The increasing interest in Psychology reflects the realisation that an understanding of people's behaviour is essential in our fast-paced complex and often violent society. Students of this subject will be well placed for employment in the service industries, for work in personnel generally, for the police and military as well as areas of applied Psychology. At the very least pupils will gain a greater insight into their own behaviour and strengthen their armoury against future problems via greater knowledge and understanding.
The study of Psychology is clearly fascinating in itself. However, it assists with the development of critical thinking skills through its essay and research approach. Developing a clear structured argument based on sometimes equivocal evidence is a skill that has to be mastered rapidly. At times it becomes quite philosophical, as in its coverage of topics such as 'free will'. My main aim with all students is to produce individuals who are prepared to hold a psychological opinion, not just to offer a list of 'facts'.
A-Level
The Psychology Department has experienced a phenomenal rate of development since its establishment in 2000 and now enjoys its own suite of rooms. Results have been consistently above the School's high average.
The course followed is that of AQA Specification A. This has the benefit of requiring no coursework at AS Level. Coursework will form a part of A2. It is a modular course, with the first AS module examined in January and the remaining two in June. At A2 a similar pattern is followed, with module 4 being examined in January and coursework being submitted in January. This leaves a single module to be studied in the remaining term and a half and allows for potential resits in the summer examinations.The module contents are:
AS:
Unit 1
Cognitive Psychology: studying memory, forgetting and the problems associated with eyewitness testimony.
Developmental Psychology: studying sociability and attachment, deprivation, privation and the possible effects of day care on cognitive and social development.
Unit 2
Physiological Psychology: studying stress as a bodily response, sources of stress and the field of stress management.
Individual Differences: studying abnormality and the eating disorders of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.
Unit 3
Social Psychology: studying social influence, obedience to authority and ethical issues in psychological research.
Research Methods: experiments, correlational analysis, naturalistic observations, questionnaire surveys and interviews.
A2:
Unit 4
This module allows the in-depth study of three major areas of Psychology. Those currently studied are 'Social Relationships', 'Biological Rhythms, Sleep and Dreaming' and 'Evolutionary Psychology'.
Unit 5
This module will cover the topics of depression, anxiety disorders and schizophrenia. A second element will be the study of key debates such as free-will versus determinism and nature versus nurture. Finally there will the chance to apply all Psychology learned to a series of scenarios and endeavour to explain the behaviour of an individual or group.
Unit 6
A single piece of coursework, produced along standard scientific lines, length approximately 2000 words.
The entry qualifications for this course are a minimum of grade B in GCSE Mathematics, English and one science.