Psychology syllabus, dot point by dot point

Distinguish behaviours that do not depend on learning, including reflexes, fixed action patterns and maturation.

Which behaviours happen without any learning?

Compare states of consciousness and explain sleep and dreaming, including how they are measured.

What are consciousness and sleep, and how are they studied?

Explain theories of forgetting and factors affecting the reliability of memory, including eyewitness testimony.

Why do we forget, and how reliable is memory?

Describe theories of learning and the multi-store model of memory with supporting research.

How do humans learn behaviours and store information in memory?

Describe the origins of psychology and the major perspectives used to explain behaviour.

How did psychology become a science, and what perspectives explain behaviour?

Describe and apply descriptive statistics and data-analysis techniques to psychological data.

How do psychologists summarise and interpret their data?

Explain how neurons, the nervous system and brain structures underpin human behaviour.

How do the nervous system and the brain produce behaviour?

Apply research methods, variables, sampling and ethics to evaluate psychological studies.

How do psychologists design valid, ethical research?

Explain prosocial behaviour and aggression, including the factors that influence each.

Unit 4: Social and Developmental Psychology

Section overview →

What makes us help others or harm them?

Explain psychological health, disorder and treatment

What shapes mental health and wellbeing?

Explain social influence on individual behaviour

How do other people influence our behaviour?

Compare theories of personality and how personality is measured.

What explains the stable patterns that make each person unique?

Explain theories of human development

How do people change across the lifespan?