Psychology A Level

Board: AQA

There is no need to have any knowledge of psychology before commencing the course. Most students quickly get used to the way the subject operates and the language used

• The course is suitable for students who are interested in;
• The way people behave and reasons for this 
• A subject that complements both arts and sciences A ‘cutting edge’ subject where new research and information is emerging all the time
• A subject that helps to develop the ability to debate concepts and evidence and make valid judgements.

Students studying psychology will have achieved at least a grade 4 in Maths and will have a minimum of three GCSE’s at grade 6 or above.

Psychology is about understanding people; many graduates go into teaching, social work or nursing in terms of the ‘people centered’ nature of the course. However, many more turn to management, marketing, advertising and journalism. Further applications for psychology include mental health treatment, performance enhancement, selfhelp, ergonomics and many other areas affecting health and daily life.

The course covers topics that include (but not limited to):

• Psychological approaches: based on different era’s and evidence, we look into whether behavior is due to genetics, the way we think (cognition), the role of the unconscious, our unique personality, or whether behavior is learnt.
• Memory: We investigate how and what we remember, factors affecting memory, and how memory is influenced in eye-witness testimony when convicting criminals.
• Attachment: The topic investigates why parent-child attachment is important for healthy psychologically developed adulthood and the effects of breaking this attachment at the wrong times.
• Research Methods: Understanding how psychologists complete research.
• Social influence: We study how to understand group behaviour. In this topic, we look at why people obey authority or conform with group norms when this may be inhumane or callous activity.

In year 13, we will be looking into three further specialist areas of psychology; Relationships, Schizophrenia and Forensic Psychology.

For more information about the course, please see Mr Jordan