• Biological rhythms and sleep
• Perception
• Relationships
• Aggression
• Eating behaviour
• Gender
• Intelligence and learning
• Cognition and development

(see below for more details on these topics)

Candidates must also:

• Develop knowledge, understanding and skills of analysis and evaluation in relation to relevant theories and studies in each of the three topics studied
• Develop an understanding of the major approaches in psychology ( cognitive, biological, behavioural and psychodynamic) through their study of the topics
• Develop an appreciation of issues and debates as relevant to each topic studied: for example, issues of bias, including gender and culture, the role of animals in research, ethical issues, the nature/ nurture debate, free will and determinism and reductionism.

Biological rhythms and sleep

Biological rhythms

• Circadian, infradian, and ultradian rhythms, including the role of endogenous pacemakers and of exogenous zeitgebers
• Consequences of disrupting biological rhythms, for example shift work, jet lag

Sleep States

• The nature of sleep
• Functions of sleep, including evolutionary explanations and restoration theory
• Lifespan changes in sleep

Disorders of Sleep

• Explanations for insomnia, including primary and secondary insomnia and factors influencing insomnia, for example, apnoea, personality
• Explanations for other sleep disorders, including sleep walking and narcolepsy

Perception

Perception Theories of perceptual organisation

• Gregory's top down/indirect theory of perception
• Gibson's bottom up/direct theory of perception

Development of Perception

• The development of perceptual abilities, for example depth/distance, visual constancies
• Infant and cross-cultural studies of the development of perceptual abilities
• The nature-nurture debate in relation to explanations of perceptual development

Face recognition and visual agnosias

• Bruce and Young's theory of face recognition, including case studies and explanations of prosopagnosia

Useful teaching resources for Perception: Inversion Goggles for demonstrating the effect of incorrect visual input on motor coordination; Visual Perception Psykit, a kit to deliver several sessions on visual perception

Relationships

The formation, maintenance and breakdown of romantic relationships

• Theories of the formation, maintenance and breakdown of romantic relationships: for example, reward/need satisfaction, social exchange theory

Human reproductive behaviour

• The relationship between sexual selection and human reproductive behaviour
• Evolutionary explanations of parental investment: for example, sex differences, parent-offspring conflict

Effects of early experience and culture on adult relationships

• The influence of childhood and adolescent experiences on adult relationships, including parent-child relationships and interaction with peers
• The nature of relationships in different cultures

Aggression

Social psychological approaches to explaining aggression

• Social psychological theories of aggression, for example, social learning theory, deindividuation
• Explanations of institutional aggression

Biological explanations of aggression

• The role of neural and hormonal mechanisms in aggression
• The role of genetic factors in aggressive behaviour

Aggression as an adaptive response

• Evolutionary explanations of human aggression, including infidelity and response jealousy
• Explanations of group display in humans, for example sports events and lynch mobs

Eating behaviour

Eating behaviour

• Factors influencing attitudes to food and eating behaviour, for example cultural influences, mood, health concerns
• Explanations for the success or failure of dieting

Biological explanations of eating behaviour

• The role of neural mechanisms involved in controlling eating and satiation
• Evolutionary explanations of food preference

Eating disorders

• Psychological explanations of one eating disorder: for example, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, obesity
• Biological explanations, including neural and evolutionary explanations, for one eating disorder: for example, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, obesity

Gender

Psychological explanations of gender development

• Cognitive developmental theory, including Kohlberg, and gender schema theory
• Explanations for psychological androgyny and gender dysphoria including relevant research

Biological influences on gender

• The role of hormones and genes in gender development
• Evolutionary explanations of gender roles
• The biosocial approach to gender development

Social contexts of gender

• Social infl uences on gender role: for example, the infl uence of parents, peers role and schools, media
• Cross-cultural studies of gender role

Intelligence and learning

Theories of intelligence

• Theories of intelligence, including psychometric and information processing approaches. learning approaches (please note that the specification has been changed)
• Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences

Animal learning and intelligence

• The nature of simple learning (classical and operant conditioning) and its role in the behaviour of non-human animals
• Evidence for intelligence in non-human animals, for example, self-recognition, social learning, Machiavellian intelligence

Evolution of intelligence

• Evolutionary factors in the development of human intelligence, for example, ecological demands, social complexity, brain size
• The role of genetic and environmental factors associated with intelligence test performance, including the influence of culture

Cognition and development

Development of thinking

• Theories of Cognitive Development, including Piaget, Vygotsky and Bruner
• Applications of these theories to education

Development of moral understanding

• Theories of moral understanding (Kohlberg) and/or prosocial reasoning (Eisenberg)

Development of social cognition

• Development of the child's sense of self, including Theory of Mind (BaronCohen)
• Development of children's understanding of others, including perspectivetaking (Selman)
• Biological explanations of social cognition, including the role of the mirror neuron system