Aims & Objectives

Course Aims

• Encourage the systematic and critical study of: human experience and behaviour; physical, economic and social environments; and the history and development of social and cultural institutions

• Develop in the student the capacity to identify, to analyse critically and to evaluate theories, concepts and arguments about the nature and activities of the individual and society

• Enable the student to collect, describe and analyse data used in studies of society, to test hypotheses, and to interpret complex data and source material

• Promote the appreciation of the way in which learning is relevant both to the culture in which the student lives, and the culture of other societies

• Develop an awareness in the student that human attitudes and beliefs are widely diverse and that the study of society requires an appreciation of such diversity

• Enable the student to recognize that the content and methodologies of the individuals and societies subjects are contestable and that their study requires the toleration of uncertainty

• Develop an understanding of the biological, cognitive and sociocultural factors affecting mental processes and behaviour

• Apply an understanding of the biological, cognitive and sociocultural factors affecting mental processes and behaviour to at least one applied area of study

• Understand diverse methods of inquiry

• Understand the importance of ethical practice in psychological research in general and observe ethical practice in their own inquiries

• Ensure that ethical practices are upheld in all psychological inquiry and discussion

• Develop an awareness of how psychological research can be applied to address real-world problems and promote positive change

Assessment Objectives

Knowledge and comprehension of specified content

• demonstrate knowledge and comprehension of key terms and concepts in psychology

• demonstrate knowledge and comprehension of a range of psychological theories and research studies

• demonstrate knowledge and comprehension of the biological, cognitive and sociocultural approaches to mental processes and behaviour

• demonstrate knowledge and comprehension of research methods used in psychology

Application and analysis

• demonstrate an ability to use examples of psychological research and psychological concepts to formulate an argument in response to a specific question

• demonstrate application and analysis of a range of psychological theories and research studies

• demonstrate application and analysis of the knowledge relevant to areas of applied psychology

• at HL only, analyse qualitative and quantitative research in psychology

Synthesis and evaluation

• evaluate the contribution of psychological theories to understanding human psychology

• evaluate the contribution of research to understanding human psychology

• evaluate the contribution of the theories and research in areas of applied psychology

• at HL only, evaluate research scenarios from a methodological and ethical perspective

Selection and use of skills appropriate to psychology

• demonstrate the acquisition of skills required for experimental design, data collection and presentation, data analysis and the evaluation of a simple experiment while demonstrating ethical practice

• work in a group to design a method for a simple experimental investigation, organize the investigation and record the required data for a simple experiment

• write a report of a simple experiment