PSYCHOLOGY - KS4

WHO’S WHO?

Progress Leader: Mr Blackledge (Deputy Head Teacher)
Teaching Staff: Mr Blackledge, Mr Betney & Mrs Merritt

COURSE INFORMATION

Studying GCSE psychology is an excellent way for students to learn of how the human mind works, understand social behaviour and human development. GCSE psychology also provides students the opportunity to build deeper knowledge in the form of A Level psychology and an undergraduate degree. Psychology is one of the most interesting and dynamic fields in the world currently. In part due to the growing awareness of mental health issues.

Our approach supports skills development for progression to a range of subjects and develops an awareness of Psychology beyond the classroom. It complements subjects such as GCSE Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Psychology, English Language, and opens the door to a variety of careers – from primary school teaching to forensic science. The subject also dovetails with sociology and other similar subjects. Students who decide to combine the two at post 16 level, can give them a real insight into society as well as the individual as well, potentially, a rewarding career.

COURSE SPECIFICATION

Students follow the Pearson Edexcel Level 1/Level 2 GCSE (9–1) in Psychology specification. Click here to view the specification.

COURSE CONTENT

Qualification aims and objectives

The aims and objectives of this qualification are to enable students to:

use specialist vocabulary, psychological concepts, terminology and convention to engage in the process of psychological enquiry
acquire knowledge and understanding of psychology, developing an understanding of self and others, and how psychological understanding can help to explain everyday social phenomena
understand how psychological research is conducted, including the role of scientific method and data analysis
present information, develop arguments and draw conclusions through a critical approach to psychological evidence, developing as reflective thinkers
develop an understanding of the relationship between psychology and personal, moral, social and cultural issues, and develop an understanding of ethical issues in psychology
develop an understanding of psychological issues, the contribution of psychology to individual, social and cultural diversity, and how psychology contributes to society.

Knowledge and understanding

Students will gain knowledge and understanding of key features of the following core areas of psychology through the study of the compulsory and optional topics in this specification, including research methods:

biological – an understanding of biological concepts in psychology, including neuroscience and genetics as contributors to behaviour
cognitive – an understanding of thought, information and mental processing as contributors to behaviour
social – an understanding of the social area of psychology, the impact of social and environmental factors on behaviour and the influence of groups
developmental – an understanding of how individuals change throughout their lives, with a particular focus on childhood and how both nature and nurture can affect individuals
individual differences – an understanding of the complex nature of human behaviour and experiences and why and how people are different.

Students

Students will also gain knowledge and understanding of:

debates in psychology, including ‘reductionism/holism’ and ‘nature/nurture’
how psychological knowledge and ideas change over time and how they inform our understanding of behaviour
the contribution of psychology to an understanding of individual, social and cultural diversity
the interrelationships of the core areas of psychology
how the studies for topics relate to the associated theory
research methods.

COURSE ASSESSMENT INFORMATION

Paper 1 (Paper code: 1PS0/01)

The assessment is 1 hour and 45 minutes.
The assessment is out of 98 marks.
The paper consists of six sections. Students must answer all questions in each section.
The first five sections will contain multiple-choice, short-open and open-response questions.
The sixth section will contain two extended open-response questions. These questions will focus on debates within psychology and the interrelationships between the core areas of psychology.

Content assessed

These topics are in Section A of the content. This paper may also draw on knowledge and understanding of investigations from Section C.

Topic 1: Development – How did you develop?
Topic 2: Memory – How does your memory work?
Topic 3: Psychological problems – How would psychological problems affect you?
Topic 4: The brain and neuropsychology – How does your brain affect you?
Topic 5: Social influence – How do others affect you?

Paper 2 (Paper code: 1PS0/02)

The assessment is 1 hour and 20 minutes.
The assessment is out of 79 marks.
This paper contains six sections.
The paper will include calculations, multiple-choice, short-open, open-response and extended-writing questions.
The paper will include questions that target mathematics at Key Stage 3.
Calculators may be used in the examination. Information on the use of calculators during the examinations for this qualification can be found in Appendix 2: Calculators.

Assessment overview

Students must answer:

All questions from Section A.
All questions from two sections – B to F.

Section A: How do you carry out psychological research?

This section will focus primarily on Topic 11: Research methods – How do you carry out psychological research? although it can draw on material from Topics 1 to 5 from Paper 1.

It will contain question types that include calculations, multiple-choice, short-open and open response questions, and one extended open-response question.

Sections B to F: Optional topics

Each of these sections covers one of the optional Topics 6 to 10. These sections will include multiple-choice, short-open and open-response questions, and one extended open-response question. Students will cover the optional topics below:

Topic 6: Criminal psychology – Why do people become criminals?
Topic 9: Sleep and dreaming – Why do you need to sleep and dream?

Assessment Objectives

Breakdown of Assessment Objectives

To read the tables please rotate to landscape or view on a larger screen.

YEAR 10
Term	Unit of Study (Questions)	Learning Themes and Order of Sequence
Autumn	Topic 1: Development – How did you develop?	Carol Dweck Mindset theory Early Brain Development Piaget’s stages of development Piaget’s (1956) 3 Mountains Task Study Piaget’s theory of cognitive development Willingham’s learning theory Gunderson et al (2013) development study Morality debate
Autumn	Topic 2: Memory – How does your memory work?	Information processing & structure Amnesia (Retrograde and Anterograde) Bartlett’s Reconstructive memory theory Bartlett’s War of the Ghost (1932) study Atkinson and Shiffrin’s (1968) Multi-store model of memory study Peterson & Peterson (1959) memory study Reductionism and Holism debate
Spring	Topic 4: The brain and neuropsychology – How does your brain affect you?	The structure and function of the brain Lateralisation of the brain Neurological study by Sperry (1968) The role of the central nervous system The impact of neurological damage Neurological study by Damasio (1994) How Psychology has changed over time debate
Spring	Topic 3: Psychological problems - How would psychological problems affect you? (Part summer term when 3 lessons per week)	Unipolar depression – symptoms and features Unipolar depression – genetic & cognitive theory explanations Treatments of unipolar depression Caspi et al (2003) study investigating mental health Addiction - symptoms and features Addiction - Learning theory explanation CBT as a treatment for addiction Young et al (2007) study investigating mental health Genetic theory explanation of addiction Drug therapy as a treatment for addiction Nature vs. Nurture debate
Summer	Topic 5: Social Influence – How do other affect you?	Bystander effect Social Influence study by Piliavin et al (1969) Key terms used in social influence Conformity Obedience to an authority figure Social Influence study by Zimbardo et al (1973) Behaviour of crowds Social and cultural issues in Psychology debate

YEAR 11
Term	Unit of Study (Questions)	Learning Themes and Order of Sequence
Autumn	Topic 9: Sleeping and dreaming – Why do you need to sleep and dream?	Features, functions and benefits of sleep Internal and external influences of sleep Symptoms and explanations of sleep disorders Freud (1900) theory of dreaming Freud (1909) study of Little Hans Hobson and McCarley (1977) activation-synthesis theory of dreaming Siffre (1975) Six months left alone in a cave study
Autumn	Topic 6: Criminal Psychology – Why do people become criminals?	Learning theories as an explanation of criminality Biological explanations of criminality Bandura, Ross and Ross study (1961) study on the transmission of aggression through the imitation of aggressive models. Charlton et al (2000) study based upon children’s playground behaviour across 5 years of television broadcast – A naturalistic study in a remote community. Understanding the effects of punishment on recidivism Treatments to rehabilitate and reduce criminal and anti-social behaviour and increase prosocial behaviour.
Spring & Summer	Topic 11: Research methods – How do you carry out Psychological research?	Designing Psychological research to set up variables under an investigation. Identifying and controlling extraneous variables Types of hypothesis and how to write them Sampling methods Different types of research and experimental designs Analysing research – the issues of reliability and/or validity Ethical issues Different research methods used by Psychologists Data analysis Descriptive statistics Illustrating data through graphs Differences between primary and secondary data Differences between quantitative and qualitative data Ethical issues associated with Psychological research

ENRICHMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Project work – practical experience of how to carry out Psychological research in a real-world context.
Post 16 collaboration work with John Rigby College

A LEVEL/BTEC REQUIREMENTS:

Students are usually required to have a 9 - 4 passes at GCSE to study A level or A/S Psychology in most colleges. St. John Rigby request in addition to any individual subject specific requirements, students will be expected to have the following qualifications to be guaranteed a place on an A level programme:

+ 2 GCSE grades at 6 or above and 4 GCSE grades at 4 or above. GCSE English Language must be included in this grade profile.

HOW TO SUPPORT YOUR CHILD'S LEARNING

Look at newspaper articles, and discuss how psychological could be applied to the stories.

Discuss topical news, and historical examples of where human behaviour can be debated and questioned.

Purchase texts and books to supplement home learning and post 16 reading.

Discuss real life graphs on the news or in papers

WHERE TO GO:

Freud Museum: London, England

Down House: London, England

Museum of the History of Psychological Instrumentation: Virtual

Bethlem Royal Hospital, London

The Wellcome Museum, London

The Science museum, London

WHAT TO WATCH:

28 Days (2000)

A beautiful mind (2001)

Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

Enough (2002)

Good Will hunting (1997)]

The Hurricane (1991)

Memento (2000)

One flew over the cuckoo nest (1975)

Rain Man (1998)

Black Swan (2010)

WHAT TO READ:

ONLINE:

Pearson Edexcel GCSE Psychology Website:

https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-gcses/psychology-2017.html

Seneca Learning:

https://senecalearning.com/en-GB/

Brain Scape:

https://www.brainscape.com/subjects/gcse-psychology

Quizlet:

https://quizlet.com/en-gb/content/gcse-psychology-revision

Psych central:

http://psychcentral.com/

Psychology Today:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/

Psych Blog:

http://www.spring.org.uk/

National Institute for National Health:

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/news/index.shtml

Medical News Today:

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/

FUTURE CAREERS:

Students may progress from this qualification to:

GCEs, for example in psychology, biology and geography
Level 3 vocational qualifications, for example the BTEC Level 3 in Health and Social Care, Applied Science and Children's Care, Learning and Development
employment in a wide range of careers (with further training), for example product
Management and general management, or a science-based apprenticeship.
Public services – Fire, police, ambulance services.
Health and wellness –

Employment directly related to a Psychology degree include:

Jobs where a Psychology degree would be useful include: