Core Content

 

Defining the core content of psychology is a topic that can stimulate endless debate. The growth of

the subject over the last hundred years has continually widened the areas of interest and the body of

knowledge. This means that candidates must either specialise before they have an overview of the subject,

or else deal with all the areas in a superficial way. This syllabus deals with that problem by requiring the

candidate to cover all the major areas of psychology, and to do this by sampling the research rather than

overviewing it all. Therefore, the syllabus prescribes the studies that must be covered during the course.

This design allows the subject to be studied in depth while retaining breadth and balance.

 

The core studies have been selected to reflect five key approaches in psychology:

 

• Cognitive psychology

• Social psychology

• Developmental psychology

• Physiological psychology

• The psychology of individual differences.