Psychology
Course content
Students studying Psychology at the Perse follow the CIE Pre-U specification. This different from A level because it is a two year linear course rather than a modular one.
We choose to offer the Pre-U specification rather than the A level for the following reasons:
- The specification is based on the study of original academic journal publications rather than a ‘watered-down’ A level textbook.
- The specification has extensive ‘explore more’ sections where students can access relevant websites, radio broadcasts, books, journal publications and other things. All of this stretches and challenges students for those who wish to take advantage of it.
- Students complete their own independent research. They formulate an idea, design a piece of research, conduct it and report it. Universities value independent research (such as the EPQ) and here it is included as an important component of the Psychology course. In fact A level specifications can no longer offer coursework, so Pre-U students have a major advantage when applying to university.
- The specification encourages students to be as up to date as possible. Via The Perse share point site students are kept up to date with all the latest research.
- The Pre-U course has its own grading structure. All nine Pre-U grades carry more UCAS points that the equivalent grade at A level but uniquely Pre-U has a Distinction 1 grade which is higher than the A* equivalent. High quality students can therefore achieve a higher grade than any A level.
Study in the Lower Sixth
This includes fifteen ‘key studies’, classic pieces of research that shaped the subject of psychology.
One is as old as 1909 (the work of Freud) and some are from the 1960s such as the work of Milgram on obedience to authority. Some studies are from the 1970s and 1980s relate to developmental psychology and children whilst others focus on what happens when the mind goes wrong and we become mentally ill. Some research from the 1990s and 2000s looks at modern technology and psychology such as the use of virtual reality and MRI (brain) scanners. The course covers various research methodologies such as laboratory experiments and also a range of theories. Seven of the studies address questions such as:
- Why we sleep and how eye movement is related to dream content
- Why we obey authority
- Why some people become compulsive gamblers
- What influences an eyewitness testimony
- Why some people develop body dysmorphic disorder
- Why facial symmetry makes a person attractive
- How our early childhood influences our adult relationships
Study in the Upper Sixth
In the second year two options are studied in-depth, taken from a choice of five (although not all options will be available):
- Psychology and Crime: criminal thinking patterns, forensic techniques, offender profiling, interrogation techniques and detecting lies, jury decision making, punishment and treatment of offenders.
- Psychology and Abnormality: schizophrenia, depression, phobias & obsessive-compulsive disorder, impulse control disorders (eg kleptomania, pyromania), dissociative disorder (e.g. multiple personality, amnesia), perspectives on abnormality.
- Psychology and Sport: motivation to succeed, aggression, sports personality, leadership, coaching and team cohesion, anxiety and sport performance, effects of an audience.
- Psychology and Environment: personal space, technological catastrophe (e.g. accidents), crowd behaviour, noise, environmental cognition & way-finding, crowding and density.
- Psychology and Health: doctor-patient relationship, pain, stress, health promotion, substance abuse (e.g. smoking), adherence to medical requests.
Assessment
Assessment is very varied. There are short answer questions, there are application questions and there are essay questions. A wide range of skills are tested in addition to the usual ‘describe and evaluate’. Although it is a two year course there are only the same number of examinations as for an AS and A2 course. The individual research project (similar to coursework) carries 20% of total marks and is internally assessed.
