Understanding Psychology at A level and GCSE: 2

Here is the second in our new series of Psychology blogs – useful for anyone revising for exams or thinking about taking up Psychology as a new subject at A level or GCSE.

What is Psychology?

We all think we know what psychology is. Psychology is often discussed in the media, on television and generally, but what are you going to study if you study psychology?

Psychology is the study of the mind and behaviour. The human and animal brain is very complex and difficult to understand.

Psychologists study humans and animals.  Psychology tries to give us explanations of why individuals think, feel and behave the way that they do.

Psychology also looks at the way that individuals interact with others and how we are all different from each other. Psychologists try to provide explanations for that behaviour.

Psychology is a science, so psychologists aim to back up their explanations and theory with evidence from research.  They carry out experiments that aim to prove or disprove their theories.

Psychologists therefore use scientific methodology in their work. They

• develop theories
• test those theories through observations and experiments
• analyse their results using statistics to help them identify the significant results in their findings.

In later blogs, we will look at how psychologists conduct experiments and why they need to perform experiments.

When writing notes, it is easier to use the symbol for psychology, which is – Ψ

Tracey Jones

Psychology Tutor, Oxford Open Learning