Sigma Sixth Tendring Course Guide

A LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY “A failure is not always a mistake, it may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying.” BF Skinner Psychology uses science to help us navigate and make sense of the human brain, an organ which is more complex than anything else we have discovered in our universe. It contains hundreds of billions of cells which link together to form trillions of connections. Psychology teaches us to understand human behaviour and mental processes to better navigate emotions. It uses strong scientific principles to build theories of the mind and how it dictates and influences our behaviour, from human interaction, communication and memory, to thought and emotion. Studying psychology at Sigma Sixth provides a firm understanding of science as applied to human behaviour through an understanding of observation, measurement and testing. As well as employing psychologists in diverse areas such as clinical, education, health, occupational and sport, psychology is useful in a wide range of careers which involve communicating or understanding people. CURRICULUM STATEMENT • Research Methods – focused on mathematical skills and a study of experiments, observation, self-report and correlation. • Core studies – an in-depth study of twenty important psychological studies organised into key themes each with an historical and contemporary focus. • Approaches – a study of the different perspectives taken by psychologists in studying human behaviour: biological, social, cognitive, individual differences, developmental, psychodynamic and behaviourism. • Debates and issues – a consideration of the great debates in science, such as nature/nurture, freewill/determinism, reductionism/holism and ethical considerations. • Options – a focus on applied areas of psychology such as clinical, criminal and environmental psychology. COURSE CONTENT Students need to have achieved a minimum of 6 grades 5-9 incl. English and maths. ENTRY CRITERIA