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Psychology

Aims of the department

  1. To engage students in acquiring psychological knowledge & the contribution it makes to understanding human behaviour
  2. To enable students to learn about how psychological knowledge is produced and how it can be used to benefit individuals and society.
  3. To support and guide students towards achieving their potential in the psychology examinations.

How do you bring this subject to life at BGS?

  • AS psychology is brought to life by getting students involved in learning about psychology. This includes student’s role playing some of the psychological studies, carrying out and taking part in psychological experiments themselves, and watching videos which support or question the studies.
  • Relating the psychological knowledge learned in the lesson to the world outside of the classroom.
  • Forensic psychology (A2) is brought to life by a conference where students talk to released prisoners and prison officers.

What facilities do you have?

  • Interactive whiteboard
  • A designated psychology room where all the psychology teaching takes place.
  • We make use of the computer rooms, or the hand held computers for students to make use of the internet

Do staff have specialist areas of interest?

HC is interested in neuro-psychology – the research on how the structure & function of the brain influences behaviour.
AW is interested in developmental psychology – the research on how children acquire the skills they need to develop physically & psychologically.

What is the coolest thing about the department?


All psychology is cool, but the “brain sweets” we give as rewards for doing well are pretty cool too!

What do pupils enjoy most about learning in this department?

They enjoy learning about the unusual or weird studies e.g.

  • The experiment where the participant gives electric shocks to another person!!
  • The case study of the woman with multiple personality disorder
  • The study where a chimp learned language

What teaching styles do you use in the department?

We try to use a variety of teaching styles. In some lessons students will need to listen and take in a lot of new information, but this is presented in an interesting and engaging way. They will also have the opportunity to get involved in role plays, experiments, small and large group discussions where they are encouraged to question what they learn and to listen to the views of other students

Staff + school email address + photo?

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Year 7: N/A

Year 8: N/A

Year 9: N/A

Year 10: Psychology is not available at GCSE level

Year 11: Psychology is not available at GCSE level

Year 12: AS & A2 PSYCHOLOGY – see also OCR website below.

For AS Psychology, you study 15 psychological studies that have been very influential in our understanding of human behaviour. They cover a wide range of behaviours such as  gambling , autism, obedience, sleep and dreaming, and aggression. You will be examined on your knowledge & understanding of these studies in one module G541 which you will sit in June.
You will also need to know how psychologists carry out their research, so you will study four different methods used by psychologists. You will be examined on this in Module G542 which you will also sit in June.
There is no coursework requirement
The examining body is OCR

Year 13

For A2 psychology you will learn about two areas of applied psychology:
G543 Clinical and Health Psychology, which covers psychological research on Healthy Lifestyles, Stress, Dysfunctional behaviour, and Disorders.
G543 Forensic Psychology which covers psychological research on Turning to Crime, Making a Case, Reading a Verdict, and After a Guilty Verdict.
G544 Psychological Approaches, Perspectives, Issues & Debates is the synoptic paper and includes the range of approaches and methods used in psychology as well as the issues that the research raises.
          
You will be examined on module G543 in January or June.
You will be examined on this module G544 in June only.

There is no coursework.

Links to other useful websites


There are hundreds, but here are a few that you might find interesting or useful:
www.ocr.org.uk (for details of the syllabus & exam papers)
www.holah.co.uk (this is the website that supports the AS course and will give you a good idea of what the course covers)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/ (activities on memory, personality, emotion, intelligence)
www.youramazingbrain.co.uk (activities, memory, visual illusions, the brain)
http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/ (the British Psychology Society’s site where recent research by psychologists is summarized in short articles on a huge variety of behaviours. It will give you a good idea of the range of psychology)