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Psychology

Curriculum Intent

'To know the mind is to know the world…'

The intent of the psychology curriculum is to develop students to be confident and articulate in explaining and evaluating research into human and animal behaviour. The focus is to develop the skills to allow a multidisciplinary understanding of behaviour whilst also developing the ability to commit information to LTM memory through interleaving and retrieval practice.

Psychology is offered as

  • GCSE Options Years 10 & 11
  • A Level Years 12 & 13

ks4

ks5

Key Stage 4 Psychology

Curriculum Overview

Students in Key Stage 4 have two periods a week studying AQA GCSE Psychology qualification.

 Term 1Term 2Term 3Term 4Term 5Term 6
Year 10Research methodsMemoryDevelopmentPerceptionSocial Influence
Year 11Brain and NeuropsychologyPsych ProblemsLanguage Thought and CommunicationRevisionRevision 

Year 10

In year 10, students study the following topics; Research methods (including how psychologists plan and conduct research and analyse their findings); Memory (including the processes of encoding, storage, and retrieval, different types of memory, and factors affecting the accuracy of memories); Development (including early brain development, the development of intelligence, and how learning affects development); Perception (including explanations for visual illusions and factors affecting perception) and Social Influence (including factors affecting conformity, obedience, prosocial behaviour, and crowd behaviour).

Year 11

In year 11, students study the following topics; Brain & neuropsychology (including the structures and functions of neurons, the brain, and the wider nervous system and the use of neuropsychology to study brain functioning); Psychological problems (including the impact of mental health problems on individuals and society and the biological and psychological explanations and treatments for depression and addiction); and Language, thought, & communication (including the relationship between language and thought, the difference between animal and human communication, and non-verbal communication).

Assessment at GCSE

Unit 1: Making Sense of Other People-  1 x 1hr 45 minute exam 50%

Unit 2: Understanding Other People-     1 x 1hr 45 minute exam 50%

Further Reading/Resources

https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/

The British Psychological Society (BPS):  http://www.bps.org.uk

Key Stage 5 Psychology A Level

(AQA - A Level)

Curriculum Review

Paper 1: Introductory Topics in Psychology 

  • Social Influence – topics including conformity, obedience, resisting the influence of others, the process of social change 
  • Memory – models of memory including the multi-store model and working memory model, explanations for forgetting and accuracy of eyewitness testimony 
  • Attachment – stages of attachment, animal studies of attachment, Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment, types of attachment, and influence of childhood attachments on relationships 
  • Psychopathology – definitions of abnormality, the characteristics of phobias, depression and OCD, behavioural, cognitive and biological approaches to these disorders 

 

Paper 2: Psychology in Context 

  • Approaches in Psychology – Description, evaluation and comparison of the Learning, cognitive, biological, psychodynamic and humanistic approaches to psychology 
  • Biopsychology – divisions of the nervous system, functions of the endocrine system, localisation of functions in the brain, ways of studying the brain, factors affecting the sleep/wake cycle 
  • Research methods - understanding and evaluation of experimental methods, observational techniques, self-report techniques, correlations, Content Analysis and Case Studies 

 

Paper 3: Issues and Options in Psychology 

  • Issues and debates in psychology – Gender and Culture in Psychology, Free will and determinism, nature-nurture debate, holism vs reductionism, ethical implications of research studies 
  • Relationships – the evolution of partner preference, factors of attraction, theories of romantic relationships, including the breakdown of relationships, virtual and parasocial relationships 
  • Schizophrenia – classification and symptoms of schizophrenia, biological, psychological and cognitive explanations of and treatments for Schizophrenia  
  • Forensic Psychology – Offender profiling, biological and psychological explanations for offending behaviour and dealing with offending behaviour. 

 

Term 1 

Term 2 

Term 3 

Term 4 

Term 5 

Term 6 

Year 12 

Memory & Attachment 

(With RMs alongside) 

Social Influence & Psychopathology (With RMs alongside) 

Completion of Paper 1 Topics 

RMs in Practice 

& Biopsychology 

RMs in Practice 

& Biopsychology 

Approaches 

Year 13 

Relationships and Schizophrenia 

Forensic and Issues and Debates 

Completion and Consolidation of Paper 3 Topics 

Revision 

Revision 

Exams 

Assessment 

Examination only 

Paper 1: 2 hr written examination worth 33.33% of the A Level 

Paper 2: 2 hr written examination worth 33.33% of the A Level 

Paper 3: 2 hr written examination worth 33.33% of the A Level 

 

Complementary Subjects      

BiologySociologyMathematicsEPQ

 

British Values in Psychology

Democracy: Students study the role of the BPS in overseeing research practices as a governing body to keep participants safe and research moving forward.

Rule of Law: A-Level – Within the forensic psychology unit we consider the reasons for offending behaviour and consequently the ways in which we deal with offending behaviour. We consider the implications of these explanations on our criminal justice system.

Individual Liberty: Students learn about key debates within psychology, one being free will vs. determinism – as part of this we explore the extent to which we have freedom of choice over our action and the implications of this.

Mutual Respect: A fundamental area of study within psychology is “Ethics” – students learn about the ways in which we conduct research in psychology and how the rights of our participants should always be the most important thing when designing and carrying out research. Students study examples of studies where ethical guidelines have and have not been followed and learn ways in which to protect participants from harm.

  • GCSE – Students learn about mental health issues which may give them an understanding of what others may be going through and can lead to the reduction of the negative stigma around mental health.
  • A-level and IB – Students learn more about the research process, in particular peer review and how the expertise of peers is valued when considering the academic rigour of a piece of work

Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs:

  • GCSE – Students learn about cultural differences in the ways in which people communicate and how understanding these differences can lead to more effective links between different cultures. Students also learn about cultural variations in mental health at GCSE, looking at how “mental health” is not a universal concept.
  • A-Level – Students study different mental health issues, the ways in which we define, diagnose and treat. The range of perspectives within this topic helps students to understand that often there is no “correct” answer, just different perspectives, each with valid ideas.
  • IB – Students study enculturation and acculturation to learn more about how individuals can shape their culture around them as well as be shaped by the culture. In addition, students consider culture when evaluating research and whether or not a piece of research can be respectfully applied to a culture according to its norms and values. In human relationships students study the formation of relationships in different cultures and the differences for example between individualist and collectivist cultures. Additionally, they consider different types of marriage including love-based and arranged marriages.