A-Levels: Psychology

Why study Psychology?
Psychology is the study of human behaviour and the mind. As human beings we have a strong desire to understand
why we think and behave as we do. For example, why we forget information, how our body responds to stress, why eople obey authority figures and why people suffer from serious mental illnesses like Schizophrenia. It is the subject's relevance to the real world and each of our lives that explains its immense popularity. This relevance is seen in the many practical applications that have derived from Psychology, therapies to help those with mental illnesses and interview techniques to help extract more information from a witness of a crime.

What do I study?
Year 1 (AS)
The following areas or approaches in Psychology are studied.
Unit 1:

Cognitive Psychology- Memory: How memory is organised and why we forget. Factors affecting eyewitness testimony.
Developmental Psychology- Early Social Development: Why we form attachments and the effects of separation.
Research Methods: What research methods are used in Psychology. How an investigation is designed and presented.
Unit 2:

Biological Psychology - Stress:The body's response to stress, factors that affect stress and ways of coping and managing stress.
Social Psychology - Social influence: Why we conform and why we obey. How people resist pressures to conform and resist pressures to obey authority.
Individual Differences - Psychopathology (Abnormality): Definitions and approaches and therapies to abnormality.
Year 2 (A2)
Unit 3:
Topics in Psychology:Develop an understanding of the major approaches in Psychology through the study of various topics.
Unit 4: Psychopathology: Understand the characteristics, explanations and therapies for Schizophrenia.
Psychology in action: A contemporary application of Psychology will be investigated in detail.
Research Methods: Developing your understanding of the scientific method.
There is no coursework in Psychology - assessment is by exams.

Where does Psychology take me?
Psychology can be used in conjunction with other A-levels, to gain access to Higher Education. It will be of particular value to students considering careers in Social Work, Teaching, Police, Prison Service and medicalrelated careers. There are also career opportunities within Psychology itself, e.g. Clinical or Educational Psychology.