Psychology is the scientific study of human behaviour and mental processes. In the first year of the course, you will take an in-depth look at five different psychological approaches that offer explanations of human behaviour, as well as classic research studies and the methods used by psychologists to carry out their research. In the second year, you will look at three behaviours in-depth – criminal behaviour, addictive behaviour and schizophrenia – studying the characteristics of the behaviours and analysing possible explanations. Unit 1 – Psychology: Past to Present Five major psychological approaches form the basis of this unit: the Biological, Psychodynamic, Behaviourist, Cognitive and the newly emerging Positive approach. This unit will require you to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of each approach in the following areas: • How the approach explains human behaviour. • Classic pieces of research associated with the approach. • How each approach has been applied to a therapy. You will also develop evaluation skills and an ability to use your knowledge of each approach in the context of a contemporary debate such as the ethics of neuroscience, how conditioning techniques are used to control the behaviour of children and the reliability of eyewitness testimony. Unit 2 – Psychology: Investigating behaviour The core theme for this unit is psychological research. The unit is made up of two parts: • Principles of research This will involve understanding how psychologists conduct their research and you will gain an appreciation of the role of analysing data. You will have the opportunity to conduct a piece of research yourself and through this will learn about how psychologists analyse their data and draw conclusions. You will also be encouraged to appreciate the complex issues involved in conducting scientific research within psychology. • Novel scenarios The second aspect of this unit will allow you to apply your knowledge and understanding of research methods to research scenarios that you have not seen before. Unit 3 – Psychology: Implications in the real world The unit is made up of two parts and will enable you to develop the knowledge and evaluative skills that you will have gained from Units 1 & 2 and study more in-depth topics within the discipline of Psychology: • Applications You will learn how psychological theories and research have been applied to different types of behaviours such as criminal behaviour, schizophrenia and addictive behaviour. • Controversies You will explore controversial issues within psychology that have had an impact on society. These include culture and gender bias within psychological theory and research and the ethical costs of conducting research with humans and animals.