Psychology

Teaching Staff

Mrs L Kennedy - Head of Department

Psychology is currently offered at GCSE, AS and A2 Level.

Aims

“ Psychology is the study of people: how they think, how they act, react and interact.
Psychology is concerned with all aspects of behaviour and the thoughts feelings and motivation underlying such behaviours.”
British Psychological Society

Have you ever wondered:

If people are being honest?
If you can tell what someone is trying to say by looking at their body language?
Do we all have the ability to be evil?
How can I improve my memory?
Why do people fear being different?
Do my pets understand each other?
What causes people to develop mental health problems?
Can I become addicted to social media?

Psychology can give you the answers and explain such questions! It is a science with cutting edge research that has real world applications to issues in everyday life.

Curriculum

GCSE

GCSE content includes:

There are 2 units:

Unit 1: Making Sense of Other People
Summary of content:

Memory
Non-verbal communication
Development of personality
Stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination
Research methods

Unit 2: Understanding Other People
Summary of content:

Learning
Social influence
Sex and gender
Aggression
Research methods

Assessment is exam based with a one and a half hour exam for each unit.

A Level

AS / A-Level content includes:

AS Level:

There are 2 units:

Unit 1:

Cognitive psychology, including memory and eyewitness testimony
Development psychology, including early social development, attachment and the effects of day care
Research methods, in the context of the topic areas

Unit 2:

Biological psychology, including stress, factors affecting stress, coping with stress and managing stress
Social psychology, including majority and minority influence, obedience and independent behaviour
Individual differences, including definitions of abnormality, approaches and therapies

Assessment:
2 one and a half hour exams using compulsory structured questions.

A2 Level:

There are two units.

Unit 3:

Biological rhythms and sleep - Biological rhythms, sleep states and disorders of sleep
Relationships - Romantic relationships, human reproductive behaviour and effects of early experience and culture on adult relationships
Eating behaviour - Eating behaviour, biological explanations of eating behaviour and eating disorders

Assessment:
3 compulsory essay style questions in a one and a half hour exam.

Unit 4:

Psychopathology: Depression - clinical symptoms, Biological and Psychological causes, treatments
Psychology in Action: Media Psychology - how media affects our behaviour, celebrity worship
Research Methods: Psychological Research and Scientific Method - designing and analysing scientific method and statistics

Assessment:
A two hour exam answering two essay style questions and 1 structured question.

Extra Curricular

There are opportunities to attend psychological films groups, extra revision booster sessions and be a psychologist activity throughout the year.

Guest speakers

Guest speakers with experience in the field of Psychology complete workshops in particular topics. For example, Eating Disorders Network and Aware Defeat Depression. This provides pupils with the opportunity to increase understanding of the topic areas.

Trips

With changes to the new specifications, it is hoped that we can arrange trips for the following:
Forensic psychology – trip to the Crumlin road jail.
Psychopathology – trip to psychiatric hospital.
Association of Psychology Teachers student conference and workshops in QUB.

Homework and Core Assessment

GCSE: Students have 2 homeworks per week. Homeworks involve exam practice questions, research tasks, independent research, revision for end of topic tests and tracking, preparation for presentations etc.

Alevel: Students have 2 or more homeworks per week. Homeworks involve exam practice questions, research tasks, independent research, wider reading, revision for end of topic tests and tracking, preparation for presentations etc.

Careers

Possible Psychological careers
- Clinical psychology
- Counselling psychology
- Educational psychology
- Forensic psychology
- Health psychology
- Occupational psychology
- Sports Psychology
- Research and teaching
Psychology compliments other science based subjects such as Biology, and helps provide a strong combination of subjects for entry into university.
Psychology promotes communication skills along with independent research that can be useful if you are thinking of a career as a teacher.
Psychology is a useful subject benefiting students wishing to enter into the nursing profession – child development is an important topic of study along with other health related topics such as stress and physical illness.
Students interested in Sports Science and Physical Education find psychology a useful subject – many report benefits gained from knowledge of the principles of learning theory. • One of the largest sectors of employment for psychology graduates is clerical and administrative work (16%). 18% enter into a career as a professional psychologist (educational psychology, clinical psychology, sports psychology, occupational psychology, health psychology, counselling psychology, forensic psychology) with many others entering into management positions.
Psychology applies to many other careers that might not seem obvious, such as human resources, social work (10.7%), teaching (3.8%), advertising and personnel management (19%).

An understanding of human behaviour and the way people react in certain situations can be seen as a valuable skill in the world of business and industry or in any career choice!

Links

www.aqa.org.uk
www.bps.org.uk
www.resourcd.com
http://www.psychteacher.co.uk/