Psychology

What levels are on offer?

You can take Psychology at Higher Level or at Standard Level.

How do I decide which to choose?

Higher Level Psychology is aimed at students who are possibly interested in taking it at University.

What will I need?

You do not need to have studies psychology before.

What will I study?

At Standard Level you will study three perspectives and two research methodologies:

• The Biological Perspective
• The Cognitive Perspective
• The Learning Perspective
• Ethics
• Quantitative Research Methods

You will also study one option from this list

• Comparative Psychology
• Cultural Psychology
• The psychology pf dysfunctional behaviour
• Health psychology
• Lifespan psychology
• Psychodynamic psychology
• Social psychology

The Higher Level Course takes all the Standard Level topics and also adds

• The Humanistic Perspective
• Qualitative Research Methods
• A Second Option

How will I be assessed?

In each case there are two aspects to the assessment.

Internal Assessment worth 20% of the marks.
You will conduct an Experimental Study and present your findings in a report.

The External Assessment is an end of course exam taken in May of the second year.

SL Paper 1 lasts 2hrs and is worth 50%. You will answer three compulsory short answer questions, one on each perspective, plus one extended answer question from a choice of three.
SL Paper 2 lasts 1 hr and is worth 30% of the marks. You will answer one questions about your option from a choice of seven.

HL Paper 1 lasts 2 hrs and is worth 30% of the marks. You will answer four compulsory short-answer questions, one on each perspective, plus one extended response question from a choice of four.
HL Paper 2 is a 2hr paper worth 30% of the marks which contains questions from the options.
HL Paper 3 is a 1 hr paper worth 20% of the marks. It contains three compulsory questions about Research Methods.

Please be aware that there may be some changes to the above following the curriculum review currently being undertaken.