Psychology

Students who choose to study Psychology at HAP (HAP Psychologists) are naturally curious about the mind, behaviour, how we think and the biological basis for our all experiences mediated by the brain. 

Through the course of study, all HAP Psychologists will encounter, explore and evaluate a broad range of ‘cornerstone’ psychological theories, experiments and wider thinking of key figures in this domain across its relatively short history. 

By the end of Year 11, HAP Psychologists will be able to recall the theories and experiments of the greatest psychologists of the Twentieth Century such as Ebbinghaus, Freud, Jung, Pavlov, Piaget, Skinner, Rogers, Bowlby and Maslow as well as those of the post-modern era such as Pinker, Seligman, Eysenck, Dweck, Loftus, Willingham. 

HAP Psychologists will also develop a nuanced understanding of the broad umbrella term that is psychology, specifically categorising their knowledge across five core sub-domains: biological psychology, cognitive psychology, social psychology, developmental psychology and the psychology of individual differences. 

In addition to these categories of psychology, students will also gain knowledge and understanding of the underlying brain structures and electro-chemical processes at play across each domain, particularly

In addition, to learning about the ‘best of what has been said and done’ within the discipline, HAP Psychologists will develop the knowledge, understanding and skills to be able to add to the psychological canon through their own research. A deliberate focus on the experimentational nature of the discipline and the specific requirements of the scientific method whilst undertaking research will ensure students understand how to conduct research and predict and pre-empt issues around validity and reliability. 

In an extremely structured way, all HAP Psychologists will have conducted a range of psychological experiments and analysed and evaluated their findings.  HAP psychologists will also develop their subject-specific critical thinking skills through learning about prominent debates within Psychology including reductionism vs. holism, nature vs. nurture and freewill vs. determinism thereby enabling them to critically apply this knowledge to novel situations in future. 

In short, through being a HAP Psychologist, students will be able to recall, analyse and evaluate a broad range of psychological theories, experiments and debates and have sufficient knowledge and experience to be able to conduct their own research in future. 

Finally, through choosing OCR as the GCSE Examining Body, students will have learnt about different aspects of mental health and the stigma that often surrounds mental health issues through the work of charity ‘Time for Change’.  It is hoped that a consequence of this, alongside the specific teaching of Positive Psychology, will be a richer understanding of the spectrum of mental health from students.