Psychology

Course summary

Why study this subject? Psychology is the study of human behaviour and mental processes, so if you are interested and curious about these then you should choose to study this subject. Psychology bridges the gap between arts and sciences and as such it is not out of place alongside the three sciences or the arts/humanities. Psychology students benefit from the opportunity to develop extended writing and research methods skills, alongside utilising biological and mathematical knowledge. Many students choose psychology because they want to study a new subject, to make a change from those they have taken at GCSE. Not only is it an exciting and intriguing subject (which many students choose to pursue to degree level at Oxbridge and other top universities), but it also provides an ideal foundation for many university courses including medicine, law, economics and media. Course content First year topics include: • Social influence, looking at reasons such as why we obey authority. • Human memory and why we remember some things and forget others. • How our attachments to our primary caregivers affect who we develop into. • What is normal and abnormal human behaviour. • How do we treat the behaviour we deem abnormal. • How Psychologists use different research methods to study the different areas of Psychology. Second year topics include: • Issues and debates, students discuss for example the relative contribution of nature and nurture to human behaviour. • Relationships, looking at factors which influence attraction and the process of a relationship breakdown. • Schizophrenia, biological and psychological factors influencing the development and treatment of schizophrenia. • Forensic psychology, including offender profiling and explanations for offending behaviour.