Psychology

Studying psychology will give students an insight into human behaviour and thinking as well as teaching them a wide range of analytical, literacy, numeracy and application skills. 

Students will explore theories and research exploring aspects of human behaviour including how memory works, how other people influence our behaviour, causes and treatments of psychological disorders and scientific processes involved in researching human behaviour.  Students will be challenged and excited through their studies and will become increasingly confident at interpreting and evaluating psychological theories and research. Studying psychology will ensure that students are equipped with the necessary scientific knowledge, skills and vocabulary to develop a better understanding of themselves and the wider world.

KS4-5 Pathways (Southfield) A level Psychology
KS5- Higher & Further Education
Pathways		 Psychology can prepare students for a wide range of degree courses including courses in social sciences, sociology, psychology, criminology and health and social care, as well as courses related to working with people in healthcare, business and social care.
Careers  Psychology is useful for many careers involving working with people including careers such as counselling, nursing, teaching, business management, human resources and social work
KS5 Specification links

https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/psychology/as-and-a-level
Year 12

Approaches in Psychology

Key questions/concepts

  • How do different psychologists explain human behaviour?
  • How does our biological make-up shape our behaviour?
  • How do we learn behaviour?
  • How can we study the mind?
  • How have approaches in psychology been applied in real life?

Timeframe

  • September - October

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Classical conditioning A process of learning to associate unrelated stimuli's and responses
Vicarious reinforcement Learning through the consequences experienced by a separate individual
Determinism Concept that a behaviour is caused and not freely chosen
Unconscious mind Part of the mind we cannot access that shapes and determines our behaviour
Nature Something that is innate and present at birth

Wider reading

 

Attachment

Key questions/concepts

  • Why do we form attachments?
  • What impact do childhood attachments have on adult relationships?
  • What happens if an attachment is disrupted?
  • How is an attachment formed?
  • What does research suggest about the type of attachments formed in childhood?

Timeframe

  • September - December

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Attachment A close emotional bond
Internal working model An internal representation of relationships developed as a consequence of childhood relationships that shapes future relationships
Deprivation The breakdown of an attachment due to separation
Critical period A period of time when an attachment must be formed to prevent long term effects on emotional development
Monotropy An attachment qualitatively different to all others, hierarchically above all other attachments

Wider reading

 

Psychopathology

Key questions/concepts

  • What are the symptoms of psychological disorders?
  • How do we decide what behaviour is abnormal?
  • What causes and how do we treat depression?
  • What causes and how do we treat OCD?
  • What causes and how do we treat phobias?

Timeframe

  • October - December 

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Statistical infrequency A way of determining if a behaviour is abnormal by exploring the statistical likelihood of it occurring
Deviation from social norms A way of determining if a behaviour is abnormal by comparing it to agreed expectations about what behaviour is considered acceptable by a society in a given context
Systematic desensitisation A treatment for phobias that involves gradual exposure to the feared stimulus
Cognitive behavioural therapy A treatment for psychological disorders that explores unhelpful thinking and attempts to change this
Neurotransmitters A chemical that communicates between neurons

Wider reading

 

Research methods

Key questions/concepts

  • How can experiments be used to investigate human behaviour?
  • How can observations be used to investigate human behaviour?
  • How can questionnaires be used to investigate human behaviour?
  • How can interviews be used to investigate human behaviour?
  • How can case studies be used to investigate human behaviour?

Timeframe

  • April - June

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Variables Things that can change and that are manipulated, controlled and measured in an experiment
Ethical guidelines Set of principles for how humans should be managed as part of the research process to ensure they are treated in an acceptable manner
Sample Individuals taking part in psychological research
Investigator effects When the person carrying out research consciously or unconsciously has an impact on the outcome of the research
Hypotheses Statements precisely predicting the results of a study

Wider reading

 

Social Influence

Key questions/concepts

  • How does the presence of other people change our own behaviour?
  • Why do we conform to others?
  • Why do we obey authority figures?
  • How can we resist social influence?
  • How can social influence lead to social change?

Timeframe

  • January - March

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Conformity Changing behaviour to be accepted by or fit in with a social group
Obedience changing behaviour as a result of an instruction given by someone above us in the social hierarchy
Locus of control Degree to which you see yourself or external forces as responsible for your own behaviour
Minority influence How an individual or small group can change the behaviour of a larger group
Social Change Where a society changes its beliefs  and rules of behaviours over time

Wider reading

 

Memory

Key questions/concepts

  • How does our memory work?
  • How many items can we hold in our memory store?
  • Why do we forget things?
  • Is our memory accurate?
  • How can we store a memory?

Timeframe

  • January - March 

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Short-term memory A limited capacity processing store for managing what we are consciously deliberating at that moment
Long-term memory A large memory store for holding information we are not currently using
Retrieval failure When information is in the long term memory stored but cannot be accessed. Also referred to as the "tip-of-the-tongue" phenomena
Interference When similar information competes for space in the memory store and information is lost
Cognitive Interview An interviewing process used by the police and based on psychological research in order to preserve and retrieve an accurate account of an event witnessed

Wider reading

Year 13

Biopsychology 

Key questions/concepts

  • How does our brain work?
  • How does processing in the brain change?
  • How can we measure the brain?
  • What is synaptic transmission?
  • How do external events change bodily rhythms?

Timeframe

  • June - July (of Y12)

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Synapse The gap between two neurons where chemicals are released to pass on messages
fMRI scan A method of studying the brain that produces an image of the brain and also blood flow within the brain
Exogenous zeitgebers An external event, such as light, that can change the pattern of bodily rhythms such as the sleep-wake cycle
Endogenous pacemakers An internal time keeper, such as the suprachiasmatic nucleus, that manages the processes of bodily rhythms
Neurons A cell in the human nervous system

Wider reading

 

Forensic Psychology

Key questions/concepts

  • Why do people commit crime?
  • Can criminality be inherited from parents?
  • How is the mind of a criminal different from a non-criminal?
  • What impact does imprisonment have on recidivism rates?
  • How can treatment programmes be used to deal with offending behaviour?

Timeframe

  • September - November

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Offender Profiling A way of examining a crime in order to determine characteristics of the individual who carried out the crime
Inheritance Passing on a behaviour in the genes from parent to child
Pre-frontal cortex An area of the brain found to function abnormally in criminals
Cognitive Distortion An abnormal or disrupted way of thinking that can lead to abnormal behaviours
Restorative Justice A method of dealing with offenders that seeks to build healing for the victim and a sense of responsibility for the offender

Wider reading

 

Issues and debates 

Key questions/concepts

  • Is psychology gender biased?
  • Is psychology culturally biased?
  • What are the ethical implications of psychological research?
  • Is behaviour in our nature or nurture?
  • Can we study people nomothetically?

Timeframe

  • January - March

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Bias A distorted or one sided picture of something
Implications The consequences of psychological research in terms of what the research then leads to
Idiographic A way of studying people that looks at each person as an individual and does not make generalisations from one person to the next
Nomothetic A way of studying people that samples a group and makes wide scale generalisations to other people based on the findings from the smaller group studied, such as theories of human behaviour
Interactionism A way of explaining human behaviour that examines the varying influences of both nature and nurture on determining a behaviour

Wider reading

Schizophrenia

Key questions/concepts

  •  What are the symptoms of schizophrenia?
  •  What are the issues with diagnosing schizophrenia?
  •  How can we explain and treat schizophrenia using biology?
  •  How can we explain and treat schizophrenia using knowledge from psychology?
  •  Why is an interactionist approach to schizophrenia?

Timeframe

  • November - February

 

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase

Definition

Positive symptoms

These include delusions (false beliefs) such as paranoia and hallucinations (unusual sensory experiences) like hearing voices.

The dopamine hypothesis

The belief that atypical levels of dopamine or it’s receptors are responsible for the symptoms of schizophrenia.

Antipsychotics

Drugs that alter the levels of dopamine (and other neurotransmitters in the brain) that provide some relief from the symptoms of schizophrenia.

Family dysfunction

A collection of theories that claim that schizophrenia comes about due to abnormal familial relationships and particular parenting styles.

Cognitive behavioural therapy

A version of this therapy can be used to help people with schizophrenia identify irrational thoughts and teach them coping strategies.

 

Wider reading

  • AQA Psychology for A level Student book 2. Flanagan, Jarvis & Liddle
  • Schizophrenia (Palgrave Insights in Psychology series). Kevin Silber.
  • CGP AS and A Level Psychology.  Complete Revision and Practice

 

Cognition and development

Key questions/concepts

  •  How are schemas constructed?
  •  How does infants’, children’s and adolescents’ cognition change as they progress through Piaget’s stages?
  •  What roles do other people and culture play in cognitive development?
  •  How does our ability to understand other develop?  Is this the same for people with ASD?
  • How can biopsychology explain why we can empathise with others?

Timeframe

  • November-February

 

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase

Definition

Object permanence

Understanding that an object continues to exist even when it cannot be seen,

Conservation

Understanding that some properties of materials / objects remain constant even though there has been a change in the way they look.

Zone of proximal development

Understanding that is ‘just beyond’ a learner’s current capabilities.  They will master this quickly if they are guided by someone who is more knowledgeable.

Theory of mind

The realisation that there is knowledge which you may know that another person doesn’t, and vice versa.

Mirror neurons

Subsets of neurons in the brain that are active when we observe someone else perform an action.  May provide a biological explanation for empathy.

 

Wider reading

  • AQA Psychology for A level Student book 2. Flanagan, Jarvis & Liddle
  •  Developmental Psychology.  Ludlow and Gutierrez
  •  CGP AS and A Level Psychology.  Complete Revision and Practice

 

Back to Academic Curriculum

Admissions

Access our current admissions information

Examinations

Details on forthcoming exams

Professional Learning Hub

Collaborative staff development
Sixth Form
Academic Curriculum
Video
Explore our school...