Page 43 - Sixth Form prospectus 2020

COURSE
PSYCHOLOGY
TITLE

SPECIFIC ENTRY General entry requirement for advanced level applies to this

REQUIREMENTS subject.
Year 12
Social influence: this topic focuses on why people obey authority and
also why people conform within social situations. We also study how and
why people stand out from the crowd and are able to resist pressures to
conform or obey.
Memory: studying models of how the long term and short term memory
works. Also studying how police conduct interviews and look at
eyewitness testimony so that they can get reliable evidence.
Attachment: studying how children get attached to those who care for
them. How these attachments are studied and problems in attachment
in children who have had no chance to form attachments; for example,
children brought up in Romanian orphanages.
Biopsychology: the nervous system and hormones in determining
CONTENT OF behaviour, the fight or flight response including the role of adrenaline,

COURSE the function in the brain and recovery of the brain after trauma, ways of
studying the brain and biological rhythms and sleep.
Year 13
Forensic psychology: offender profiling, explanations of offending
behaviour, dealing with offending behaviour: the aims of custodial
sentencing and the psychological effects of custodial sentencing. Anger
management and restorative justice programmes.
Schizophrenia: classification of schizophrenia. Positive and negative
symptoms of schizophrenia; explanations for schizophrenia; drug
therapy, cognitive behaviour therapy and family therapy.
Sex and gender: sex-role stereotypes, androgyny, the role of biology in
sex and gender. Klinefelter’s syndrome and Turner’s syndrome.
Explanations of gender development, the influence of culture and media
on gender roles, atypical gender development: gender dysphoria.
EXAMINATIONS
Papers 1, 2 & 3: three written examinations of 120 minutes each.
AND
Worth 33.3% respectively of the final A level marks.
ASSESSMENTS

SKILLS, LINKS Psychology links well with science, especially biology, and also business, maths,
geography, history, English, sociology, RPE and PE. A background in psychology
AND can be useful for careers in psychology (e.g. clinical, educational, occupational,
sports, forensic and criminal), medicine, law, police, social work, teaching,
PROGRESSION
physiotherapy and nursing.
Head of Psychology: Mrs J Wilson
CONTACT
jillwilson@keswick.cumbria.sch.uk