Unit 2 (AQA)

Biological Psychology - Stress

Stress as a bodily response:

• The body’s response to stress, including the pituitary-adrenal system and the 

sympathomedullary pathway in outline

• Stress-related illness and the immune system

Stress in everyday life • Life changes and daily hassles as sources of stress

• Workplace stress including the effects of workload and control

• Personality factors, including Type A and Type B behaviour, hardiness

• Psychological and biological methods of stress management, including stress inoculation therapy and drug therapy

Social Psychology - Social Influence:

Social influence • Conformity (majority influence) and explanations of why people conform, 

including informational social influence and normative social influence

• Types of conformity, including internalisation and compliance

• Obedience to authority, including Milgram’s work and explanations of why 

people obey

Social influence in everyday life:

• Explanations of independent behaviour, including locus of control, how people 

resist pressures to conform and resist pressures to obey authority

• How social influence research helps us to understand social change; the role of minority influence in social change

Individual Differences – Psychopathology (Abnormality):

Defining and explaining psychological abnormality:

• Definitions of abnormality, including deviation from social norms, failure to 

function adequately and deviation from ideal mental health, and limitations of 

these definitions of psychological abnormality

• The biological approach to psychopathology

• Psychological approaches to psychopathology including the psychodynamic, 

behavioural and cognitive approaches

Treating abnormality: • Biological therapies, including drugs and ECT

• Psychological therapies, including psychoanalysis, systematic de-sensitisation 

and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

1 HOUR 30 MINUTES
80 - 100 = A
70 - 79 = B
60 - 69 = C
50 - 59 = D
40 - 49 = E
How to achieve a level 4

AO1: Knowledge and understanding

(a) recognise, recall and show understanding of 

scientific knowledge

(b) select, organise and communicate

AO2: Application of knowledge

(a) analyse and evaluate scientific knowledge and 

processes

(b) apply scientific knowledge and processes to 

unfamiliar situations including those related to 

issues

(c) assess the validity, reliability and credibility of 

scientific information.

AO3:

(a) describe ethical, safe and skilful practical 

techniques and processes, selecting appropriate 

qualitative and quantitative methods

(b) know how to make, record and communicate 

reliable and valid observations and measurements 

with appropriate precision and accuracy, through 

using primary and secondary sources

(c) analyse, interpret, explain and evaluate the 

methodology, results and impact of their own and 

others’ experiment