Psychology

Course summary

Psychology is the study of the brain, mind and human behaviour. Some animal behaviour is also considered as a possible route to understanding human thinking and behaviour. Wundt in 1879 arguably set psychology on its own separate subject path with laboratory experiments using introspection, and the methods used to investigate and explain human behaviour are varied. Throughout the course, which includes the study of some of the most famous psychological experiments, pupils are encouraged to explain the root causes of human behaviour from a range of approaches. Alongside behavioural explanations based on published research, pupils also learn how best to study humans in a range of scenarios in ethically acceptable ways. For example, laboratory-based experiments are useful, but the human subjects can give unexpected results as they are aware of their situation. Data analysis is also studied and inferential statistics allow pupils to choose the most appropriate test, analysing the results and the conclusions that can be drawn.