Welcome to A
Level
Psychology
Yvette Brown
Yvette.brown@sussexdowns.ac.uk
What is Psychology?
• Brainstorm everything you know (or think!) about what Psychology
is
• Think about…
• What is it the study of?
• What are psychologists interested in?
• What are similar subjects?
What is Psychology?
• It is ‘the scientific study of brain, behaviour and experience’
• Psychologists are interested in finding out about many
different aspects of human and non-human behaviour, for
example :
• How can we improve our memory?
• Does day-care make children more sociable?
• Does watching violent TV affect levels of violence on the streets?
How do Psychologists find out about
behaviour?
• They carry out scientific research. These are carefully
designed research studies which test predictions.
• Usually these are well conducted but as we go through the
different topics you will see that some behaviours are very
difficult to study scientifically (can you think of some
examples?)
What do Psychologists do?
‘Psychology, like all other sciences, can be misapplied. But,
rightly used psychology can make an immense contribution to
human happiness’ (Rex and Margaret Knight 1959)
• Psychologists carry out research, apply psychological
knowledge to their day-to-day work or teach the subject in
schools and universities.
• There are many occupations which use applied psychology
Applied Psychology
• Clinical psychologists – work in hospital, health centres
and mental health services and provide a range of
therapies for the treatment of psychological disorders.
• Educational psychologists – work in schools colleges,
children’s homes and nurseries where they assess,
diagnose and treat educational, emotional and behavioural
problems. They also provide advice to parents and
teachers on how to support children and young people.
Applied Psychology
• Forensic/criminal psychologists work in the criminal
justice system and may work in prisons, rehabilitation
centres or for the probation service
• Health psychologists usually work in hospitals focusing on
the causes of health and illness. They are concerned with
health promotion and apply psychological principles to
improve people’s health and well-being (e.g. Smoking
cessation programmes, weight loss programmes)
Applied Psychology
• Occupational psychologists provide advice and guidance
on work-related issues such as working conditions,
matching the person to the job, vocational guidance and
training needs.
In the UK any one who wishes to practice as a psychologist
has to be ‘chartered’ through the British Psychological
Society. This is the only professional body for
psychologists in the UK and ensures they are adequately
qualified to be working in their field.
AQA A Level Course: Brand new for 2015
3 papers sat at the end of year 2. Exams are 30 minutes longer than the AS exams, require more detail, numeracy and
contain some additional content.
Topics:
Social Influence
Memory
Attachment
Psychopathology
Topics:
Research Methods
Bio Psychology
(with additional content)
Inferential Statistics
Items in red are Year 2 topics
Three Option Topics: e.g.
Gender
Schizophrenia
Forensic Psychology
Issues and debates
What will the exams look like?
• At A Level all exams are 2 hours long and contain multiple
choice, short answer and extended writing questions
worth up to 16 marks
• But in order to fully understand the requirements of the
exam we need to know how you are being assessed. These
are called Assessment Objectives (AO’s) which assess the
skills that you need to demonstrate in Psychology
• We will have a look at these now…Handbook!
Skills skills skills!!!
• These are the skills we are going to use to
structure our lessons
Create
Evaluate
Analyse
• The higher the skills you demonstrate on the
ladder, the more likely you are to achieve the
top grades
! But how what do these mean and
how do they fit in with Psychology?
Apply
Understand
Remember
• One way in which I will support the development of these skills is regular
assessments… this could be in the form of homework or even a “test”
in class
There will be regular tests in lessons!
• Another way is by developing your ability to self mark and peer mark – I
will support you with this don’t worry!
• Reading around the subject will help you understanding and remember
the content
• Discussions in lessons with peers with help you realise whether you
understand – and identify gaps in your knowledge
• Pre reading and consolidation are essential
• As there are no external exams until 2017 there will be college based
exams and mock exams
Year 1 overview
Social Approach - Social Influence including conformity and obedience
Cognitive Approach – Memory and Forgetting
Developmental Approach - Attachment in childhood
Other Approaches in psychology – including the Learning approach
(behaviourism) and the Biological approach
Research Methods – The methods used by psychologists
Psychopathology – The psychology of abnormality
Internal exam (similar to a mock)
Biopsychology and start of Year 2
Homework…
• See Blog