Psychology

Y12 Foundations in Psychology

Biological Approach

In this approach you will learn about the central nervous system and how it influences behaviours such as aggression and drug addiction. You will learn about a range of different recreational drugs such as heroin, cocaine and nicotine and how they affect the synaptic transmission. You will also learn about the structure of the brain and the function of these areas. Additionally you will learn about the evolutionary and hormone explanation explanation of aggression, as well as Freud’s psychodynamic explanation of aggression as a contrast to biological theories. You will also cover research methods within this approach which includes Brain Scans, Twin Studies, Adoption Studies, and correlational research.

Learning Approach

In this approach you will learn about Classical conditioning and Pavlov’s Dog experiment, as well as Operant conditioning and Skinners Rats experiment. You will also learn about Bandura’s Social Learning theory and his Bobo Doll experiments. You will also use the theories learnt to explain phobias and treatments for phobias such as systematic desensitization and flooding. Here you will also cover research methods within this approach which includes observations, animal research and content analysis.

Cognitive Approach

In this approach you will learn about the different theories of memory, including the Multi-Store Model of Memory, the Working Memory Model, Tulving’s theory of Long-Term Memory as well as Bartlett’s Reconstructive Memory Theory. Within this approach you will also cover research methods including case studies such as the case study of Patient HM, as well as laboratory experiments such as Baddeley’s 1996 experiment.

Social Approach

In this approach you will learn theories that explains behaviours such as obedience and prejudice. You will also look at situational and dispositional factors that affect these behaviours. Within this approach you will also cover research methods such as questionnaires, interviews and sampling techniques.

Y13 Applied Psychology

Clinical Psychology

In Clinical Psychology you will cover two mental illnesses including schizophrenia and unipolar depression. You will learn about the symptoms and features of the mental illness’, as well as biological and non biological explanations and treatments. You will study the famous study by Rosenhan (1973) on being sane in insane places. You will also learn about the classification systems used to diagnose mental illnesses including the ICD-10 and the DSM, whilst also considering the 4 D’s in diagnosis (danger/distress/deviance/dysfunction). You will also cover research methods within clinical psychology including, interviews, longitudinal and cross sectional research and the HSCPC guidelines.

Child Psychology

In child psychology you will cover topics such as attachment, deprivation and privation as well as looking at the effects of day care on child development. Moreover, you will learn about Ainsworth’s Strange situation procedure, and cross cultural research into attachment types. You will also learn about the symptoms and features of Autism, as well as explanations and treatments for the disorder.

Within each approach studied in psychology, you will look at a key question that is relevant to todays society such as ‘How far can social psychology be used to explain the increase in hate crimes following Brexit’, as well as designing and carrying out a practical investigation on the topics studied in that approach. Not only this but you will be required to carry out statistical tests using data provided, and link each topic to issues and debates in psychology.