Psychology : General - a summary of syllabus changes
This table summarises the main changes that have occurred in the process of adapting Stage 1 and Stage 2
of this course into Year 11 and Year 12 syllabuses for implementation in 2015 (Year 11) and 2016 (Year 12).
Content changes
Overall
Content changes
Year 11 specific
2014/9661v2
 The current content organiser Society subsumed into the Others content and appears
under the sub-organiser Culture and values.
 Content moved between units. Some content appears in Units 1 and 3, while the rest of
the content appears in Units 2 and 4.
 A large portion of the content previously listed under the Society content organiser
(social values and practices; and social historical and political influences) deleted.
 Content significantly edited/reworded for clarity.
Reorganisation of content
 Self: Personality and Cognition are placed in Unit 1; Biological influences/bases of
behaviour and Developmental psychology are placed in Unit 2
 Others: Relational influences and Communication are placed in Unit 1; Social psychology
and Culture and values are placed in Unit 2
 Society: This content has been subsumed into the Others content and appears under the
sub-organiser Culture and values
 Research methods: minor wording changes
Content added
 Year 11 Unit 1 nature of personality (moved from Unit 3A)
o continuity over time
o consistency across situations
 Year 11 Unit 2 definitions of attitudes
Content refinements
Content refined, subsumed or deleted.
Unit 1A
 biological bases of behaviour
 left and right hemispheres and their influence on behaviour
 corpus callosum
 defining personality and factors affecting the development of personality
 personality differences and behaviour
 measuring personality
o self-report inventories
o projective personality tests
 individuals and groups
o self-concept and group membership
o social identity
 friendships
 friendship formation
 the importance of friendship
 peer acceptance and popularity
o factors affecting acceptance and popularity
 influences on social behaviour
o attributions
o attitudes about others
 language and components of language
o sounds
o form
o content and use.
 race and culture
o cultural diversity
o cultures as social groups
o cross-cultural studies
Psychology | General | a summary of syllabus changes
Unit 1B
 relationship between brain and behaviour
o phrenology
o functions of the four lobes of the cerebral cortex
o methods of studying the brain including EEG, CAT scan, PET scan and MRI.
 self-concept
o concept of others and perspective taking
 the development of social cognition
o trait approach—Allport
o personality inventories and the measurement of personality
o scientific investigation related to personality such as forensic psychology.
 group formation and group identity
 social psychology concepts
o affiliation
o social comparison
o social identity
o attitude formation
 research on attitude formation and group identity.
 roles within a relationship
o conformity
o obedience
 ways of communicating information to a range of audiences
 behavioural expectations in different cultural contexts
o family roles
o social conventions
 influence of different cultural attitudes on relationship formation such as child-rearing.
 social values
o human rights
o social justice
o equity
o diversity
Content changes
Year 12 specific
2014/9661v2
Reorganisation of content
 Self: Personality and Cognition are placed in Unit 3; Biological influences/bases of
behaviour and Developmental psychology are placed in Unit 4
 Others: Relational influences and Communication are placed in Unit 3; Social psychology,
and Culture and values are placed in Unit 4
 Society: This content has been subsumed into the Others content and appears under the
sub-organiser Culture and values (above)
 Research methods: minor wording changes
Content added
 Unit 4: cultural bias in developmental theories
Content refinements
Content refined, subsumed or deleted.
Unit 2A
 impact of the presence of others on individual behaviour—social facilitation and
inhibition
 socialisation processes observed within peer groups
o associative
o cooperative
o adolescents—cliques and crowds
 socialisation processes observed within cult groups.
 obstacles to effective communication
 assertive communication.
 measurement of attitudes
o observational methods
o qualitative self-report methods—interviews and focus groups
o quantitative self-report measures—rating scales
 impact of world events on individuals
o positive responses—resilience and growth
Psychology | General | a summary of syllabus changes
o negative responses—post traumatic stress disorder
o event characteristics related to stress—predictability; controllability; experience of
threat or loss
 impact of world events on community wellbeing
Unit 2B
 learning
o classical conditioning
o operant conditioning
o observational learning
o positive reinforcement
o punishment and negative reinforcement
 behaviour modification
o token economies
o systematic desensitisation
 role of physical, cognitive, emotional and social readiness in skill development
 role of play
 status and power of individuals within group
 group influences on behaviour
o compliance
o peer selection
o peer influence
 delayed and impaired communication skills—hearing impairment, autism
 strategies and interventions to improve communication.
 community empowerment
o citizen participation
o social justice
o human rights
 winning and losing, and their psychological impact on individuals within communities
o sport
o gambling
Changes to the
assessment table
Year 11
 minor changes to wording in assessment table.
 production/Performance assessment type has been changed to Project.
Changes to the
assessment table
Year 12
 minor changes to wording in assessment table.
 production/Performance assessment type has been changed to Project.
 externally set task has been added.
Changes to
assessment type
weightings
Year 11
Changes to
assessment type
weightings
Year 12
2014/9661v2
Existing (stage 1)
Type
Investigation
Response
Production/
Performance
Examination
Existing (stage 1)
Type
Investigation
Response
Production/
Performance
Examination
Weighting
20-30%
20-30%
Revised for 2015/16
Type
Weighting
Investigation
30%
Response
40%
30-40%
Project
30%
0-20%
Weighting
20-30%
20-30%
Revised for 2015/16
Type
Weighting
Investigation
25%
Response
40%
20-30%
Project
20%
20-30%
Externally set task
15%
Psychology | General | a summary of syllabus changes