Course Overview

Gain a valuable insight into peoples' actions and reactions.  Discover many things about yourself, and gain a real intellectual edge over those around you.  You'll learn about a very wide range of subjects, including social and cognitive psychology, child development, and the psychology that lies behind atypical behaviour – as well as an understanding all the main issues in psychological methods.

Pre-requisites

None

Qualification

‘A’ Level in Psychology

Specification

AQA A-Level Psychology B (2185)

Support and benefits

• Flexible terms times
• Stepped learning approach
• Access to a dedicated ICS tutor to mentor and motivate you throughout
• Access to the ICS online Student Community, allowing you to interact with other students and browse our resource library
  

Key topics

Unit 1 – Introducing Psychology

A) Approaches

• Key Approaches in Psychology
• Biopsychology
  • Physiological Psychology
  • The genetic basis of behaviour

B) Gender Development

• Gender Development
  • Concepts
  • Explaining gender development

C) Research Methods

• Methods of Research
  • Planning Research
  • Experimental Methods
  • Non Experimental Methods
• Representing Data and Descriptive Statistics
  • Representing Data
  • Descriptive Data
• Ethics

Unit 2 - Social Psychology, Cognitive Psychology and Individual Differences

A) Social Psychology

• Social Influences
• Social Cognition

B) Cognitive Psychology

• Remembering and Forgetting
• Perceptual Processes

C) Individual Differences

• Anxiety Disorders
• Autism

Unit 3 – Child Development and Applied Options

A) Child Development

• Social Development
  • Early Relationships
  • Later Relationships
• Cognitive Development
  • Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
  • Alternative approaches to children’s cognition
• Moral development
  • Piaget and Kohlberg
  • Alternatives to Piaget and Kohlberg

B) Applied Options

• Cognition and Law
  • Recognising and remembering faces
  • Recalling events
• Schizophrenia and Mood Disorders
  • Mood Disorders
• Stress and Stress Management
  • Stress and Illness
  • Stress Management

Unit 4 - Approaches, Debates and Methods in Psychology

A) Approaches in Psychology

• Biological, Behaviourist, Social Learning, Cognitive, Psychodynamic and Humanistic Approaches
  • Biological Approach
  • Behaviourist Approach
  • Social Learning Theory
  • Cognitive Approach
  • Psychodynamic Approach
  • Humanistic Approach
• Comparison of Approaches

B) Debates in Psychology

• Debates in Psychology

C) Methods in Psychology

• Inferential Statistics
  • Statistical inference
  • Statistical tests
• Issues in Research
  

Course Code

H12

Technical Requirements

None

ICS Support Period

18 months

Assessment

AS Examinations

Unit 1 – PSYB1 Introducing Psychology

• 50% of AS, 25% of A Level
• Externally-assessed examination, 1 hour 30 minutes
• 60 marks
• Candidates answer three compulsory questions.
• Available January and June

Unit 2 – PSYB2 Individual Differences, Social Psychology and Cognitive Psychology

• 50% of AS, 25% of A Level
• Externally-assessed examination, 1 hour 30 minutes
• 60 marks
• Candidates answer three questions.
• Available January and June

A2 Examinations
 
Unit 3 – PSYB3 Child Development and Applied Options

• 25% of A Level
• Externally-assessed examination, 2 hours
• 60 marks
• Candidates answer three questions.
• Available January and June

Unit 4 – PSYB4 Approaches, Debates and Methods in Psychology

• 25% of A Level
• Externally-assessed examination, 2 hours
• 60 marks
• Candidates answer three questions.
• Available in June only