

Term 5:

• Social Influence: Obedience: Adorno's theory, Piliavin's subway study, social and dispositional factors affecting prosocial behaviour, deindividuation, crowd and collective behaviour.

Term 6:

• Language, thought and communication: Piaget's theory, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, our view of the world, Von Frisch's bee study, human versus animal communication.

• Consolidation of past topics

Term 1: 

• Language, thought and communication: Consolidation of year 10 content, non-verbal communication: eye contact, body language, personal space, non-verbal behaviour: Darwin's evolutionary theory, non-verbal behaviour: innate or learned? Yuki's study of emoticons.

Term 2:

• Brain and Neuropsychology: fight or flight, James-Lange theory of emotion, neuron structure and function, Hebb's theory of learning and growth, structure and localisation of function in the brain, Penfield's study of the interpretive cortex, an introduction to neuropsychology, scanning techniques to identify brain functioning, Tulving's "gold" memory.

Term 3: 

• Brain and Neuropsychology:  structure and localisation of function in the brain, Penfield's study of the interpretive cortex, an introduction to neuropsychology, scanning techniques to identify brain functioning, Tulving's "gold" memory.
• Psychological Problems: an introduction to mental health, effects of mental health problems, depression, theories of depression: biological explanation, psychological explanation, therapies for depression: antidepressant medication, CBT, Wiles's study.

Term 4:

• Psychological problems: addiction, theories of addiction: biological explanation, psychological explanation, therapies for addiction: aversion therapy, self-management.

Consolidation and revision of topics.

Term 5:

Examination preparation: Paper 1 and Paper 2 consolidation and revisions.

Term 6:

Revision of all topics in preparation for final examination.

Exam Board: AQA
Level: 3

Course Overview

This course has been designed to provide a broad introduction to the scope and nature of psychology as a science, while including a large amount of topics from different psychological fields such as health psychology, biopsychology and developmental psychology.

The course is examined with students sitting three external examinations (each worth 33.3% of the A level) at the end of the second year. All exams are two hours and are compiled from short and longer style exam answers.

Course Content

Paper 1: Introductory Topics in Psychology

• Social Influence (why people obey or conform, why others resist social influence)

• Memory (the two models of memory, why do we forget, factors affecting eyewitness testimony)

• Attachment (why attachment is necessary for later relationship, cultural variations of attachment)

• Psychopathology (depression, phobia, OCD and their treatments)

Paper 2: Psychology in Context

• Approaches in Psychology (biological, behavioural, psychodynamic, cognitive, humanistic)

• Biopsychology (the nervous system, brain studies, biological rhythms)

• Research Methods (how to conduct and design a research, different types of methods used, ethical issues)

Paper 3: Issues and Options in Psychology

• Issues and Debates in Psychology (is Psychology a science? Nature versus Nurture, Ethics)

• One Topic selected from the following list: Relationships, Gender, Cognition and Development

• One Topic selected from the following list: Schizophrenia, Eating Behaviours or Stress

• One Topic selected from the following list: Aggression, Forensic Psychology, Addiction

Term 1:

• Approaches in Psychology: origins of psychology, behaviourist approach, social learning theory, biological approach, cognitive approach

• Research Methods: types of hypothesis, concept of operationalisation, variables, control of variables, experimental designs, sampling

• Memory: coding/capacity/duration, multi-store model of memory, types of long term memory, the working memory model

Term 2:

• Memory: explanation for forgetting: interference, retrieval failure, eyewitness testimony: misleading information, anxiety the cognitive interview

• Biopsychology: the nervous system, the endocrine system, neurons, synapses, fight or flight

• Research Methods: ethical issues, types of experiment, validity, descriptive statistics, Sign test, observational methods, pilot studies

Term 3:

• Research Methods: types of data, reliability, study design

• Attachment: infant-caregiver interactions, Schaffer and Emerson stages, roles of the father, animal studies, learning theory, Bowlby's monotropic theory, cultural variations in attachment, Romanian orphans, influences of early attachment on later relationships

Term 4:

• Social Influence: conformity (Asch, Zimbardo), obedience (Milgram, Adorno), resistance to social influence, minority influence, social change

Term 5:

• Psychopathology: biological explanation and treatment for OCD, cognitive explanation and treatments for depression, behavioural explanation and treatments for phobia

• Consolidation of all topics studied
   

Term 6:

• Mock examination

• Biopsychology: brain localisation and functions, brain plasticity, brain lateralisation and split brain study, ways to study the brain, biological rhythms (circadian, ultradian, infradian)

• Research Methods: inferential statistics, levels of measurement

• Approaches in Psychology: psychodynamic approach, humanistic approach, comparison of approaches

Term 1:

• Issues and Debates: nature v nurture, free will/determinism, idiographic/nomothetic, holism/reductionism, ethical implications, social sensitivity, gender and cultural bias, implications of the economy

• Biopsychology: year 1 biopsych recap, brain localisation and functions, brain plasticity, brain lateralisation and split brain study, ways to study the brain, biological rhythms (circadian, ultradian, infradian), exogenous zeitgebers/endogenous pacemakers

Term 2:

• Schizophrenia: classification, reliability and validity in diagnosis and classification, biological explanation, psychological explanations

• Schizophrenia: drug therapy, CBT, family therapy, token economy, interactionist approach

• Relationships: evolutionary explanation, physical attractiveness, self-disclosure, filter theory, social exchange theoryRelationships: equity theory, investment model of commitment, Duck: breakdown of relationship, virtual relationships, parasocial relationships
   

Term 3:

• Relationships: equity theory, investment model of commitment, Duck: breakdown of relationship, virtual relationships, parasocial relationships

Term 4:

• Aggression: neural and genetic explanations of aggressive behaviour, ethological and evolutionary explanations of aggression, various social psychological theories including, frustration-aggression theory and social learning theory, contextual influence on aggression i.e the media, prisons and methods for dealing with aggression.

Term 5:

• Topics consolidation and revision for final examinations

• GCSE OSL runs every Friday after school from 3pm-4pm
• A level OSL runs every Thursday after school from 3pm-4pm
• Support is offered to the students during lunch and after school sessions

Key Stage 4

• AQA Psychology for GCSE: Revision guide C. Flanagan, D. Berry,R.Jones, M. Jones,  R. Liddle, Illuminate Publishing - ISBN: 978-1-91-120806-8

• My Revision Notes: AQA GCSE (9-1) Psychology, M. Marshall, S.Firth, Hodder Education- ISBN: 978-1510425941

Key Stage 5

• AQA A Level Psychology revision guide, Cara Flanagan, Dave Berry, Michael Griffin, Rob Liddle: AQA A - ISBN: 978-1908682406

• A Level Year 2 Psychology: The Mini Companion, M. Cardwell, R. Geillis, R. Moody, A. Wadeley, OUP, Oxford - ISBN: 978-0198375296

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