Psychology is a fascinating subject for anyone who is interested in how and why people behave as they do. Whether it is studied at school or university level, the content of the course is fully applicable to real life and, as a modern experimental science, research in the subject is also cutting edge. The content of this A Level course is relevant to many higher education courses and careers as it focusses on applied psychology. It is also very broad and encompasses a range of topics in psychology, including drug addiction, learning theories, memory and forgetting, explanations and treatments of antisocial behaviour, and clinical psychology, so is bound to interest a wide range of students.
Name: Psychology AS/A Level (Edexcel) Qualification title: Psychology AS/A Level (Edexcel) Qualification type: GCE A/AS Level or equivalent Assessment AS SYLLABUS: There are two units in the AS course, which are assessed by written exam papers. Each unit includes topic areas of study, methods of research, research studies in detail, and key contemporary issues. All exams include short answer questions and extended writing sections, and the AS exams also include some multi-choice questions. You will also keep a research notebook of practical investigations carried out during the course which are tested in the exams. Unit 1 Social & Cognitive Psychology Social Psychology: the areas of study for this unit include research into the social issues of obedience and prejudice, linked with key issues such as teenage gang culture, destructive obedience to authority in wartime, or the effects of prejudiced behaviour on football hooliganism. Practical work includes the design and analysis of a survey. Cognitive Psychology includes theories of how we remember and why we forget, and their application to the reliability of eyewitness testimony. Practical work for this section is the design and analysis of a laboratory experiment on memory. Unit 2 Understanding the Individual This unit includes three approaches to Psychology: the Psychodynamic, Learning and Biological approaches. The focus of study is the development of gender role behaviour, which is explained from the three different angles: The Learning approach looks at learning through classical conditioning, operant conditioning and observational learning. The Biological approach looks at the influence of genetics and hormones on brain development and behaviour. The Psychodynamic approach looks at personality development in childhood from a Freudian perspective. Key issues might include an explanation for bullying behaviour, the ‘extreme male brain’ explanation of autism, and the influence of media role models, such as pop stars and ‘size zero’ fashion models, on behaviour. Practical work involves correlation, experiment and observation studies, all of which must be designed, carried out and the data analysed using inferential statistics. A2 SYLLABUS: The A2 course is made up of two units: Unit 3 Applications of Psychology, and Unit 4 How Psychology Works. Unit 3 Applications of Psychology: Criminological psychology includes research studies into eyewitness testimony, explanations of anti-social behaviour, and methods for treating crime. Child Psychology includes the study of attachment relationships between babies and their carers, and the effects of deprivation of this vital relationship. The course also includes the analysis of the positive and negative effects of day-care on children’s social and cognitive development. Health Psychology studies the effects of psychoactive drugs on the nervous system, and explanations and treatments for substance misuse. Unit 4 How Psychology Works includes Clinical Psychology, which focuses on explanations and treatments for 2 disorders: schizophrenia and phobia, and Issues and Debates, which revises ethical issues and research methods, and looks at common debates such as the nature-nurture debate and the question of whether Psychology should be a science. Awarding Pearson Education Ltd (Formerly EDEXCEL) Created 20151118 11:51:36 Updated 20151118 11:53:08
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