| Term 1 | Social Influence and Research Methods | |
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| Teacher 1: Students will begin by studying the 'Research Methods' unit. Research methods underpin all areas of psychology and involves learning about how psychologists research their chosen topics. This will start with a focus on experiments, their different types and how they are designed and controlled. Students will then learn about observations and ethical issues.
Teacher 2: Students will begin with the 'Social Influence' topic which considers research into types, explanations and factors that affect of conformity and obedience. This includes focus on classic psychological research including Milgram and Zimbardo.
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| Assessment: Students will be assessed with some short answer questions in the first few weeks of learning building up to two 30 minute assessments which reflect the real exam papers in each unit. | Key Words and Terms |
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| Term 2 | Social Influence and Research Methods | |
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| Teacher 1: Students will continue their study of research methods by learning about self-report methods, correlations and data analysis. Students will also consider how research in psychology affects the economy.
Teacher 2: Students will complete the social influence unit by studying resistance to social influence, minority influence and the role of social influence in social change. |
| Assessment: Students will be assessed fortnightly with 24 mark (30 minutes) timed exam papers for both teachers. These involve a mix of multiple choice, short answers and essay questions. At the end of this term students will also sit a 1 hour paper in research methods (48 marks). | Key Words and Terms |
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| Term 3 | Research Methods, Memory and Psychopathology | |
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| Teacher 1: Students will complete the research methods unit by learning the importance of validity and reliability in psychological research as well as how to design research studies. Students will then begin the study of Psychopathology starting with how we define abnormality in psychology, including the strengths and weaknesses of each method.
Teacher 2: Students will then begin the Memory unit starting with the psychological research on short-term and long-term memory including its coding, capacity and duration. Learning will then focus study of working memory and the working memory model, followed by factors affecting forgetting.
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| Assessment: Students will sit a formal set of assessments at the beginning of this term. This will involve a 90 minute, 72 mark paper (24 marks on Social Influence and 48 marks on Research Methods). Students will then be assessed fortnightly with 24 mark (30 minutes) timed exam papers for both teachers. These involve a mix of multiple choice, short answers and essay questions. | Key Words and Terms |
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| Term 4 | Psychopathology, Memory and Attachment psychology | |
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| Teacher 1: Students will continue and complete the psychopathology unit with a study of phobias, depression and OCD. Students will need to know the characteristics, explanations and treatments of each of these according to the behaviourist approach, cognitive approach and biological approaches respectively.
Teacher 2: Students will then complete the Memory unit by studying research into eyewitness testimonies; factors affecting them and techniques to improve them. Students will then begin the Attachment unit by studying research into care-giver infant interactions and the role of the father, followed by stages of attachments.
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| Assessment: Students will be assessed fortnightly with 24 mark (30 minutes) timed exam papers for both teachers. These involve a mix of multiple choice, short answers and essay questions. | Key Words and Terms |
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| Term 5 | Statistical analysis and Attachment psychology | |
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| Teacher 1: Students will then learn how statistical analysis works in psychology with a focus on a number of different statistical tests and how to use these in application to findings of psychological research.
Teacher 2: Students will complete the attachment unit in this term with a study of animal research in attachment and explanations of attachment, types of attachment (including cultural variations), maternal deprivation theory, research into Romanian orphans and the effects of early attachments on later life. |
| Assessment: Students will be assessed fortnightly with 24 mark (30 minutes) timed exam papers for both teachers. These involve a mix of multiple choice, short answers and essay questions. | Key Words and Terms |
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| Term 6 | Approaches and Bio-Psychology | |
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| Teacher 1: Students will begin studying approaches in psychology with a focus on the emergence of psychology and learning theories.
Teacher 2: Students will begin studying Bio-psychology with a study of the nervous system, endocrine system and the structure and functions of neurons.
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| Assessment: Students will complete end of year exams in this term. For Psychology this will include a full paper 1 (Social influence, Memory, Attachment and Social Influence) and a partial paper 2 (Research Methods). | Key Words and Terms |
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