Year 12 — Psychology

Term 1: Social Influence

Students will study several core themes within this unit: conformity; obedience; resistance to social influence; minority influence; and the role of social influence processes in social change. Furthermore, students will gain an understanding of research that supports these elements. Students will also continue to develop their evaluation skills as they will be expected to discuss the strengths and limitations of the different explanations of social infleunce and the supporting research.

Students will be informally assessed throughout and formally within mock exams and end of topic assessments.

Agentic state

Individual carries out the orders of another person, acting as their agent with little personal responsibility

Conformity

Changing what we do think or say in response to others

Dispositional attribution

Explanation of individual behavior as a result caused by internal characteristics that reside within the individual

Internalisation

Where people change their beliefs permanently

Locus of control

Extent to which individuals believe they can control events in their lives

Minority influence

Where a individual or small group influence attitudes and behaviour of a larger group

Obedience

Complying with the demands of an authority figure

Situational variables

Features of an environment that affect the degree to which individuals yield to group pressures

Social roles

The parts individuals play as part of a social group

Unanimity

Complete agreement from a group of people about an issue or question

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:

Students will gain an understanding of their individual personalities and the theoretical reasoning behind conforming and obeying.

Create a supportive community:

Students will gain an understanding of their individual personalities and the theoretical reasoning behind conforming and obeying.

Term 2: Memory

Students will study several keys areas in memory research. These include: models of memory; types of long-term memory; explanations for forgetting; factors that affect eye-witness testimony; and improving the accuracy of eye-witness testimony. Students will develop their understanding of supporting research and be able to evaluate each of the topics studied within this unit.

Students will be assessed informally throughout, and formally within mock exams and end of topic assessments. These will comprise of exam style questions and essays. The essays will be written under timed conditions. As the unit progresses students will advance from writing essays with the support of plans to completing them without the aid of notes or a plan.

Articulatory process

Part of the phonological loop that repeats sounds or words to keep them in working memory until they are needed

Central executive

Part of working memory that coordinates other components

Episodic buffer

Part of working memory which is a temporary store integrating information from the other components

Forgetting

Failure to retrieve memories

Phonological loop

Part of working memory that deals with auditory information

Procedural memory

Long-term memory for "knowing how" processes occur

Retrieval failure

Difficulties in recall that are due to the absence of the correct retrieval cues

Schema

A cognitive framework or concept that helps organize and interpret information

Semantic memory

Type of long-term memory for information about the world that is not linked to particular contexts or events

Working memory model

Model that suggests short-term memory is composed of three, limited capacity stores

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:

SStudents will be able to use the research into memory, forgetting and recall which will help them develop their own study skills.

Create a supportive community:

Students will be able to use the research into memory, forgetting and recall which will help them develop their own study skills.

Term 4: Research Methods

Students will develop their knowledge and understanding of research methods, practical research skills and mathematical skills throughout this unit. An understanding of research will be built from the development of aims and hypotheses, experimental designs, experiemntal and non-experimental methods, types of variables, ethical considerations, to the publication of findings and the implications of psychological research to the economy. Furthermore, students will gain an understanding of the mathematical skills required to analyse data.

Students will be informally assessed throught the unit and formally assessed during the first assessment week.

Aim

The researcher’s area of interest – what they are looking at (e.g. to investigate helping behaviour).

Behavioural categories

Key behaviours or, collections of behaviour, that the researcher conducting the observation will pay attention to and record

Case study

In-depth investigation of a single person, group or event, where data are gathered from a variety of sources and by using several different methods (e.g. observations & interviews).

Correlational analysis

A mathematical technique where the researcher looks to see whether scores for two covariables are related

Dependent variable

The variable that is measured to tell you the outcome.

Hypothesis

This is a formal statement or prediction of what the researcher expects to find. It needs to be testable.

Significance

If the result of a statistical test is significant it is highly unlikely to have occurred by chance

Pilot study

A small scale study conducted to ensure the method will work according to plan. If it doesn’t then amendments can be made.

Internal validity

In relation to experiments, whether the results were due to the manipulation of the IV rather than other factors such as extraneous variables or demand characteristics.

Independent variable

The variable that the experimenter manipulates (changes).

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:

Students will gain an understanding of their individual personalities and the theoretical reasoning behind conforming and obeying.

Create a supportive community:

Students will gain an understanding of their individual personalities and the theoretical reasoning behind conforming and obeying.

Term 3: Attachment

Within this unit students will study several key concepts that can influence attachment or explain the influence of early attachments. The key topics studied in this unit are: caregiver-infant interactions; multiple attachments; the role of the father; animal and human studies of attachment; Ainsworth's Strange Situation and cultural variations; Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation; the effects of institutionalisation; and the influence of early attachment on later relationships. Students will also be able to evaluate each of the topics studied so that they are able to develop in-depth discussions within the exam.

Students will be informally assessed throughout the topic, and formally within the mock exams and end of topic assessments. Assessments will comprise of exam style questions and essays. The essays will be written under timed conditions. As the unit progresses students will advance from writing essays with the support of plans to completing unseen questions.

Affectionless psychopathy

A term used by Bowlby to describe people who don't show concern or affection for other people and show no or very little remorse or guilt

Critical period

A time period where an attachment has to form or it never will

Indiscriminate attachment

Infants aged 2-7 months can discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar people but does not show stranger anxiety

Insecure avoidant attachment

Attachment classification in Strange Situation where child shows low stranger and separation anxiety and little response to reunion

Maternal deprivation hypothesis

Separation from the mother figure in early childhood has serious consequences

proximity seeking

The way that infants try to maintain physical contact or be close to their attachment figure

Stranger anxiety

Degree of distress shown by an infant when with unfamiliar people

Secure attachment

Most desirable attachment classification in Strange Situation where child shows separation anxiety, stranger anxiety and joy on reunion

Temperament

The characteristics and aspects of personality an infant is born with and that might impact on its attachment type

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:

Gaining a deeper understanding of insecure and secure attachment styles to parenting will enable them to appreciate their won and develop their present and future relationships.

Create a supportive community:

Gaining a deeper understanding of the importance of childhood attachment to primary caregivers will enable them to better interact with children and understand how they develop and the effects on their development in later adult life and relationships.

Term 5 & 6: Approaches & Biopsychology

Within this unit, students will develop an understanding of the origins of psychology, and the basic assumptions of the core approaches in psychology. Students will study the following approaches: Behaviourism; Social Learning Theory; Cognitive Approach; Biological Approach; Psychodynamic Approach; and Humanism. Furthermore, they will study elements of biopsychology. Evaluation skills will also be developed in this topic so that students are able to write an in-depth discussion of each approach.

This unit will be assessed informally throughout, within mock exams, and also at the end of the unit. Assessments will comprise of exam style questions and essays. The essays will be written under timed conditions. As the unit progresses students will advance from writing essays with the support of plans to completing them unaided.

Identification

Associating with a role model's and adopting their behaviour because you want to be like them

Inference

Process of drawing conclusions about general patterns of behaviour

Imitation

Copying or reproducing behaviour that has been learned through observation

Natural selection

The way that any genetically determined behaviour that enhances the ability to survive and reproduce will continue in future generations

Negative reinforcement

Avoiding or removing something unpleasant when a behaviour is performed that increases the chance tha the behaviour is repeated

Operant conditioning

Learning through reinforcement where behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences

Phenotype

The expression of a person's genetic make-up that can be influenced by the environment

Schemas

Mental frameworks of information that we use to organise past experience and to interpret and respond to new situations.

Social learning theory

The view that people learn through observing others

Vicarious reinforcement

Observing someone else being reinforced for a behaviour and the consequences of their actions

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:

Within this unit, students will be able to understand a holistic view of explaining human behaviour from a variety of different perspectives. Through this, students can understand why people behave the way they do and can then use this knowledge to develop their own character education by weighing contextual and social situations, particularly by gaining an understanding to how and why people learn.

Create a supportive community:

This unit entails sharing of opinions, discussion, debates and comparison of approaches. This means that students will learn to formulate and share their thoughts about a variety of topics; this will enable them to be part of a sense of supportive learning community.

Term 6: Approaches & Biopsychology

Within this unit, students will develop an understanding of the origins of psychology, and the basic assumptions of the core approaches in psychology. Students will study the following approaches: Behaviourism; Social Learning Theory; Cognitive Approach; Biological Approach; Psychodynamic Approach; and Humanism. Furthermore, they will study elements of biopsychology, which includes the nervous system, hormones, the brain and ways of studying the brain. Evaluation skills will also be developed in this topic so that students are able to write an in-depth discussion of each approach.

This unit will be assessed informally throughout, within mock exams, and also at the end of the unit. Assessments will comprise of exam style questions and essays. The essays will be written under timed conditions. As the unit progresses students will advance from writing essays with the support of plans to completing them unaided.

ACTH

Hormone released by the pituitary gland. Stimulates the adrenal glands to release adrenaline into the bloodstream

Action potential

A spike in electric charge in an axon caused by sodium ions crossing the cell membrane.

Adrenal glands

Small glands on top of each kidney that produce hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol

Autonomic nervous system

Sub-division of the peripheral nervous system that controls involuntary responses like breathing and heart rate

Behaviourism

The theory that human and animal behaviour can be explained in terms of conditioning, without considering thoughts or feelings

Classical conditioning

Learning through association when two stimuli are repeatedly paired together

Cognitive neuroscience

An academic field that studies the influence of brain structures on mental processes using techniques such as brain scans

Concordance rate

The extent to which both twins share the same characteristic

Chromosome

Hold the genetic material that is passed between parents and offspring. Humans have 23 pairs

Axon terminal

The very end of the axon that contains neurotransmitters and makes synaptic contact with the next neuron in the chain

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:

Within this unit, students will be able to understand a holistic view of explaining human behaviour from a variety of different perspectives. Through this, students can understand why people behave the way they do and can then use this knowledge to develop their own character education by weighing contextual and social situations, particularly by gaining an understanding to how and why people learn.

Create a supportive community:

This unit entails sharing of opinions, discussion, debates and comparison of approaches. This means that students will learn to formulate and share their thoughts about a variety of topics; this will enable them to be part of a sense of supportive learning community.