Psychology

Head of Department: Kylie Crawley

Members of Department:

  • Bhavna Chouhan

Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behaviour. The human mind is the most complex machine on Earth. It is the source of all thought and behaviour. Students study theories about behaviour, key studies and research, as well as learning how to conduct their own experiments both at GCSE and A-level.

Rationale for Psychology at Morpeth

Psychology at Morpeth reflects the principles outlined in the whole school curriculum rationale by providing an appropriate, challenging and fully inclusive curriculum. Our curriculum takes into consideration the fact that pupils often come to the subject with underdeveloped literacy and numeracy skills, as well as a lack of subject specific terminology, serving to support learners development in all areas over the course. We do not require pupils to have met certain grade requirements to enter our Psychology course so this demonstrates the inclusive nature of our curriculum. We also aim to address disadvantage by making pupils aware of how Psychology applies to the real world, whilst encouraging wider reading and building cultural capital through extra-curricular activities. Stretch and challenge activities are embedded throughout the curriculum to encourage our higher prior attainment pupils to reach their full potential.

Our pupils are regularly assessed in line with the school’s Assessment Policy; encouraging a growth mindset allows pupils to learn from their errors.  Our regular feedback, which takes place in a number of forms, allows pupils to understand how they can move forward as well as giving them the independent skills to do this.

Psychology is not taught at KS3 but Psychology at Morpeth is an extremely popular subject taught at both KS4 and KS5. Our curriculum aims to encourage literacy, numeracy and oracy skills, and develops learners’ scientific skills through the opportunity to carry out and evaluate practicals.  Psychology at Morpeth allows learners the potential to access many areas of further education and employment as they are taught many transferable skills such as communication, group work and presentation skills.

Psychology underpins all aspects of an individual’s life, and we believe that a deeper understanding of the subject can help our learners to better understand themselves, the ever-changing and complex society in which they live and the world around them.  We also want our learners to develop a love of learning and a lifelong passion for Psychology…learning is serious but it should also be enjoyable.

We believe our curriculum:

  • addresses prejudice and discrimination
  • teaches vital information about mental health issues and other areas including brain development
  • helps our learners understand how they learn
  • Equips them for future studies by teaching independence.

Although we are to an extent ‘guided’ by the exam board (Pearson) specifications, the order in which we teach various units is definitely not ‘ad hoc’; we have thought carefully about the sequencing of units and how they best benefit our pupils in developing their understanding of the subject, where one unit builds on previous knowledge and ties into the next topic, or future topics.

Key Stage 4

GCSE Psychology at Morpeth follows the Edexcel spec and is studied over 1 year and can be chosen as an option in either years 9, 10, or 11. The course is the new 9-1 GCSE, contains 8 topics as well as open-ended questions about the debates in psychology and is assessed through two examinations.

Paper 1:  Written examination 1 hour and 45 minutes (55% of final grade)

  • Topic 1: Development - How do you develop?
  • Topic 2: Memory – How does your memory work?
  • Topic 3: Psychological problems – How would psychological problems affect you?
  • Topic 4: The brain and neuropsychology – How does your brain affect you?
  • Topic 5: Social influence – How do others affect you?

Paper 2:  Written examination 1 hour and 20 minutes (45% of final grade)

Topics 6 to 10 are optional – students must study two of them. Topic 11 is compulsory.

  • Topic 6: Criminal psychology – Why do people become criminals?
  • Topic 7: The self – What makes you who you are?
  • Topic 8: Perception – How do you interpret the world around you?
  • Topic 9: Sleep and dreaming – Why do you need to sleep and dream?
  • Topic 10: Language, thought and communication – How do you communicate with others?
  • Topic 11: Research methods – How do you carry out psychological research?

We arrange a selection of extracurricular events in order for students to develop their research skills and see Psychology in action.  These could include a visit to the Zoo, the Welcome Museum, as well as guest speakers.

Key Stage 5

A level Psychology at Morpeth follows the AQA specification and is taught over 2 years with three exams at the end of the two years, and is comprised of the following:

In Year 12 students gain a broad knowledge of Psychology by studying social influence, memory, attachment, approaches in Psychology, psychopathy and research methods. They then apply their knowledge and skills to a number of multiple choice, short answer and extended writing questions.

In Year 13 they will study a number of optional units, including relationships, schizophrenia and aggression, as well as revisiting biopsychology, research methods and the wider issues and debates in Psychology.

In social influence students will investigate areas such as conformity, obedience and minority influence. In memory students will also learn about models of memory, look at case studies of brain damaged patients, investigate explanations for forgetting and the accuracy of eyewitness testimony.  In attachment they will look at stages of attachment, the role of the father, deprivation and the effects on adult relationships. In psychopathology they look at definitions of abnormality, phobias, depression, OCD and explanations and treatments for these conditions.

In each approach students will be required to perform mathematical calculations and undertake scientific research; thus they will need to be familiar with subject specific terminology of a scientific and mathematical nature. A key component of the course is designing and conducting their own experiments, as well as reviewing them.

Students investigate the approaches in Psychology (behaviourist, cognitive, biological, psychodynamic and humanistic) and they are required to compare these approaches. In Year 13, they look at biopsychology including the nervous and endocrine systems, synaptic transmission, function of the brain, neural plasticity and ways of studying the brain and biological rhythms. They will of course re-visit the research methods they have learned about in Year 12 throughout their course. Issues and Debates is another theme that flows throughout – pupils will investigate gender and culture, free will and determinism, the nature-nurture debate, holism and reductionism, idiographic and nomothetic approaches and consider the ethical implications of research.

In the relationships option, pupils will look at evolutionary explanations for partner preference, factors affecting attraction, theories of romantic relationships, virtual relationships and social media and parasocial relationships.

In the schizophrenia option, they look at explanations for this disorder, therapies for treating and the management of schizophrenia. Finally, in aggression, they look at neural and hormonal mechanism in aggression, genetic factors, ethology and evolution, as well as examining various explanations of aggression, and institutional aggression and how media influences aggression and desensitisation.

Students are encouraged to widen their studies and are supported with extra-curricular activities and events, such as guest speakers, student conferences and theatre trips.

The department is continuously updating and reviewing resources.  We have a large and growing selection of books and publications and magazines for students to further and consolidate their knowledge.

Other Important Information

  • We subscribe to Psychology publications and magazines that are aimed at developing your subject knowledge and exam skills.
  • We have over 30 Horizon programmes on various psychological issues/debates available for loan.
  • We also lend out various novels (We need to talk about Kevin, The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime)
  • We have numerous non-fiction books such as Bad Science, Jigsaw man, and Opening Skinner's Box to borrow.
  • There are many Psychology related DVDs including A beautiful Mind, Rain Man, Green Street, One flew over the cuckoo's nest, 50 First dates and Shutter Island to watch.
  • We attend workshops and university open days to give you a taste of Psychology at university. Each term two students from each class are rewarded for their achievement.  These are chosen at teachers’ discretion but are generally for improvement or academic achievement.
  • Regularly, certificates are sent home to parents, as well as postcards notifying parents and carers of the progress made by their child.

Assessment Plans

Key Stage 4 Psychology Assessment Plan

Year 12 Psychology Assessment Plan

Year 13 Psychology Assessment Plan