Psychology
Teacher: Ethan Murphy
The study of psychology enables you to understand your own behaviours and the behaviours of others. Psychological knowledge can be applied to improve outcomes and the quality of experience in various areas of life, such as education, relationships, child rearing, employment and leisure. Psychology builds on the scientific method by involving you in the collection and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data. There is no assumed knowledge but students that have completed Stage 1 Psychology will find that beneficial.
There are six topics over the year including:
- Introduction to Psychology – a compulsory topic focusing on research methods in psychology
- Social Cognition – looks at how others influence our behaviour, particularly attitudes and impressions
- Personality – examines 3 personality theories to consider what shapes our personalities
- Learning – 3 principles that influence learning – classical conditioning, operant conditioning and observational learning
- Psychobiology of Altered states of Awareness – focuses on sleep and stress
- Healthy Minds – examines mental health issues (symptoms and treatments) and protective factors to improve wellbeing.
Assessment:
School Assessment (70%)
- Assessment Type 1: Investigations Folio (30%)
- Assessment Type 2: Skills and Applications Tasks (40%)
External Assessment (30%)
- Assessment Type 3: Examination (30%)
Pathways:
Psychology is relevant to all fields of employment that involve contact with other people. It has applications in such diverse fields as child care, sales, health, journalism, information technology, law enforcement, and advertising. Psychology offers a number of pathways into post-secondary study and the workforce. This may lead to a career in psychological research or to practicing as a clinical psychologist.