What does the social core area of psychology study?

The social area studies how other people, groups and the social environment influence behaviour. Research on conformity and obedience, such as Bickman's uniform study, belongs to the social area.

What does the developmental core area of psychology study?

The developmental area studies how people change across their lives, especially in childhood, and how nature and nurture shape that change. Piaget's theory of cognitive development belongs to the developmental area.

What does the individual differences core area of psychology study?

The individual differences area studies why and how people differ from one another in behaviour and experience. Eysenck's personality dimensions and mental health problems such as depression are studied in this area.

OCR GCSE Psychology J203

Criminal Psychology

Topic overview Types of crime and how crime is measured Social learning theory of crime and Cooper and Mackie's study Eysenck's criminal personality theory and Heaven's study Punishment, rehabilitation and restorative justice

Development

Topic overview Stages of development, the brain and IQ tests Structure of the brain Piaget's theory of cognitive development Piaget's conservation of number study and education Dweck's mindsets, Willingham and Blackwell's study

Psychological Problems

Topic overview Mental health, prevalence and changing attitudes Stigma, discrimination and the effects of mental health problems Schizophrenia and its explanations Clinical depression and its explanations Treatments and neuropsychology

Social Influence

Topic overview Conformity, crowds and culture Obedience and Bickman's uniform study Personality, the brain and the August riots Minority and majority influence on mental health stigma

Memory

Topic overview Information processing and the multi-store model Amnesia and the Clive Wearing case Reconstructive memory and Braun's Disney study Memory in advertising and the Wechsler Memory Scale

Sleep and Dreaming

Topic overview Sleep stages, functions and body clocks Freud's theory of dreaming and the Wolfman Activation synthesis theory and bizarre dreams Insomnia and its treatment

Research Methods

Topic overview Hypotheses, variables and experimental designs Sampling and ethical guidelines Experiments, interviews and questionnaires Observations, case studies and correlations Descriptive statistics, tables and graphs Reliability, validity and bias The five core areas of psychology

Research Methods

The five core areas of psychology

3 things to know
Components 01 and 02

Overview

The biological, cognitive, social, developmental and individual differences areas of psychology, which area each theory belongs to, and why the areas are interrelated.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started

Key term

What are the five core areas of psychology in OCR GCSE Psychology?

Process

What does the biological core area of psychology study?

Process

What does the cognitive core area of psychology study?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
What are the five core areas of psychology in OCR GCSE Psychology?
Model answer
The five core areas are biological, cognitive, social, developmental and individual differences. Each core area looks at behaviour from a different angle.
2
What does the biological core area of psychology study?
Model answer
The biological area studies how the brain, nervous system, neurotransmitters and genes influence behaviour. The dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia is a biological explanation.
3
What does the cognitive core area of psychology study?
Model answer
The cognitive area studies mental processes such as thinking, memory, perception and how information is processed. The multi-store model of memory is a cognitive theory.
4
What does the social core area of psychology study?
Model answer
The social area studies how other people, groups and the social environment influence behaviour. Research on conformity and obedience, such as Bickman's uniform study, belongs to the social area.
5
What does the developmental core area of psychology study?
Model answer
The developmental area studies how people change across their lives, especially in childhood, and how nature and nurture shape that change. Piaget's theory of cognitive development belongs to the developmental area.
6
What does the individual differences core area of psychology study?
Model answer
The individual differences area studies why and how people differ from one another in behaviour and experience. Eysenck's personality dimensions and mental health problems such as depression are studied in this area.

See the rest and revise

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

1Closed book

2Open book

3Closed book

The 3-step method, run for you

Answer cold, learn it, then prove it stuck. Levo tracks the jump between your first attempt and your last.

Criminal Psychology

Development

Psychological Problems

Social Influence

Cram a whole paper in one sitting

Sort every topic into what you know and what you do not, then drill only the weak ones.

Reliability means .

consistencyaccuracytruth

Blank Blitz makes facts automatic

Rapid timed gap-fills on the terms and numbers you need to recall without thinking.

AKeep regular bed and waking times, even at weekends.

BKeep the bedroom dark, quiet and cool.

CAvoid caffeine, alcohol and screens before bed.

Build It gets the exam shape right

Assemble a full-mark answer from its marking points, in the order an examiner wants them.

Activation means random firing of neurons in the pons during REM.

TrueFalse

Test It catches misconceptions

Spot the fault in a statement. The traps are the mistakes students actually make.

721941163128510

Brain Breaks between sessions

Short focus games to reset attention, so the next set lands better than the last.

Every question in Research Methods, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

Start revising, £5 a month See how the method works

Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.