OCR
Why Study Psychology?
Have you ever wondered what makes people tick or behave the way they do? If so, Psychology could be a great A Level for you to study! Psychology is all about the scientific study of the mind and human behaviour, from the formation of memories through to the functioning of the central and peripheral nervous system, neurotransmitters and hormones. Psychology is demanding yet rewarding. It will demand your attention for key studies representing five key areas of Investigation in Psychology. It will also require you to become familiar with four techniques of collecting data, so you get the opportunity to carry out your self-report, observation, experiment and correlation. The rewards include insights into many aspects of human behaviour – including your own!
What does the course involve?
The OCR specification on offer involves 3 units of study (entirely assessed by examination at the end of the two year course).
Core Studies have been chosen to demonstrate the strengths and limitations of psychology as well as consider both a classic and contemporary study on the same area. The aim for the Key Studies will be to look at a little background material for each and then to look at how each study relates to an area of psychology. Lesson time will also be used to develop study skills – in other words putting the studies to use in the ways you’ll need for the exam. Here our subject matter should give us a unique advantage: Psychology helps us to understand how we learn, and we will be applying this understanding to our own work.
A Level focuses on five core areas of Psychology; Cognitive Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Physiological Psychology, Social Psychology and the Psychology of Individual Differences. Alongside this is the practical component where students plan, carry out and evaluate their own investigations. In the Applied Psychology unit, you will learn about applications of Psychology, in three key areas, Mental Health issues, Child Psychology and Criminal Psychology and how theory is applied in real life situations as well as covering approaches, perspectives, methods, issues and debates that run through Psychology.
What skills are involved?
Psychologists have to be good communicators with an ability to critically evaluate competing arguments. Psychology also involves looking at statistics and strong numerical and data-handling skills are commonly used to look at research. 10% of the marks awarded for this A level are from Mathematical content. As such it is a subject that suits academic ‘all-rounders’ who have a good eye for details and enjoy being able to critically analyse a piece of research.
How is the course assessed?
There are three units of assessment within the A level course:
Research Methods (01) written paper (2 hours) - 33.3% of the total marks
Psychological themes through core studies (02) written paper (2 hours) - 33.3% of total marks
Applied psychology (03) written paper (2 hours) - 33.3% of total marks
Requirements to study Psychology
In order to study Psychology at A Level you should have a grade 6 or above in English and Mathematics, although interest, enthusiasm, organisation and determination are the key characteristics of a successful Psychology student.