Introduction
This site is designed as an introduction for the students studying AQA "A" level psychology, to help them develop the knowledge and skills they need to do well in the examination. Like all A levels, psychology is based on a series of modular examinations which can be taken in either January or in the May/June summer session. There is also one coursework project, which is a chance to conduct some real research of your own in the second year. Psychology is sub-divided into a number of different areas, sometimes called approaches; examples include the cognitive approach, behavioural approach, psychodynamic approach and evolutionary approach.
News.....
- Check here for any urgent messages
- Update for Year 12 classes
- Update for Year 13 classes
- New Advanced Extension Award (AEA) now available to extend "A" grade students
- 2007 Psychologyexamination dates announced by AQA
- 2006 examination results
- Find out more about this site
The topics you will study are shown below.
AS Psychology (year 12)
- Cognitive psychology: memory
- Developmental psychology: attachments
- Physiological psychology: stress
- Abnormal psychology: individual differences
- Social psychology: social influence
- Research methods
A2 Psychology (year 13)
- Social psychology: relationships
- Evolutionary psychology: evolutionary determinants of human behaviour
- Developmental psychology: personality and social development
- Abnormal psychology: psychopathology
- issues in psychology
- approaches in psychology
The skills that you will be assessed on are:
- AO1 Description (knowledge and understanding)
- AO2 Evaluation (analysis and evaluation of concepts and ideas)
- AO3 Design, conduct and report on psychological investigations
Homework
You will be expected to do at least one hour's homework and/or preparation after each lesson. Some of this work will involve reading and summarising key points from the textbook or other sources, answering examination questions, completing tables or analysis, or preparing for class activities such as discussions, group work or role play. To help you, the CD-ROM divides each into three sections.
1. Learning
This section contains all the learning units (lesson plans) for that section. Typically there are 18 lessons planned per topic, some of which may be set as independent study. The lesson plans contain the objectives for the lesson, page references in the textbook, activities to try, and the important facts or ideas you need to cover. We expect as close as possible to 100% attendance at lessons, but people do get sick or have other genuine reasons for not being able to be there. These learning units will enable you to catch up on all the work you have missed.
2. Articles and activities
This section contains activities directly linked to the learning units to help you consolidate your understanding. There are also a wide range of articles based on news stories, research studies or other useful sources. These articles will enrich your learning experience by giving you a broader understanding of the topics you are studying; you should then be able to demonstrate a better understanding of the topic in the examination. This is particularly important in the A2 examination.
3. Support and revision
This section provides a wide range of support and revision materials for you to use. It includes tables and grids for you to fill in key ideas, past paper questions (also available from AQA's website), model answers, and revision grids. Use these materials at any time during the course to enhance your understanding or to focus your revision. Make the course work for you - use what you learn in the memory section to enhance your learning; use stress management techniques to keep calm before the examinations.
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