Aims of the course

Psychology allows students to critically explore human mental processes and behaviour from a balanced multidisciplinary perspective as no single approach can explain the complexity of human behaviour. Students can then utilise their psychological understanding to be reflective about their own behaviour, cognition, and role in society. This encourages students to be more globally aware, open-minded, analytical thinkers, and principled in their actions.

Ultimately, this course equips students to be resourceful and focus on Psychology in the real world, allowing them to appreciate the diversity as well as the commonality between their own behaviour and that of others. The end result will be an understanding and application of knowledge to explain behaviours displayed by themselves and others in diverse settings in the real world. We also aim to instil a love of the subject and a desire to continue exploring Psychology beyond the sixth form.

Course outline

Core approaches to Psychology

• Biological approach

  • Brain, Hormones and pheromones, Genetics and evolution

  • (HL only) Value and ethics of animal research

• Cognitive approach

  • Cognitive processing, Reliability of cognitive processing, Influence of emotion on cognition

  • (HL only) Influence of modern digital technology on cognitive processing

• Sociocultural approach

  • The individual and the group, Cultural origins of behaviour, Cultural influences on individuals

  • (HL only) Influence of globalisation on individual behaviour

Application of Psychology options

• The Psychology of Human Relationships (HL and SL)

  • Personal relationships, Group dynamics

• Developmental Psychology (HL only)

  • Developing as a learner, Influences on cognitive and social development

Research methods and ethical considerations

• Approaches to conducting Psychological research

  • Methods, Participant sampling, Ethical considerations, Generalisability, Credibility, Bias

• Testing a theory of memory

  • Understanding the memory theory, Replicating an experiment to test the theory, Statistical analysis of collected data, Discussion of results, Evaluation of the conducted experiment

Assessment outline

Higher Level

• Paper 1 (Core approaches to Psychology) - 40%

• Paper 2 (Application of Psychology: Relationships and Developmental) - 20%

• Paper 3 (Approaches to conducting Psychological research) - 20%

• Internal assessment (Testing a theory of memory) - 20%

Standard Level

• • Paper 1 (Core approaches to Psychology) - 50%

  • Paper 2 (Application of Psychology: Relationships) - 25%

  • Internal assessment (Testing a theory of memory) - 25%

Careers links

The skills developed as a result of studying Psychology are transferable to a wealth of different careers, both within Psychology as a discipline and applied in wider careers. Therefore, Psychology is an ideal qualification for any career where understanding behaviour, communication, and thinking critically are essential. Examples of careers where studying Psychology is required/beneficial could be in neuroscience, education, law enforcement, the legal profession, medicine, academia, therapy, sports and exercise, business, and forensics.