Psychology

Psychology is the scientific study of human behaviour. It investigates the different behaviours that humans demonstrate and analyses the many and varied explanations that different braches of psychology give to explain certain behaviours. Part of the study of psychology is understanding how psychologists use different research techniques to carry out their work. We have a passion for helping students understand the behaviour of different people in society and helping them to analyse the often conflicting explanations for that behaviour. We also encourage students to carry out their own practical work to help them gain a greater depth of understanding of the methods that psychologists use. Lessons are very interactive and include a variety of different activities to ensure that students really understand what they are learning. We also focus on retrieval practice methods and spaced learning so students feel confident that they are using their long-term memories effectively. One student has said: “The lessons are really interactive, sometimes you get to carry out your own experiments which is fun and relevant.”

Key Stage 5

In Year 12 and 13, we offer the AQA A Level Psychology course. The Year 1 topics consider how our memory works including how the accuracy of eyewitness accounts of a crime can be affected by different factors. It also looks at the process of attachment between infants and their caregivers and what can happen if this process is disrupted. Students will also explore reasons why people obey authority figures and conform to peer pressure. We look at different ways to define abnormality and examine different approaches and treatments for abnormality.

In Year 2 students study biological psychology in more detail and consider the issues and debates that psychologists wrestle with. In addition to this, students study the topics of Eating Behaviour, Relationships and Aggression through different psychological perspectives, learning how to explain the behaviours studied within the topic. These topics also allow students to develop understanding of psychology in ‘real’ situations.

Throughout this course, students will develop understanding of how psychologists use different research techniques to carry out their work as well as looking at the different approaches/perspectives used by psychologists to explain human behaviour.