Grade Booster Online AQA A-Level Psychology

Course outline

Introduction

The videos in this section will demonstrate how to use the Grade Booster Online course and provide an overview of the expectations of the AQA A Level Psychology course.

• How to Use Grade Booster
• Structure of the Exam Papers

Developing Assessment Skills

This section of the course explores the different assessment objectives you are required to demonstrate in your exams, and some all-important exam skills, such as understanding the command words and decoding exam questions.

• Command Word Challenge
• AO1 Skills - Knowledge
• AO2 Skills - Application
• AO3 Skills - Evaluation and Analysis

Nailing the Common Question Types

There are various types of questions that you must be familiar with. In this section, we explore some of the different question types, explore what they mean and what you are required to do with them.

• Multiple Choice and Short Answer Questions
• What is the Difference?
• How Can We Explain This?
• What Does it Do?
• How Do We Justify?

Writing Better Essays

There could be many extended writing questions on your exams, and these could be on any topic within your course. In this session, we explore how to approach these questions, the skills you need to develop, and how to structure an effective response.

• Unpick the Question and Plan!
• Structuring Evaluation
• What's the Problem?
• Building a Line of Argument
• Give Your Evaluation Points the Wow Factor
• Diamond 9
• Dial a Discussion

All About Application

In this section, we explore how to engage with stems in the exam (stimulus exam materials) and the skills you need to demonstrate should you come across them in the exam.

• Unlocking the Stem and Plan
• In the News
• Making Clear and Explicit Links
• Going Beyond the Stem
• Be The Examiner

Research Methods are Everywhere

There are at least 48 marks of research methods on your exam (paper 2) but in previous years, there has been up to 78 marks across all three papers. In this section, we explore the skills and knowledge you will need to tackles some of the research methods in your course.

• Knowledge Recap
• Putting Research methods into Context
• Design an Investigation
• Why Would it be Better?
• Dealing with Quantitative Data
• What Can We Do with Qualitative Data?
• Reliability and Validity

Core Topics Review

There is a range of topics across paper 1 and paper 2. In this section, we take a brief look at each one.

• Social Influence
• Memory
• Attachment
• Psychopathology
• Approaches in Psychology
• Biopsychology

Issues and Debates

Despite being a topic on paper 3, your knowledge of issues and debates can be very useful across all three papers. In this section, we explore how to tackle issues and debates.

• Illustrate the Issue or Debate
• What's the Debate?
• Debates Conveyor Belt
• Using the Debates to Compare Approaches

Optional Topics

On paper 3, you will learn and complete exam questions on three topics (plus Issues and Debates). Your teacher will inform you which of the optional topics you will be studying.

• Relationships
• Gender
• Cognition and Development
• Schizophrenia
• Eating Behaviour
• Stress
• Forensics
• Addiction
• Aggression

Nailing Research Methods

In this section we highlight some of the trickier areas and skills required in research methods.

• Content Analysis
• Extended Questions in Research Methods
• Levels and Types of Data
• Nailing the Sign Test
• Small Research Methods Questions
• Statistical Testing in Research Methods
• Hypotheses
• Application to Stems
• Maths and Graphs

Synoptic Skills

One way to reach higher marks in the exam is to demonstrate your synoptic skills. In this section, we help you select and apply your knowledge.

• Applying Issues and Debates to Paper 1
• Applying Issues and Debates to Paper 2
• Implications for the Economy

The Research

In this section, we look at some of the named studies on your specification, which you must know.

• Asch
• Zimbardo
• Ainsworth
• van Izjendoorn and Kroonenberg
• Harlow
• Lorenz
• Pavlov
• Skinner
• Sperry et al
• Bandura

Recommended Research

In addition to the named/compulsory studies on the specification, others are of use too. In this section, we take a look at a sample of studies you can use on paper 1 and paper 2.

• Approaches
• Biopsychology
• Memory
• Attachment
• Social Influence
• Psychopathology

Compare and Contrast Skills

To strengthen your knowledge and confidence in research methods, compare concepts and methodology. This will help you deepen your understanding, show synoptic skills, and build evaluation.

• Experiments
• Self Report Methods
• Observations
• Types of Data