Overview of Unit 1- 2010-2015: Introduction to Psychology

Main topics

Area of Study 1: What is Psychology?

♦Various fields of psychology

♦Theories and perspectives of psychology, e.g., cognitive, behavioural, etc.

♦Psychology as a science

♦Research methods and ethics

♦Visual perception, including illusions, psychological factors in interpretation

Outcomes: Test/s, poster or other presentation on visual perception

Area of Study 2: Lifespan Psychology

♦Stages of the lifespan from infancy to old age

♦Heredity and the environment as factors in individual development

♦Theories of psychological development:

• Perceptual development: Eleanor Gibson

• Emotional development: Bowlby and Ainsworth’s attachment theory

• Featured study: Harlow’s studies of monkeys

• Cognitive development: Piaget

• Psycho-social development: Erikson

• Moral development: Kohlberg

♦Incidence of mental illness across the lifespan

♦Ageing

♦Research methods and ethics

Outcomes: Test/s, research investigation into one lifespan stage with case study, evaluation of Harlow’s studies