QCE Psychology Syllabus Guide (Sciences)

Science understanding

• Discuss the mind-versus-body problem, with reference to the materialist approach (refer to Claudius Galen) and the dualistic approach (refer to Rene Descartes).
• Describe early brain investigative techniques including phrenology (refer to Franz Gall) and experimental neurosurgery (refer to Pierre Flourens and Wilder Penfield).
• Explain how neuroimaging techniques can be used to enhance the understanding of the structure of the brain and its relationship to cognition, emotion and behaviour, e.g. positron emission tomography (PET), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and electroencephalography (EEG).
• Describe the basic structure and function of the human nervous system, including the central (i.e. brain and spinal cord) and peripheral (i.e. somatic and autonomic) nervous systems.
• Describe the structure of a neuron, including the axon, dendrites, cell body, myelin sheath and axon terminal.
• Contrast sensory neurons, motor neurons and interneurons.
• Explain that the brain can be viewed as discrete areas, including the hindbrain, midbrain and forebrain.
• Describe the interacting roles of specific brain regions, including Broca's area, Wernicke's area and Geschwind's territory.

Science as a human endeavour

• Consider that knowledge about the structure and function of the brain has historically been at the expense of risky and invasive practices.
• Appreciate that neuroimaging techniques have improved neuropsychological knowledge, and understanding of the connections between anatomy, physiology and psychology.
• Recognise that understanding localisation of brain function can be used to predict cognitive and behavioural effects of localised damage.

Science understanding

• Describe infancy and adolescence as periods of rapid development and changes in brain structure and function, with reference to myelination, synaptic pruning and development of the forebrain.
• Explain neural plasticity with reference to brain development (e.g. deprived versus enriched environments, sensitive and critical periods) and brain damage.
• Describe the role of attachment in psychological development.
• Describe the detrimental effects of early abuse or deprivation on cognitive development.
• Discuss cognitive, sociocultural and information processing theories (i.e. processing speed, cognitive strategies and metacognition) of cognitive development.

Science as a human endeavour

• Recognise that researchers build on and challenge the work of earlier researchers when developing psychological theory, e.g. key figures in the field of attachment theory include Konrad Lorenz (1937), Harry Harlow (Harlow & Zimmermann 1958), John Bowlby (1969) and Mary Ainsworth (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters & Wall 1978); key figures in cognitive development include Jean Piaget (1936) (cognitive theory) and Lev Vygotsky (1978) (sociocultural theory).
• Consider the impact of increased use of digital technology (e.g. smartphones, tablets, laptops) on children's cognitive development.
• Consider the interaction between biologically defined critical periods, and social and cultural contexts as factors affecting psychological development in adolescence.
• Appreciate that psychological scientists adhere to ethical principles when conducting research into the experiences of children who have suffered from abuse or deprivation.
• Draw conclusions from secondary sources about the effect of technology on the cognitive development of adolescents, considering the relationship between technology use and another variable such as the ability to plan, inhibit inappropriate behaviours, think flexibly and abstractly, or focus on relevant information.

Science understanding

• Describe the continuum of arousal, from sleep through to hyperarousal.
• Discriminate between selective and divided attention.
• Explain how brain structures and hormones regulate and direct consciousness, e.g. the interaction between the hypothalamus and the pineal gland to produce melatonin to regulate sleep, and the interaction of the thalamus, the cortex and the reticular formation to focus conscious attention on a particular target.
• Describe techniques used to measure consciousness, including electroencephalography (EEG), electromyography (EMG), and electrooculography (EOG).
• Describe the sleep-wake cycle, with reference to the stages of sleep, including rapid eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep.
• Discuss the purpose of sleep by comparing the restoration and evolutionary theories.
• Describe the changes in the sleep-wake cycle across the life span, including the sleep-wake shift in adolescence.
• Identify the physical and psychological consequences of total and partial sleep deprivation, including effects on concentration and mood.
• Compare common sleep disorders including narcolepsy, sleep-onset insomnia, sleep apnoea and sleep walking.
• Describe treatment interventions for sleep disorders, including cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia, and bright light therapy for circadian phase disorders.
• Interpret correlational data about the relationship between normal hours of sleep and one other variable (e.g. listening to music, food before bed, amount of exercise in the day, reading on electronic devices).

Science as a human endeavour

• Recognise that the nature and quality of sleep has changed in response to different priorities and expectations in modern society.
• Appreciate that an understanding of the role of sleep in human functioning can be used to develop and evaluate policy and laws, and inform the monitoring, assessment and evaluation of risks in the workplace.
• Consider that sleep serves a different purpose for humans than for other animals, reflecting on how sleep could be adaptive (i.e. varying levels of consciousness as a protective factor - sleeping at night) and how sleep patterns change across the human lifespan.

Science inquiry

• Investigate the relationship between normal hours of sleep and one other variable using a correlational research design, e.g. listening to music, food before bed, amount of exercise in the day, reading on electronic devices.
• Investigate the effect of divided attention on memory using an experimental research design and replicating an aspect of the investigation by Fergus Craik et al (1996).
• Investigate the effect of stimulus incongruence on processing time using an experimental research design that measures an aspect of the 'Stroop effect' (Stroop 1935).

Science understanding

• Describe the psychometric approach to intelligence (i.e. intelligence quotient, or IQ).
• Describe common methods by which intelligence is measured with reference to IQ tests and scales, including Stanford-Binet scale and Wechsler's intelligence scales for adults (WAIS-IV) and children (WISC-V).
• Discuss the significance of common uses of the psychometric approach to intelligence compared to the information processing approach, Sternberg's triarchic theory of intelligence, Gardner's multiple intelligences, and Goleman's emotional intelligence (EQ).
• Discuss the degree to which intelligence tests are valid and reliable.
• Discuss the extent to which intelligence is inherited, with reference to twin, family and adoption studies, e.g. the Minnesota study of twins reared apart (Bouchard, Lykken, McGue, Segal & Tellegen 1990).

Science as a human endeavour

• Consider the validity and reliability of IQ and EQ testing to determine if these tests can be misleading and/or inaccurate.
• Discuss the applicability of theories of intelligence across social and cultural contexts.
• Evaluate the degree to which intelligence tests are culturally biased.
• Discuss the extent to which intelligence is inherited or learned, with reference to the broader nature-nurture debate in psychology.

Science understanding

• Discriminate between adaptive and maladaptive behaviour.
• Discuss concepts of normality, including sociocultural, functional, historical, situational, medical and statistical approaches.
• Describe the concept of psychological disorder.
• Compare diagnostic manuals in common use, including the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th edition-TR, 2022), and the International Classification of Diseases (11th revision, 2022), discussing the uses that different professions make of these manuals.
• Describe the main categories of psychological disorders, including the schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders (e.g. schizophrenia), bipolar and depressive disorders (e.g. depression), anxiety disorders (e.g. phobias) and personality disorders (e.g. antisocial personality disorder).
• Discuss the reliability and validity of diagnosis.

Science as a human endeavour

• Consider whether diagnostic manuals enable psychologists to offer valid explanations for maladaptive behaviour and make reliable predictions (prognosis).
• Evaluate the influence of social, cultural and ethical factors on diagnosis.
• Appreciate that providing a person with a diagnosis can have beneficial/harmful/unintended consequences.

Science understanding

• Describe the biopsychosocial approach to understanding psychological disorder.
• Classify risk factors for psychological disorder as biological (genes, medication, sleep, substance use), psychological (rumination, impaired reasoning and memory, stress), and social (disorganised attachment, significant relationships).
• Describe the prevalence, symptoms and perceived causes of anxiety disorders, including generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) and specific phobias.
• Describe the impact of stigma on help-seeking behaviours.
• Compare the use of psychotherapies, pharmacotherapies, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and psychosurgery in the treatment of psychological disorders.
• Explain the placebo effect.
• Analyse data identifying the prevalence of psychological disorders in different cultures.

Science as a human endeavour

• Appreciate that the biopsychosocial approach encompasses evidence from psychology, psychiatry and social work; the focus of psychological research has shifted from psychological disorder to psychological health; and psychological disorders impact not only individuals, but also families and the wider community.
• Consider that appropriate support for people suffering from psychological disorder can alleviate the impacts felt by the individual, their families and the wider community.
• Evaluate the most appropriate support interventions available to the individual, family and wider community for various psychological disorders.

Science understanding

• Compare the two-factor (Schachter & Singer 1962) and appraisal (Lazarus 1982) theories of emotion.
• Describe physiological processes associated with emotion, including autonomic arousal and activity in the limbic system, i.e. thalamus, hypothalamus, amygdala, hippocampus, basal ganglia and cingulate gyrus.
• Describe factors that affect happiness.
• Interpret data from an experiment comparing the effect of watching emotive (e.g. a scary movie) versus informative (e.g. an advertisement for toothpaste) stimuli on emotional responses (measured by changes in heart rate).
• Explain subjective wellbeing (Diener 1984), psychological wellbeing (Ryff & Keyes 1995), and the broaden-and-build theory (Fredrickson 2004) of positive emotions.
• Explain mindfulness, with reference to attention and acceptance.
• Describe the positive consequences of the flow experience (Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi 2002), with reference to enhancing positive affect, life satisfaction, performance and learning.
• Compare the achievement goal (task orientation and ego orientation), cognitive evaluation (intrinsic and extrinsic motivation), and self-efficacy (outcome expectations and efficacy expectations) theories of motivation.
• Describe the role of goal setting in motivation (Locke 1996).

Science as a human endeavour

• Explore the relationship between motivation and emotion to gain an appreciation of the importance of conducting research using psychological research methods.
• Appreciate that neuroimaging technologies can suggest a biological basis for the experience of emotion.
• Consider that psychological research into flow can influence strategies used by employers to motivate and engage employees.

Science inquiry

• Investigate the effect of watching emotive (e.g. a scary movie) versus informative (e.g. an advertisement for toothpaste) stimuli on emotional responses (measured as changes in heart rate).

Science understanding

• Describe the structure of the human nervous system, with reference to the central (i.e. brain and spinal cord) and peripheral (i.e. somatic and autonomic) nervous systems.
• Describe the role of the spinal cord in the human nervous system, with reference to monosynaptic and polysynaptic spinal reflexes.
• Describe how brain function can be viewed as both localised and distributed, with some functions being identified with specific areas in the cerebral cortex (including the frontal, occipital, parietal and temporal lobes), and some functions being distributed across large or multiple brain regions (e.g. the storage of explicit memory is associated with the hippocampus, the neo-cortex and the amygdala; the formation of implicit memories relies upon the basal ganglia and cerebellum).
• Explain that Broca's area, Wernicke's area, and Geschwind's territory have specific roles in language processing.
• Explain the interaction of the primary motor cortex, cerebellum and basal ganglia in coordinating voluntary movement.
• Explain the importance of the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex for the experience of emotion.
• Describe neurotransmission, with reference to action potentials and synaptic transmission.
• Contrast excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters, e.g. glutamate (Glu) and gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA).
• Describe the physical and psychological function of acetylcholine, epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin.
• Explain the impact of interference in neurotransmitter function, with reference to Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease, considering causes, symptoms and treatments.

Science as a human endeavour

• Consider how findings from behavioural neuroscience can be used by psychologists.
• Appreciate how plasticity assists in the recovery from brain injury.
• Recognise that all human behaviour has a biological basis.
• Recognise that changes to neurotransmitter function may have beneficial and/or harmful and/or unintended consequences.

Science understanding

• Describe the processes of seeing and hearing, with reference to reception by accessory structures, transduction by sensory receptors and receptive fields, transmission to the CNS via the optic/acoustic nerves, preliminary processing in the thalamus, and organisation and interpretation by the primary visual/auditory cortex.
• Explain psychological aspects of sensation and perception including perceptual set with respect to past experience, context, motivation and emotional state; visual perception principles (e.g. Gestalt principles, depth cues, and visual constancies); and loudness, pitch and timbre.
• Describe the effect of cultural influences on visual (de Bruine, Vredeveldt & van Koppen 2018) and auditory (Patel & Demorest 2013) perception.

Science as a human endeavour

• Consider that senses apart from seeing and hearing involve different modes of reception from the environment and different transmission pathways, e.g. the sense of smell is received chemically and is the only sense not transmitted by the thalamus.
• Appreciate that seminal research into the effect of cultural influences on perception (e.g. Hudson 1960; Deregowski 1972) has continued to be modified and replicated by later researchers.
• Appreciate that the effort to understand perception is ongoing, with several theoretical approaches being taken, including computational, constructivist and ecological approaches.
• Consider the effect of expectation on perception, e.g. the role of frequency in developing perceptual sets in Bugelski & Alampay 1961.

Science understanding

• Compare three models of memory, specifically the multi-store model of memory (including sensory, short-term and long-term memory), the working memory model (including the central executive, phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, and episodic buffer), and the levels of processing (LOP) model of memory (including the role of encoding in long-term memory).
• State the duration and capacity of sensory memory (including iconic and echoic), and short-term and long-term memory.
• Describe how information is stored in long-term memory with reference to implicit (i.e. procedural, priming, classical conditioning) and explicit (i.e. episodic and semantic) memory.
• Describe the role of the hippocampus, the neo-cortex and the amygdala in forming and storing explicit memories.
• Describe the role of the cerebellum in forming implicit memories.
• Contrast recall, recognition and relearning.
• Describe problems with memory such as encoding failure, retrieval failure and interference effects.
• Discuss strategies to improve memory, including spacing, interleaving, chunking, elaborative and maintenance rehearsal, and the method of loci.
• Interpret data about the context-dependency of memory from a modified experiment following Grant et al. (1998).

Science as a human endeavour

• Discuss cases of models of memory being contested, refined and/or replaced as a result of new evidence, e.g. how the working model of memory has greater explanatory power than previous models, and developments in the concept of working memory from inception (Baddeley & Hitch 1974) to the present.
• Consider that investigations into memory can be limited in their ability to provide definitive answers as the evidence is open to interpretation.
• Identify the changes to memory associated with ageing.

Science inquiry

• Investigate the context-dependency of memory by modifying an experiment (Grant et al. 1998).
• Investigate the duration of short-term memory, e.g. Peterson & Peterson (1959).
• Investigate the capacity of short-term memory, e.g. Miller (1956).
• Investigate encoding in memory, e.g. Craik & Levy (1970).
• Investigate context-dependent cues on memory, e.g. Tulving & Pearlstone (1966).
• Investigate levels of processing theory including deep processing (semantic), e.g. Elias & Perfetti (1973); deep and shallow processing (semantic, physical and phonemic), e.g. Hyde & Jenkins (1973); and evaluating the validity of depth of processing, e.g. Craik & Tulving (1975).

Science understanding

• Compare classical conditioning, operant conditioning and social learning theory, and discuss the underlying theories of behaviourism and social and cognitive psychology.
• For classical conditioning: describe the concepts unconditioned stimulus (UCS), unconditioned response (UCR), neutral stimulus (NS), conditioned stimulus (CS) and conditioned response (CR); distinguish between stimulus generalisation and discrimination; describe extinction and spontaneous recovery; and describe learned fear responses, with reference to the 'Little Albert' experiment.
• For operant conditioning: distinguish between negative and positive reinforcement, and negative and positive punishment; describe stimulus generalisation and discrimination; describe extinction and spontaneous recovery; and describe the operation of the 'Skinner box' in operant conditioning studies.
• For social learning theory: distinguish between modelling and vicarious conditioning; and describe vicarious conditioning, as observed in the 'Bobo doll' experiments conducted by Bandura and colleagues.

Science as a human endeavour

• Appreciate that theories of learning have been developed with reference to one another, and by an ongoing empirical process, e.g. Skinner (1948) developed his theory of operant conditioning in response to Pavlov's (1897/1902) work on classical conditioning; Bandura (1977) developed his theory of observational (or social) learning to extend learning theory to account for the influence of models observed in social contexts.
• Consider the effect of learning theories on childrearing, schooling, and employment practices, and approaches to advertising and marketing.
• Recognise the significant ethical issues involved in early conditioning studies, including Pavlov (1897/1902) and Watson & Rayner (1920).
• Consider evidence for classical conditioning of immune responses in humans.
• Consider the impact of role models (music, film, television) on teenage behaviour.
• Explore how social media influences behaviour through the application of social learning theory.

Science understanding

• Explain the difference between primary (i.e. family) and secondary (e.g. media, schooling) socialisation.
• Describe gender and compare social learning, cognitive developmental and biological theories of gender role formation.
• Describe group social influence, with reference to compliance, identification and internalisation.
• Describe the effect of status, roles and power on social behaviour.
• Explain how obedience, conformity and social norms (as described by Cialdini et al. 2006) lead to behaviour change.
• Describe the findings of historical social psychological research, with reference to Asch's (1955) research on conformity, Milgram's (1963) research on obedience, and Haney, Banks and Zimbardo's (1973) research on status, roles and power.

Science as a human endeavour

• Appreciate that the presence of others affects the way we behave.
• Appreciate that research in social psychology is conducted in the context of cultural and historical movements and events, and that this affects both the relevance of the research and the perspective of the researchers.
• Explore the relative contributions of different factors to gender role formation.
• Discuss whether, and to what extent, social media is changing the nature of relationships.
• Evaluate historical social psychological research, considering the ethical and procedural challenges involved in producing reproducible results when conducting research in social psychology, e.g. consider critiques of the Stanford Prison Experiment with respect to demand characteristics, data collection issues and the experience of participants (Le Texier 2019), and the effect that Milgram's (1963) study of obedience had on ethical guidelines for psychological researchers.

Science understanding

• Interpret the findings of Latane and Darley's (1969) study of bystander intervention.
• Describe social factors that influence prosocial behaviour, with reference to the reciprocity principle and social responsibility.
• Describe personal characteristics that influence prosocial behaviour, with reference to empathy, mood, competence and altruism.
• Describe social and cognitive factors that influence individual behaviour, including groupthink, diffusion of responsibility, audience inhibition, social influence and cost-benefit analysis.
• Make predictions using the general aggression model (GAM), with respect to single and multiple episodes.
• Explain how media can influence aggression, with reference to advertising, video games and social media.
• Describe biological and cultural explanations of attraction, with reference to Buss et al. (1990).
• Describe social and cognitive origins of attraction, including proximity, reciprocity, similarity and self-disclosure.
• Determine stages in relationship dissolution, with reference to Rollie & Duck's phase model, i.e. intrapsychic, dyadic, social, grave-dressing and resurrection phases.

Science as a human endeavour

• Appreciate that psychology is limited in its ability to provide definitive solutions to the harmful expression of antisocial behaviour.
• Consider that a strength of the general aggression model (GAM) (Anderson & Bushman 2002) is that it encompasses evidence from multiple theories across multiple perspectives.
• Understand that the formation of relationships is influenced by cultural norms and expectations.

Science understanding

• Describe the structure of attitudes using the tri-component model.
• Describe implicit and explicit attitudes.
• Describe how discrepancies between attitudes, cognitions and behaviours can lead to discomfort and a drive to reduce it, as described in cognitive dissonance theory.
• Explain social identity theory with reference to social categorisation, social identification and social comparison.
• Describe attributions, and recognise how they are used to explain behaviour, with reference to situational and dispositional attributions, and the fundamental attribution error.
• Describe self-serving and confirmation biases.
• Describe stereotypes and identify their advantages and disadvantages.
• Describe the formation of prejudice in terms of: scapegoating, direct experience and personal prejudice, group prejudice, and the prejudiced personality.
• Contrast prejudice and discrimination.
• Interpret data about the relationship between stereotype priming and behaviour from a modification of experiment 2 in Bargh, Chen & Burrows' (1996) study.

Science as a human endeavour

• Appreciate that attributions influence our interpretation of the behaviour of others, and our corresponding responses (Ross et al. 1977).
• Explain that bias may have beneficial and/or harmful and/or unintended consequences on behaviour.
• Consider that stereotypical, prejudiced and/or discriminatory attitudes are influenced by social, economic, cultural and ethical contexts.
• Consider that Festinger's (1957) theory and subsequent findings (Festinger & Carlsmith 1959) regarding the effect of rewards on cognitive dissonance challenged the predictions of learning theory.

Science inquiry

• Investigate the effect of stereotype priming on behaviour by modifying experiment 2 in Bargh, Chen & Burrows' (1996) study.

Science understanding

• Explain how membership, influence, integration and fulfilment of needs, and shared emotional connection lead to a sense of community.
• Describe the concept of culture in the psychological context, with reference to behaviours, beliefs and values, and to individualist and collectivist cultures.
• Discriminate between multiculturalism and pluralism, on the basis of the absence or presence of a dominant culture.
• Describe the psychological challenges of immigration and acculturation, including culture shock, assimilation and marginalisation.
• Explain how cultural diversity can be a source of conflict, with reference to prejudice expressed as implicit and explicit racism.
• Describe ways to reduce prejudice, with reference to intergroup contact that is sustained, with superordinate goals, mutual interdependence and equality of status.

Science as a human endeavour

• Recognise that the development of complex theories requires researchers to draw upon a wide range of evidence from multiple disciplines, such as the theory of the sense-of-community developed by McMillan & Chavis (1986).
• Appreciate that most psychological research has been performed in a specific cultural context (i.e. Western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic societies) and may not be fully applicable in other contexts.
• Recognise the importance of international collaboration when investigating cross-cultural phenomena.
• Understand that while Australian First Nations peoples have shared experiences of colonisation and settlement, they are not homogenous, but represent many culturally distinctive groups.
• Recognise that the challenges of Australian First Nations peoples in responding to the processes of colonisation and settlement are ongoing.
• Appreciate that conflict resulting from cultural diversity can be alleviated by increasing intercultural understanding.
• Explore ways to increase intercultural understanding in order to reduce conflict that may result from cultural diversity.