Psychology

Course summary

Our aim in psychology is to enable students to be able to comprehend a wide range of psychological theory, with the ability to critically analyse them. There is also a practical element to psychology where students will be expected to plan, conduct, and analyse their own psychological research. This will enable students to deepen their understanding of how science plays an important role in psychology. Students will be expected to work in small groups to prepare presentations and to conduct investigations, but will also be expected to work autonomously on research and essay writing tasks. To improve their understanding of psychological concepts and how they play a role in human interaction it is important that the students broaden their reading from their textbook. Students should complete extra reading throughout their course that gives detailed examples of psychological theory at work in real life. Psychology is a social science that offers students the opportunity to investigate the motivations behind the human mind. Through the study of Psychology A Level, students develop knowledge and understanding of key psychological concepts, theories and studies. Students also develop the skills of analysis and evaluation, which they will demonstrate in essay writing, as well as knowledge of how psychologists conduct their research and the ethical issues involved in this. Psychologists at Loxford will cover a range of topics including memory, attachment, social influence, and abnormality. Psychology is useful in a wide range of careers as it equips you with the ability to understand people and behaviours, as well as developing critical and communicative skills which are useful in a range of environments and occupations. Studying psychology also helps develop practical maths skills, including understanding graphs and interpreting statistical analyses. Psychology students are desirable employees because they have both language and numerical skills.