INTRODUCTION TO YEAR 13 PSYCHOLOGY AQA Specification A for 2012

Units 3 and 4  Unit 3  1 ½ hours (June)  75 marks  Choice of 3 topics out of 8 topics –  24 marks each (8 AO1 and 16 AO2/3)  Unit 4  2 hours (January)  83 marks  3 sections  A – psychopathology 24 mark answer  B – anomalistic  Small questions adding up 24 marks  C- Research methods small questions adding up to 35 marks

Overview of A2 course  There are two exams  One in January (unit 4)  One in June (unit 3)  THERE IS NO COURSEWORK

UNIT 3  TOPICS IN PSYCHOLOGY  1.Biological rhythms and sleep  2.Perception  3.Relationships  4.Aggression  5.Eating behaviour  6. Gender  7.Intelligence  8. Cognition and development  It is only necessary to study 3 out of the 8 topics. This is likely to be:  Gender  Aggression  Eating behaviour or Sleep  3 short essays – 24 marks  1 ½ hours  75 marks overall  June

Unit 3: Biological rhythms and sleep  Biological rhythms  Circadian, infradian, and ultradian rhythms including the role of endogenous pacemakers and of exogenous zeitgebers in the control of circadian rhythms.

BIOLOGICAL RHYTHMS & SLEEP  Sleep  The nature of sleep including the stages of sleep and lifespan changes.  The functions of sleep including evolutionary and restoration explanations.

BIOLOGICAL RHYTHMS & SLEEP  Disorders of sleep  Explanations for sleep disorders, including insomnia, sleep walking and narcolepsy.

UNIT 3 : AGGRESSION  Social psychological approaches to explaining aggression  Social psychological theories of aggression, for example, social learning theory, deindividuation  Explanations of institutional aggression

AGGRESSION  Biological explanations of aggression  The role of genetic factors in aggressive behaviour  The role of neural and hormonal mechanisms in aggression

AGGRESSION  Evolution and human aggression  Evolutionary explanations of human aggression, including infidelity and jealousy  Evolutionary explanations of group display in humans, for example sport and warfare.

UNIT 3: EATING BEHAVIOUR  Eating behaviour  Factors influencing attitudes to food and eating behaviour, for example cultural influences, mood, health concerns  Explanations for the success and failure of dieting

EATING BEHAVIOUR  Biological explanations of eating behaviour  The role of neural mechanisms involved in controlling eating  Evolutionary explanations of food preference

EATING BEHAVIOUR  Eating disorders  In relation to either anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa or obesity:  Psychological explanations  Biological explanations, including neural and evolutionary explanations.

UNIT 4 overview  SECTION A: PSYCHOPATHOLOGY  SECTION B: PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION – one choice from three – Anomalistic  SECTION C: RESEARCH METHODS

UNIT 4: SECTION A PSYCHOPATHOLOGY  Candidates will be expected to:  Develop knowledge and understanding of one of the following:  Schizophrenia  Depression  Anxiety disorders (phobia / OCD)  Apply knowledge and understanding of models, classification and diagnosis to the chosen disorder, including reliability and validity.

PSYCHOPATHOLOGY  Biological explanations of the chosen disorder, for example, genetics, biochemistry  Psychological explanation of the chosen disorder, for example, behavioural, cognitive, psychodynamic and socio-cultural  Biological therapies for the chosen disorder, including their evaluation in terms of appropriateness and effectiveness  Psychological therapies for the chosen disorder, for example, behavioural, psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioural, including their evaluation in terms of appropriateness and effectiveness

UNIT 4: SECTION B Psychology in action  1.Media Psychology  2.The Psychology of Addictive Behaviour  3.Anomalistic Psychology  It is only necessary to study one of the above topics.

MEDIA PSYCHOLOGY  Media influences on social behaviour  Media and persuasion  The psychology of celebrity

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADDICTIVE BEHAVIOUR  Models of addictive behaviour  Vulnerability to addiction  Reducing addictive behaviour

ANOMALISTIC PSYCHOLOGY  The study of anomalous experience  Pseudoscience and the scientific status of parapsychology  Methodological issues related to the study of paranormal cognition (ESP, including Ganzfeld) and paranormal action (psychokinesis)

ANOMALISTIC PSYCHOLOGY cont.  Explanations for anomalous experience  The role of coincidence and probability judgements in anomalous experience  Explanations for superstitious behaviour and magical thinking  Personality factors underlying anomalous experience

ANOMALISTIC PSYCHOLOGY cont.  Research into exceptional experience  Psychological research into and explanations for:  Psychic healing  Out-of-body and near- death experience  Psychic mediumship

UNIT 4: SECTION C Psychological research and scientific method  The application of scientific methodology in psychology  Designing psychological investigations  Data analysis and reporting on investigations  Features, process, validating new knowledge  Research methods, reliability and validity, ethical considerations  Probability and significance, dealing with quantitative and qualitative data, reporting investigations

Unit 3 : RELATIONSHIPS  Romantic relationships theory  The formation, maintenance and breakdown of romantic relationships

RELATIONSHIPS  Human reproductive behaviour  The relationship between sexual selection and human reproductive behaviour  Evolutionary explanations of parental investment, for example sex differences, parent- offspring conflict

RELATIONSHIPS  Effects of early experience and culture on adult relationships  The influence of childhood and adolescent experiences on adult relationships, including parent-child relationships and interaction with peers.  The nature of relationships in different cultures.