SUBJECT AIM
The GCSE Psychology course is an engaging exploration of human behaviour. Students will develop an awareness of themselves, others and of how psychology can be used to explain everyday behaviour. Students will acquire knowledge and understanding of Psychology including core areas such as biological, cognitive and social theories of human behaviour. Each theory and study have been carefully selected based on their relevance to our students today. The course will provide an excellent base for progression to any higher-level Psychology course.
Students will build an understanding of how psychological research is conducted, including the role of the scientific method and data analysis. They will learn to present information, develop arguments, and draw conclusions through a critical approach to psychological evidence. Students will also explore psychological issues and debates and develop an understanding of ethical issues in psychology as well as the contributions of the discipline to understand individual, social and cultural diversity.
WHAT YOU WILL STUDY
You will study the following units on this course:
Memory
Development
Perception
Research Methods
Neuropsychology
Psychological Problems
Social Influences
HOW WILL YOU BE ASSESSED
AQA GCSE Psychology (9-1) | Paper 1 Cognition and Behaviour | Paper 2 Social context and behaviour |
50% weighting 100 marks in total 1 hour 45 minutes examination | 50% weighting 100 marks in total 1 hour 45 minutes examination |
WHAT THIS SUBJECT CAN LEAD TO
- Studying Psychology can be beneficial to most careers, in particular, careers as a psychologist, therapist and mental health worker.
- It is also very useful for careers in business, management and social work, as the course will help you to understand the mindset of your clients, customers and employees.
Please click on the arrow for a detailed breakdown:
| THE LEARNING JOURNEY FOR PSYCHOLOGY | ||||
| Unit / Block of work | Key Episodes / Questions | Additional Detail | Length of time. | Learner Attribute(s) |
| Cognition and Behaviour: Unit 1 Memory | Processes of memory: encoding (input) storage and retrieval (output) | Different types of memory: episodic memory, semantic memory, procedural memory. How memories are encoded and stored. | Week 1 | Inquirer |
| Structures of Memory (1) | The multi-store model of memory: sensory, short term and long term. Features of each store: coding, capacity, duration. | Week 2 | Inquirer | |
| Structures of Memory (2) | Primacy and recency effects in recall: the effects of serial position. Murdock’s serial position curve study. Research Methods: Formulation of testable hypotheses (null and alternative), types of variables (IV, DV and extraneous) & data handling (mean, median, mode and range) | Week 3 | Inquirer | |
| Memory as an active process (1) | The theory of reconstructive memory, including the concept of ‘effort after meaning’. Bartlett’s War of the Ghost Study Research Methods: target populations, samples and extraneous variables. | Week 4-5 | Inquirer | |
| Memory as an active process (2) | Factors affecting the accuracy of memory, including interference, context and false memories. Research Methods: ethical considerations | Week 6 | Inquirer | |
| Cognition and Behaviour: Unit 2 Perception | Sensation and perception | The difference between sensation and perception | Week 7 | Thinkers |
| Visual cues and constancies | Monocular depth cues: height in plane, linear perspective, relative size and occlusion Binocular depth cues: retinal disparity and convergence | Week 8-9 | Thinkers | |
| Gibson’s Direct Theory of Perception- the influence of nature | The real world presents sufficient information for direct perception without interference. The role of motion parallax in everyday perception. | Week 10 | Thinkers | |
| Visual Illusions | Explanations for visual illusions: ambiguity, misinterpreted depth cues, fiction, size constancy. Examples of visual illusions: The Ponzo, the Muller- Lyer, the Necker Cube, the Ames Room, Rubin’s Vase, the Kanizsa Triangle. | Week 11 | Thinkers | |
| Gregory’s Constructivist Theory of Perception- the influence of nurture | Perception uses inferences from visual cues and past experience to construct a model of reality. | Week 12 | Thinkers | |
| Factors Affecting Perception (1) | Bruner and Minturn study of perceptual set. Research Methods: Reinforce formulating hypotheses & variables Perceptual set and the effects of expectation on perception. | Week 13-14 | Thinkers | |
| Factors Affecting Perception (2) | The Gilchrist and Nesberg study of motivation. Research Methods: Target populations & sampling methods (random, opportunity, systematic, stratified) The effects of motivation, culture and emotion of perception. | Week 15-16 | Thinkers | |
| Cognition and Behavour: Unit 3 Development | Early Brain Development | A basic knowledge of brain development, from simple neural structures in the womb, the brain stem, thalamus, creebellum and cortex. Structures reflect the development of autonomic functions, sensory processing, movement and cognition. The roles of nature and nurture. | Week 17 | Open-minded |
| Piaget’s Stage Theory and the development of intelligence | Piaget’s theory of cognitive development inluding the concepts of assimilation and accomodation. The four stages of development: sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, formal operational. Reduction of egocentricity including Hughes’ ‘Policeman Doll Study’. Research Methods: Experimental designs (independent groups, repeated measures, matched pairs) Development of conservation including McGarrigle and Donaldson’s ‘Naughty Teddy Study’. | Week 18-19 | Open- minded | |
| The role of Piaget’s Theory in Education | Application of the four stages in education. | Week 20 | Open-minded | |
| The effects of learning on development | Dweck’s mindset theory of learning: fixed mindset and growth mindset. The role of praise and self-efficacy beliefs in learning. Learning styles include verbaliser and visualiser. Willingham’s learning theory and his criticism of learning styles. | Week 21-22 | Reflective | |
| Cognition and Behaviour: Unit 4 Research Methods | Designing Research | Quantitative and qualitative methods: Lab experiments* Field and natural experiments Interviews Questionnaires Case studies Observational studies (including categories of behaviour and inter-rater reliability) | Week 23-24 | Knowledgeable |
| Correlation | An understanding of the association between two variables and the use of scatter diagrams to show possible correlational relationships. | Week 25 | Knowledgeable | |
| Planning and conducting research | How research should be planned, taking into consideration the reliability and/or validity of: Sampling methods Experimental methods Quantitative and qualitative research methods | Week 26-28 | Inquiry | |
| THE LEARNING JOURNEY FOR PSYCHOLOGY | ||||
| Unit / Block of work | Key Episodes / Questions | Additional Detail | Length of time | Learner Attribute(s) |
| Social context and behaviour: Unit 5 Social Influence | Conformity | Key Study: Asch’s study of conformity Social factors affecting conformity: group size, anonymity, task difficulty. Dispositional factors affecting conformity: personality, expertise | Week 1-2 | Principled |
| Obedience | Milgrams’ agency theory social factors affecting obedience: agency, authority, culture and proximity. Adorno’s Theory of the Authoritarian Personality Dispositional factors affecting obedience | Week 3-4 | Principled | |
| Prosocial Behaviour | Social factors affecting prosocial behaviour: presence of others, cost of helping Dispositional factors affecting bystander intervention: similarity to the victim and expertise Key Study: Piliavin’s subway study | Week 5 | Principled | |
| Crowd and Collective Behaviour | The difference between prosocial and antisocial behaviour social factors affecting collective behaviour: social loafing, deindividuation, culture Dispositional factors: personality, morality | Week 6 | Principled | |
| Social context and behaviour: Unit 7 Brain and Neuropsychology | Structure and function of the nervous system | Week 7 | Knowledgeable | |
| Neuron structure and function | Week 7 | Knowledgeable | ||
| Structure and function of the brain | Week 8-9 | Knowledgeable | ||
| An introduction to neuropsychology | Week 10-11 | Knowledgeable | ||
| Social context and behaviour: Unit 8 Psychological Problems | An introduction to mental health | Week 12 | Caring | |
| How to incidence of significant mental health problems change over time | Week 12 | Caring | ||
| Effects of significant mental health problems on individuals and society | Week 13 | Caring | ||
| Characteristics of clinical depression Theories of depression Interventions and therapies for depression | Week 14-16 | Caring | ||
| Characteristics of addition Theories of addiction Interventions and therapies for addiction | Week 17-19 | Caring | ||
| Social context and behaviour: Unit 6 Language, thought and communication | The possible relationship between language and thought The effect of language and thought on our view of the world | Week 20-21 | Open minded | |
| Differences between human and animal communication | Week 22 | Open minded | ||
| Non-verbal communication | Week 23 | Open minded | ||
| Explanations of non-verbal behaviour | Week 24 | Open minded | ||