A Level Psychology Topics by Exam Board: Full List

As an A Level psychology student, locating the information you need about the exam board you are studying can be challenging. This article provides a detailed breakdown of the A Level psychology topics covered by the following exam boards: AQA and Edexcel. This way, you will know exactly what to learn and where to look for the best exam board specific revision materials

AQA A Level Psychology Topics

AQA A Level Psychology is divided into compulsory and optional topics:

1. Social Influence

This topic explores social influence and how people conform or obey authority. 

You will explore types of conformity and the reasons behind them. Asch’s study demonstrates factors such as group size and task difficulty. You will also examine Zimbardo’s prison experiment and Milgram’s obedience study, focusing on influences like authority and proximity. Additionally, you will study resistance to social influence, the impact of minority influence, and how these processes contribute to social change.

Topics include:

• Types of conformity

• Explanations for obedience

• Explanations of resistance to social influence

• Minority influence

2. Memory

This topic explores how memory works and why we forget due to interference and retrieval failure.

You will learn about the multi-store model, the working memory model, and the different types of long-term memory. Additionally, you will examine factors that influence eyewitness testimony, including misleading information and anxiety, as well as how the cognitive interview enhances accuracy.

Topics include:

• The multi-store model of memory

• Types of long-term memory

• The working memory model

• Explanations for forgetting

• Eyewitness testimony

3. Attachment

This topic explores attachment, its role in development, and how early attachments shape later relationships. 

You will explore caregiver-infant interactions and Schaffer’s stages of attachment, including the role of the father. You will examine animal studies by Lorenz and Harlow, as well as explanations such as the learning theory and Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment. Ainsworth’s Strange Situation classifies attachment types and investigates cultural variations in attachment behaviours.

Topics include:

• Caregiver-infant interactions

• Animal studies of attachment

• Explanations of attachment

• Types of attachment

• Maternal deprivation and institutionalisation

• The influence of early attachment of childhood and adult relationships

4. Psychopathology

This topic covers the definitions of abnormality, including deviation from social norms, failure to function adequately, statistical infrequency and deviation from ideal mental health. 

You will explore the behavioural, emotional, and cognitive characteristics of phobias, depression, and OCD. You will examine how phobias develop through classical and operant conditioning and how treatments like systematic desensitisation and flooding can help. The cognitive approach provides explanations for depression and its treatment using CBT. The biological approach focuses on OCD, investigating its causes and assessing the effectiveness of drug therapy as a treatment.

Topics include:

• Definitions of abnormality

• Characteristics of phobias, depression and OCD

• Explanations of phobias, depression and OCD

• Treatments for phobias, depression and OCD

5. Approaches in Psychology

This topic explores the origins of psychology, including Wundt and introspection, and the emergence of psychology as a science. 

You will study key approaches, including the behaviourist approach, social learning theory approach, and the cognitive approach (schemas, models, and cognitive neuroscience). Additionally, you will study the biological approach to explaining behaviour, the psychodynamic approach (unconscious mind, personality, and defence mechanisms), and humanistic psychology (free will, self-actualisation, and counselling). Finally, you will compare these approaches to understand their similarities and differences.

Topics include:

• The origins of psychology

• Learning approaches

• The cognitive approach

• The biological approach

• The psychodynamic approach

• Humanistic psychology

6. Biopsychology

This topic covers the divisions of the nervous system, the structure and function of sensory, relay and motor neurons, as well as the process of synaptic transmission.

You will learn about the endocrine system, the fight or flight response, and localisation of brain function. Additionally, you will examine brain plasticity, ability of the brain to recover after trauma, and brain scanning techniques. You’ll learn about biological rhythms such as circadian, infradian, and ultradian cycles, along with factors that influence the sleep/wake cycle.

Topics include:

• The nervous system and the endocrine system

• The fight or flight response

• Localisation of function in the brain

• Ways of studying the brain

• Biological rhythms

7. Research Methods

Research methods are arguably the most important part of this course, as you need to know how to design and conduct research and how to analyse and interpret the data collected from research studies to draw conclusions. 

It is recommended that you carry out practical (and ethical!) research activities to help you get to grips with the different research techniques psychologists use when conducting research so that you can ace this part of the course. 

Topics include:

• Aims, hypotheses and variables

• Research issues, controls and pilot studies

• Experimental: types and design

• Sampling techniques

• Ethical issues and ways of dealing with them

• Peer review and the economy

• Observational techniques and design

• Self-report techniques

• Correlations

• Content analysis and case studies

• Reliability and validity

• Descriptive statistics and computation

• Types, interpretation and display of data

• Inferential statistics 

• Features of science, reporting investigations and the scientific report

8. Issues and Debates in Psychology

This topic examines key issues and debates in psychology, including gender and cultural bias. 

You will examine the debate between free will and determinism, including biological, environmental, and psychic determinism. The nature vs. nurture debate considers heredity and environment, while holism and reductionism explore different levels of explanation. You’ll also study idiographic vs. nomothetic approaches and the ethical implications of psychological research, including social sensitivity.

Topics include:

• Gender and culture bias

• Free will and determinism

• The nature-nurture debate

• Holism and reductionism

• Idiographic and nomothetic approaches

• Ethical implications of research studies and theory

9. Option 1: Relationships

This topic explores romantic and parasocial relationships, including evolutionary explanations for partner preferences and factors affecting attraction.

You’ll examine theories like social exchange theory, equity theory, and Rusbult’s investment model, as well as Duck’s phase model of relationship breakdown. You will also explore virtual relationships in social media and parasocial relationships, including the absorption-addiction model and attachment theory explanations.

Topics include:

• The evolutionary explanations for partner preferences

• Factors affecting attraction in romantic relationships

• Theories of romantic relationships

• Virtual relationships in social media

• Parasocial relationships 

10. Option 1: Gender

This topic explores sex and gender, including sex-role stereotypes, androgyny and theories of gender development. 

You will examine the role of chromosomes and hormones and atypical sex chromosome patterns like Klinefelter’s and Turner’s syndromes. Theories of gender development include cognitive (Kohlberg, gender schema), psychodynamic (Freud), and social learning theory. You’ll also study cultural and media influences on gender roles and biological and social explanations of gender dysphoria.

Topics include:

• Sex and gender

• Cognitive explanations of gender development

• Psychodynamic explanation of gender development

• Social learning theory applied to gender development

• Atypical gender development 

11. Option 1: Cognition and Development

This topic explores how thinking and social cognition evolve in childhood, focusing on Selman’s levels of perspective-taking, theory of mind (including autism), and the role of mirror neurons.

You will study Piaget’s theory, including schemas, assimilation, accommodation, and the stages of development. You’ll also examine Vygotsky’s theory, focusing on the zone of proximal development and scaffolding, and Baillargeon’s research on infant cognition. 

Topics include:

• Piaget’s theory of cognitive development

• Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development

• Baillargeon’s explanation of early infant abilities

• The development of social cognition

12. Option 2: Schizophrenia

This topic examines the symptoms of schizophrenia and the issues in diagnosis, such as comorbidity, culture and gender bias, and symptom overlap.  

You will learn the biological and psychological explanations for schizophrenia, which include genetics, the dopamine hypothesis, family dysfunction, and cognitive explanations. You will also learn about the treatments for schizophrenia as well as the importance of an interactionist approach in explaining and treating schizophrenia. 

Topics include:

• Classification of schizophrenia

• Biological explanations for schizophrenia

• Psychological explanations for schizophrenia

• Therapies for schizophrenia

• The interactionist approach in explaining and treating schizophrenia

13. Option 2: Eating Behaviour

This topic examines eating behaviour, including food preferences shaped by evolution, learning and social influences.

You will learn about neural and hormonal mechanisms controlling eating and the biological and psychological explanations for anorexia nervosa and obesity. You will also learn about the factors influencing dieting success and failure.

Topics include:

• Explanations for food preferences

• Biological explanations for anorexia nervosa

• Psychological explanations for anorexia nervosa

• Biological explanations for obesity

• Psychological explanations for obesity

14. Option 2: Stress

This topic explores the physiology of stress and its impact on illness, including immunosuppression and cardiovascular disorders. 

You will learn about the sources of stress, such as life changes and daily hassles, and how stress can be measured through self-report and physiological methods. You will also learn about individual differences (personality types, hardiness) and coping strategies, including drug therapy, stress inoculation therapy, biofeedback, gender differences, and social support.

Topics include:

• The physiology of stress

• Stress and illness

• Sources of and measuring stress

• Individual differences in stress

• Managing and coping with stress

15. Option 3: Aggression

This topic explores aggression and its causes, such as neural and hormonal mechanisms as well as genetic factors like the MAOA gene. 

You will examine ethological and evolutionary explanations of aggression, along with social psychological theories. Additionally, you will explore institutional aggression in prisons and media influences, including desensitisation, disinhibition, and cognitive priming.

Topics include:

• Neural and hormonal mechanisms in aggression

• The ethological explanation of aggression

• Social psychological explanations of aggression

• Institutional aggression

• Media influences on aggression 

16. Option 3: Forensic Psychology

This topic examines how offender behaviour is understood and managed. It also explores offender profiling, including top-down and bottom-up approaches. 

You will learn explanations for offending behaviour including biological and psychological theories. You’ll also examine ways of dealing with offenders, such as custodial sentencing, behaviour modification, anger management, and restorative justice programmes.

Topics include:

• Offender profiling

• Biological explanations of offending behaviour

• Psychological explanations of offending behaviour

• Dealing with offending behaviour

17. Option 3: Addiction

This topic explores addiction, including physical and psychological dependence, tolerance and withdrawal. It also covers risk factors for addiction, such as genetic vulnerability, stress, personality, family and peer influence. 

You will learn explanations for nicotine and gambling addiction including brain neurochemistry, learning theory, and cognitive biases. You will also study ways to reduce addiction, including drug therapy, behavioural interventions, and cognitive behaviour therapy, along with theories of behaviour change like the theory of planned behaviour.

Topics include:

• Risk factors in the development of addiction

• Explanations for nicotine and gambling addictions

• Reducing addiction

• Theories of behaviour change to addictive behaviour

What is Covered in AQA A Level Psychology Paper 1?

What is Covered in AQA A Level Psychology Paper 2?

What is Covered in AQA A Level Psychology Paper 3?

Revision Resources for AQA A Level Psychology

If you’re looking for revision resources for the AQA A Level Psychology course, the experts at Save My Exams have meticulously combed through the AQA A Level Psychology specification to ensure that the revision notes, exam questions and past papers we provide are perfectly aligned with the exam board’s requirements.

• AQA A Level Psychology Revision Notes

• AQA A Level Psychology Exam Questions

• AQA A Level Psychology Past Papers
  

Edexcel A Level psychology Topics

Edexcel A Level psychology is divided into compulsory and optional topics:

1. Social Psychology

This topic explores social psychology, focusing on factors influencing obedience and prejudice, including individual differences and situational and cultural influences.

You will examine key studies (Sherif, Burger, Reicher & Haslam), practical investigations, and ethical issues while considering debates like nature vs. nurture, psychology as a science, and social control.

Topics include:

• Theories of and research into obedience

• Factors affecting obedience

• Explanations and research into prejudice

• Factors affecting prejudice

2. Cognitive Psychology

This topic explores cognitive psychology, focusing on how cognitive processes like perception, memory, attention, language, and problem-solving shape human behaviour.

You will learn about models of memory, reconstructive memory, individual differences in memory, and developmental psychology in memory. You will also learn about research methods, including experiments, case studies, and data analysis, analyse key studies, and consider issues and debates such as reductionism and psychology as a science.

Topics include:

• Models of memory

• Explanation of long-term memory

• Reconstructive memory

• Individual differences in memory

• Developmental psychology in memory

3. Biological Psychology

This topic explores biological psychology, focusing on how the brain, neurotransmitters, hormones, and genetics influence aggression. It also covers the effects of brain structure and brain functioning as an explanation of aggression.

You will learn about brain-scanning techniques and twin and adoption studies and examine ethical issues and debates in psychology along with the societal implications of biological influences on aggression and behaviour.

Topics include:

• The CNS and neurotransmitters in human behaviour

• The structure of the brain

• The role of evolution to explain human behaviour

• The biological explanation of aggression

• The role of hormones to explain human behaviour

4. Learning Theories

This topic examines learning theories, focusing on how conditioning, reinforcement, punishment, and social learning shape behaviour.

You will explore key studies, including Pavlov’s and Bandura’s research, and how learning theories apply to phobia acquisition and treatments. You will also study research methods, such as observations, content analysis, and animal studies. Additionally, you will examine the societal impact of learning theories and their influence on behaviour modification and real-world applications.

Topics include:

• Classical conditioning

• Operant conditioning

• The features of social learning theory

• The development of and treatments for phobias

5. Clinical Psychology

This topic explores clinical psychology, focusing on the diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders like schizophrenia, anorexia, OCD, and depression.

You will learn about biological and non-biological explanations for disorders, as well as different treatment methods (e.g., drug therapy, CBT). You will study the DSM and ICD classification systems and ethical issues, while examining research methods such as case studies, interviews, and content analysis. 

Topics include:

• Classification and diagnosis of mental disorders

• Explanations of schizophrenia

• Treatments for schizophrenia

• Explanations of anorexia, OCD or unipolar depression

• Treatments for anorexia, OCD or unipolar depression

6. Optional Topic: Criminological Psychology

This topic focuses on the causes of crime and antisocial behaviour, along with the identification and treatment of offenders. 

You will study biological and social explanations for crime (e.g., brain injury, labelling, self-fulfilling prophecy) and examine techniques like cognitive and ethical interviewing. You’ll learn about factors affecting eyewitness testimony and jury decision-making. Additionally, you’ll analyse key studies and explore ethical and methodological issues in research.

Topics include:

• Biological and social explanations of crime

• Treatments for offenders

• Factors influencing eyewitness testimony

• Factors affecting jury decision-making

7. Optional Topic: Child Psychology

This topic explores how early childhood experiences shape later development and how attachment types differ across cultures. 

You will study attachment theories, as well as the effects of deprivation, privation, and day care. You'll examine autism, including its causes and therapies, while considering the impact of individual differences and developmental issues. Additionally, you will explore debates surrounding ethics, nature vs. nurture, and cultural influences in child development.

Topics include:

• Attachment, deprivation and privation

• The quality of day care

• Cross-cultural research into attachment types

• Autism: features, explanations and therapies

8. Optional Topic: Health Psychology

This topic focuses on understanding health from biological, cognitive, and social perspectives. 

You will learn about the explanations and treatments for drug addiction. You will also examine the impact of individual differences and developmental factors on drug misuse, as well as ethical considerations in animal and human drug research. Additionally, you will learn about anti-drug campaigns and the role of psychology in promoting good health.

Topics include:

• Issues around drug taking

• Explanations of drug addiction

• Treatments for drug addiction

• Anti-drug campaigns

9. Psychological Skills

This topic develops your psychological skills by drawing on knowledge from all areas of the specification to understand conceptual and methodological issues. 

You will learn about various research methods, including experiments, observations, interviews and experimental techniques. You’ll explore data analysis techniques, including descriptive and inferential statistics, and study ethical considerations in research. You’ll also apply theories and evidence to real-world issues and debates, including nature vs. nurture, reductionism, and issues related to socially sensitive research.

Methods topics include:

• Aims, hypotheses and variables

• Research issues, controls and pilot studies

• Experimental: types and design

• Sampling techniques

• Ethical issues in research using humans and animals 

• Observational techniques and design

• Self-report techniques

• Correlational research and meta-analysis

• Longitudinal, cross-sectional and cross-cultural research

• Content analysis and case studies

• Reliability and validity

• Descriptive statistics and computation

• Types, interpretation and display of data

• Inferential statistics 

• Conventions of published psychological research and peer review

Issues and debates topics include:

• Ethical and practical  issues in research 

• Reductionism

• Psychology as a science

• Cultural and gender issues 

• Natures vs. nurture

• The use of psychology in social control

• Issues related to socially-sensitive research

What is Covered in Edexcel A Level Psychology Paper 1?

What is Covered in Edexcel A Level Psychology Paper 2?

What is Covered in Edexcel A Level Psychology Paper 3?

Revision Resources for Edexcel A Level psychology

If you’re looking for revision resources for the Edexcel A Level psychology course, the experts at Save My Exams have meticulously combed through the Edexcel A Level psychology specification to ensure that the past papers we provide are perfectly aligned with the exam board’s requirements.

• Edexcel A Level Psychology Past Papers

Improve Your Grades with Save My Exams

Here at Save My Exams, we develop high-quality, affordable revision resources that will help you study effectively and get the most out of your revision. Our revision resources are written by teachers and examiners. That means notes, questions by topic and worked solutions that show exactly what the examiners for each specific exam are looking for. 

Explore our A Level Psychology resources to kick-start your journey to exam success.

References

AQA (2021) AS and A Level Psychology Specification (7181; 7122), Version 1.2: https://cdn.sanity.io/files/p28bar15/green/7fea9a492b813fa6f8b2ed0f864c31a6e6fb5d8b.pdf   Accessed 21 February 2025

Pearson Edexcel (2016) Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Psychology (9PS0), Issue 2: https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/A%20Level/Psychology/2015/specification-and-sample-assessments/AL-Specification-Psychology.pdf  Accessed 21 February 2025