Studying Psychology At A-Level

Whilst studying Psychology at A-Level I gained an interest in looking at the mind and behaviour. As the course progressed I became particularly interested in Biopsychology, looking at the fundamental aspects of the nervous system as well as brain functions and synaptic transmission. This encouraged me to look further into this topic and ultimately led me to the decision to explore Psychology in depth as a degree course.

In order to find out more about Psychology as a subject, I began to undertake some further reading, including Oliver Sacks The Mind’s Eye. This explored different people’s experiences of sensory loss and how they have adapted as a result, despite losing many vital capabilities such as the sense of 3D space and the inability to recognise faces. I also undertook a Futurelearn online course entitled ‘Good brain, bad brain: Parkinson’s disease’, to develop a deeper understanding of Neurology. I learnt how the brain can impact motor functioning and explored brain pathology and treatment, which included

Evaluating different research studies and critiquing the method or samples used has improved my critical thinking and analysis skills, enhancing my ability to make informed decisions about the research. Biology A-Level has given me an insight into the practical functioning of the body, which can be used in Psychology as an approach to explaining different behaviours. For example how different genetic variations can result in a predisposition to developing certain conditions, such as OCD and depression. Studying Maths has strengthened my ability to statistically analyse sets of data, which is vital in Psychology to determine if the hypothesis put forward should be rejected or accepted. For example by calculating the product moment correlation coefficient of a set of data to see if there is a correlation between two