AS and A Level Psychology

AS and A Level Psychology
Psychology is the study of behaviour in humans and animals. The course examines a broad range of issues which can help us to understand why we do the things we do.

What does the course consist of?
In Year 1 you will study units 1 and 2 for an AS Level. In year 2 you will take units 4 and 5 to complete the full advanced level.
AS level Psychology
Unit 1: Psychological Investigation

Candidates will need to be familiar with four techniques for collecting/analysing data. These are:

• Self-report
• Experiment (repeated measures and independent measures, matched subjects design)
• Observation
• Correlation

Candidates will be required to answer questions relating to:

• An outline of an existing piece of research
• The data produced by a piece of research
• The outline of a proposed piece of research

Unit 2: Core Studies

• Fifteen core studies; three studies from each of the five approaches: social, cognitive, physiological, developmental and individual differences
• Issues, debates, perspectives and methods arising from the studies

A level Psychology
Unit 3: Options in Applied Psychology

This unit will include four options from which candidates choose two:

• Forensic psychology
• Health and clinical psychology
• Psychology of sport and exercise
• Psychology of education

Unit 4: Approaches and Research Methods in Psychology

• Research methodology, where candidates are required to design a practical project
• Structured synoptic questions on approaches, perspectives, methods, issues and debates.

What else do I need to know?
This modular course attempts to present explanations for human behaviour with some reference to animal research. Students will examine video examples, case studies and text book illustrations to learn more about memory, stress, normality/abnormality, child development and lots more.
Psychology combines well with almost any other subject, in that a career in psychology may take you in many directions e.g. teaching, caring, educational and occupational psychology, as well as counselling and sport psychology.