Science Department
AS AND
PSYCHOLOGY
AS (7181)
A-level (7182)
For teaching from September 2015 onwards
For AS exams in May/June 2016 onwards
For A-level exams in May/June 2017 onwards
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Course outline
We follow the AQA specification. More information can be found here:
http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/psychology/as-and-a-level/psychology-7181-7182
For the AS, there are two exams. Each exam has 72 marks available, lasts 90 minutes and
contributes 50% to the final AS grade. The topics in each exam are summarised below:
Introductory Topics in Psychology
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Social Influence
Memory
Attachment
Psychology in Context
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Approaches in Psychology
Psychopathology
Research Methods
For the A level, there are three exams. Each exam has 96 marks available, lasts 2 hours and
contributes 33.3% to the final grade. The topics in each exam are summarised below:
Introductory Topics in
Psychology




Social Influence
Memory
Attachment
Psychopathology
Psychology in Context
 Approaches in Psychology
 Biopsychology
 Research Methods
Issues and Options in
Psychology
 Issues and Debates in
Psychology
 One from: Relationships;
Gender; Cognition and
Development
 One from: Schizophrenia,
Eating Behaviour; Stress
 One from: Aggression;
Forensic Psychology;
Addiction
There will be a range of multiple choice, short answer and extended writing questions on
each exam paper. There is no coursework.
Formative Assessments
These assessments will consist of one or more exam-style questions answered in lessons or
for homework. Teachers will provide feedback as to how to improve the specific elements of
the course described above but no grade will be given. Deadlines will be confirmed as and
when homework is set.
Summative Assessments
Formal mocks will take place in December and March and grades will be reported for these.
Other tests will also be undertaken at regular intervals. Approximately 50% of the marks on
these will be new content and 50% will review previous content so that students are
continually revising and consolidating their knowledge of the whole course.
Welcome!
Please fill in this quick information sheet to tell us about you…
Name:
In order of workload (from highest to lowest), what subjects are you studying
this year?
Why did you choose this subject this year?
What are your plans for after school? What would you like to do? What are
your hopes, your aims, your goals?
What is the most important question you want us (as teachers) to answer?
Please confirm you have downloaded and read through the specification for
this subject.
□ Yes
What’s the most amazing science fact in the universe? (Link it to the subject!)
Transition work
The following tasks will help you to prepare for your Psychology course. Remember that all
work needs to be in your own words and you need to add a list at the end of any sources
(e.g. websites) that you used.
Useful sources for preparatory work and general background reading:
 Any AS Psychology textbook that you can borrow from a friend/relative/the library
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind
 http://www.simplypsychology.org/
 http://digest.bps.org.uk/
1. Psychology is a new subject for most people. Write a short definition (no more than
25 words) describing what it is. This could be what you already know or you may
wish to do some further research.
2. Psychology is organised into a number of diverse areas. To give you an idea of the
sorts of theories and studies you will learn about, research the following and
summarise the information that you find.
a. Choose one of: Milgram’s study of obedience, Zimbardo’s prison experiment
or Asch’s study of conformity. Write down the aim, procedure, findings and
conclusion.
b. The multi-store model of memory and working memory model. You may want
to use diagrams.
3. One of the topics that you will be assessed on is Research Methods. You will also be
expected to apply this knowledge across the range of studies that you cover. In order
to help you with this, write a glossary of the following terms and find at least one
strength and one weakness of each method. This will provide a useful reference
document for later use.
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Experimental method
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Laboratory experiment
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Field experiment
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Natural experiment
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Quasi experiment
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Naturalistic observation
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Controlled observation
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Covert observation
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Overt observation
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Participant observation
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Non-participant observation
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Self-report techniques
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Questionnaire
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Structured interview
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Unstructured interview
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Correlation
That is the end of the
transition work. Phew!
Please email:
[email protected]
if you have any queries and I’ll pass
them on to the relevant teacher.
Thank you,
Mr Powell
Head of Science