Science teacher in London and Chemistry graduate
2ic for Science, Subject Lead for Psychology
Biology, Chemistry and Physics to KS3 and KS4
Psychology to KS4
Science teacher in London and Chemistry graduate
2ic for Science, Subject Lead for Psychology
Biology, Chemistry and Physics to KS3 and KS4
Psychology to KS4
This is the first lesson in the topic of MEMORY in the AQA GCSE Psychology course, fully planned and resources. This topic is a great introduction to psychology and can help students understand how the memory works for effective learning and revision. Students love it!
Updated January 2023
The lesson covers encoding, storage and retrieval of memories and introduces the topic.
LO1: Identify the different processes involved in remembering something.
LO2: Describe the different processes of memory using a real life example.
LO3: Compare strategies for improving memory and their effectiveness.
The activities include a starter, some short video clips, AQA exam-style questions, a memory task for the students to complete, notes and diagrams and finally a plenary question.
I designed this as a double lesson (100 mins) but can be delivered over two shorter lessons.
My lessons follow the textbook ‘AQA Psychology for GCSE’ from Illuminate Publishing.
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This is the third lesson in the topic of PERCEPTION in the AQA GCSE Psychology course, 8182.
The lesson covers Gibson’s direct theory of perception covering the principles of the theory and how to evaluate it.
LO1: Describe Gibson and Walk’s cliff fall experiment.
LO2: Explain four aspects of Gibson’s direct theory of perception.
LO3: Evaluate Gibson’s direct theory of perception.
The activities include starter questions, a video, note taking and finally guided practice in the writing of an evaluation.
I designed this as a double lesson (100 mins) but can be delivered over two shorter lessons.
My lessons follow the textbook ‘AQA Psychology for GCSE’ from Illuminate Publishing.
This is the first lesson in the topic of PERCEPTION in the AQA GCSE Psychology course, 8182.
The lesson covers sensation, perception, visual illusions and briefly revises aims, hypotheses and collecting data in investigations as in introduction to this topic.
LO1: Define and differentiate between sensation and perception.
LO2: Describe and explain some different visual illusions.
LO3: Investigate the probability of perceiving different versions of the same visual illusion.
The activities include a starter, a worksheet, short plenary questions and finally a task involving the design of a simple investigation into the perception of ambiguous figures.
I designed this as a double lesson (100 mins) but can be delivered over two shorter lessons.
My lessons follow the textbook ‘AQA Psychology for GCSE’ from Illuminate Publishing.
This is the first lesson in the topic of Research Methods in the AQA GCSE Psychology 8182 course.
I don’t deliver this topic all in one go, I interleave the lessons throughout the other topics. If you are teaching the whole topic in one go, I have tried to make the whole series of lessons about the same imaginary investigation for some consistency and a continued thread of learning.
The lesson covers formulating an aim, null & alternative hypotheses and independent & dependent variables in psychological studies and investigations.
LO1: Formulate an aim for an investigation.
LO2: Identify independent and dependent variables in investigations.
LO3: Compare alternative hypotheses and null hypotheses.
The activities include taking the students through the beginnings of a plan for an investigation or study. There are lots of worked examples, notes and practice questions.
I designed this as a single lesson (50 mins) but can be extended or shortened as necessary.
My lessons follow the textbook ‘AQA Psychology for GCSE’ from Illuminate Publishing.
This is the third lesson in the topic of MEMORY in the AQA GCSE Psychology course, 8182.
Updated January 2023
The lesson covers encoding, storage and retrieval of memories and introduces the topic.
LO1: Identify different types of LTM
LO2: Explain examples of different types of LTM
LO3: Assess the different types of LTM by considering the strengths and limitations
The activities include a starter, some short video clips, AQA exam-style questions, tasks for the students to complete, notes and diagrams and finally a plenary question.
I designed this as a double lesson (100 mins) but can be delivered over two shorter lessons.
My lessons follow the textbook ‘AQA Psychology for GCSE’ from Illuminate Publishing.
This worksheet is from my second lesson in the topic of Perception on the AQA GCSE Psychology (8182) specification.
Students highlight lines within the image to demonstrate the following monocular depth cues:
Height in plane
Relative size
Occlusion
Linear perspective
Students could also add annotations to explain the parts they have highlighted.
See the second file for my suggested solutions. There are many possible suggestions for each depth cue named in the instructions.
This worksheet is from my fourth lesson in the topic of Research Methods on the AQA GCSE Psychology (8182) specification.
Students complete the descriptions of the three experimental designs (independent groups, repeated measures and matched pairs), and the positive and negative points about each as well as how to
This includes descriptions and evaluations points. Solutions are included.
This worksheet is from my eighth lesson in the topic of Research Methods on the AQA GCSE Psychology (8182) specification.
Students match together the various features of:
Stratified sampling
Random sampling
Volunteer sampling
Opportunity sampling
NB. Systematic sampling is not featured on the worksheet, but students could write their own descriptions and draw a diagram for this.
This resource includes descriptions and evaluations points. Solutions are included.
This worksheet is from my first lesson in the topic of Perception on the AQA GCSE Psychology (8182) specification.
Students will describe the following visual illusions, as well as explaining them, and completing the diagram where applicable:
Ponzo illusion
Muller-Lyer illusion
Rubin’s vase
Kanisza triangle
Ame’s room
NB. The Necker cube is not included on this worksheet, but it does feature in my full lesson on this topic.
This worksheet is from my third lesson in the topic of Research Methods on the AQA GCSE Psychology (8182) specification.
Students match together the various features of:
Laboratory experiments
Natural experiments
Field experiments
This includes descriptions and evaluations points. Solutions are included.
This is the fifth lesson in the topic of Research Methods in the AQA GCSE Psychology 8182 course.
I don’t deliver this topic all in one go, I interleave the lessons throughout the other topics. If you are teaching the whole topic in one go, I have tried to make the whole series of lessons about the same imaginary investigation for some consistency and a continued thread of learning.
The lesson covers the definitions of sample, target population, the importance of generalisation and the avoidance of bias. It then takes students through different sampling methods as well as their evaluations.
LO1: Describe the purpose of sampling.
LO2: Outline five sampling methods.
LO3: Evaluate the usefulness of the five sampling methods.
The activities include taking the students through why sampling is important as well as different methods of doing it. I have included examples, notes, practice questions and a worksheet.
I designed this as a single lesson (50 mins) but can be extended or shortened as necessary.
My lessons follow the textbook ‘AQA Psychology for GCSE’ from Illuminate Publishing.
This is the fourth lesson in the topic of Research Methods in the AQA GCSE Psychology 8182 course.
I don’t deliver this topic all in one go, I interleave the lessons throughout the other topics. If you are teaching the whole topic in one go, I have tried to make the whole series of lessons about the same imaginary investigation for some consistency and a continued thread of learning.
The lesson covers formulating an aim, null & alternative hypotheses and independent & dependent variables in psychological studies and investigations.
LO1: Identify three different types of experimental design in psychology.
LO2: Describe the three different types of experimental design.
LO3: Compare the pros and cons of the three different experimental designs.
The activities include taking the students through how to plan the next stages in designing an investigation or study (after aims, hypotheses and variables). I have included examples, notes, practice questions and a worksheet.
I designed this as a single lesson (50 mins) but can be extended or shortened as necessary.
My lessons follow the textbook ‘AQA Psychology for GCSE’ from Illuminate Publishing.
This is the third lesson in the topic of Research Methods in the AQA GCSE Psychology 8182 course. Updated February 2023.
I don’t deliver this topic all in one go; I interleave the lessons throughout the other topics. If you are teaching the whole topic in one go, I have tried to make the whole series of lessons about the same imaginary investigation for some consistency and a continued thread of learning.
The lesson covers formulating an aim, null & alternative hypotheses and independent & dependent variables in psychological studies and investigations.
LO1: Identify what is meant by quantitative and qualitative methods.
LO2: Describe the three different types of experiment in psychology.
LO3: Compare the pros and cons of the three different types of experiment.
The activities include taking the students through how to plan the next stages in designing an investigation or study (after aims, hypotheses and variables). I have included examples, notes, practice questions and a worksheet.
I designed this as a single lesson (50 mins) but can be extended or shortened as necessary.
My lessons follow the textbook ‘AQA Psychology for GCSE’ from Illuminate Publishing.
This is the second lesson in the topic of Research Methods in the AQA GCSE Psychology 8182 course. Updated February 2023
I don’t deliver this topic all in one go, I interleave the lessons throughout the other topics. If you are teaching the whole topic in one go, I have tried to make the whole series of lessons about the same imaginary investigation for some consistency and a continued thread of learning.
The lesson covers formulating an aim, null & alternative hypotheses and independent & dependent variables in psychological studies and investigations.
LO1: Define the term ‘extraneous variables’.
LO2: Identify extraneous variables in research studies.
LO3: Explain the importance of standardised procedures and randomisation.
The activities include taking the students through the beginnings of a plan for an investigation or study. There are lots of worked examples, notes and practice questions.
I designed this as a single lesson (50 mins) but can be extended or shortened as necessary.
My lessons follow the textbook ‘AQA Psychology for GCSE’ from Illuminate Publishing.
This is the eight lesson in the topic of PERCEPTION in the AQA GCSE Psychology course, 8182.
The lesson covers a culture as a factor which affects the perceptual set and includes definitions, descriptions of a study and evaluations.
LO1: Identify ways in which motivation can influence our perception.
LO2: Describe Gilchrist and Nesberg’s study into motivation and perception.
LO3: Evaluate Gilchrist and Nesberg’s study into motivation and perception.
The activities include quick quiz of 5 starter questions to recall elements of the previous lesson, a class discussion covering motivating factors for the students and then the creation of a storyboard to describe Gilchrist and Nesberg’s study. Finally, the students construct an evaluation of the study using the mark scheme to an AQA exam question. Students select the points they wish to include and expand upon each whilst linking their ideas together to form coherent evaluation.
I designed this as a double lesson (100 mins) but can be delivered over two shorter lessons.
My lessons follow the textbook ‘AQA Psychology for GCSE’ from Illuminate Publishing.
This is the ninth lesson in the topic of PERCEPTION in the AQA GCSE Psychology course, 8182.
The lesson covers a expectation as a factor which affects the perceptual set and includes definitions, descriptions of a study and evaluations.
LO1: Identify ways in which expectation can influence our perception.
LO2: Describe Bruner and Minturn’s study into expectation and perception.
LO3: Evaluate Bruner and Minturn’s study into motivation and perception.
The activities include some interactive activities which will get the students thinking about expectation, reading and the links between the two. A video follows this about min-heard song lyrics - again, based on expectation. A definition of expectation is given before the students must summarise the methodology and findings of Bruner and Minturn’s study. Finally, the students construct an evaluation of the study on their worksheet.
I designed this as a double lesson (100 mins) but can be delivered over two shorter lessons.
My lessons follow the textbook ‘AQA Psychology for GCSE’ from Illuminate Publishing.
This is the tenth lesson in the topic of PERCEPTION in the AQA GCSE Psychology course, 8182.
The lesson covers a expectation as a factor which affects the perceptual set and includes definitions, descriptions of a study and evaluations.
LO1: Recall the four factors that affect the perceptual set.
LO2: Summarise the key points of these theories and/or studies.
LO3: Apply our knowledge of these factors in answering exam-style questions.
The activities include having the students transform information on the theories, studies and evaluations behind the four factors affecting perception into much reduced summaries (a ‘thinking hard’ skill). If pressed for time, students could work in groups to share the workload.
Students then choose from a set of AQA exam-style questions based on the four factors affecting perception. The relative difficulties are clearly labeled on the presentation.
I designed this as a double lesson (100 mins) but can be delivered over two shorter lessons.
My lessons follow the textbook ‘AQA Psychology for GCSE’ from Illuminate Publishing.
This is the seventh lesson in the topic of PERCEPTION in the AQA GCSE Psychology course, 8182.
The lesson covers a culture as a factor which affects the perceptual set and includes definitions, descriptions of a study and evaluations.
LO1: Identify ways in which emotion can influence our perception.
LO2: Understand methods of investigating emotion and perception.
LO3: Evaluate McGinnie’s study into emotion and perception.
The activities include an introduction to the lesson with a class discussion about how the emotion of Christmas affects our behaviour, thoughts and feelings. Students then transform the description of McGinnies study into a story board before beginning the evaluation. To construct the evaluation, students will sort sets of statements into groups that then need to be sequenced to produce a coherent evaluation.
I designed this as a double lesson (100 mins) but can be delivered over two shorter lessons.
My lessons follow the textbook ‘AQA Psychology for GCSE’ from Illuminate Publishing.
This is the sixth lesson in the topic of PERCEPTION in the AQA GCSE Psychology course, 8182.
The lesson covers a culture as a factor which affects the perceptual set and includes definitions, descriptions of a study and evaluations.
LO1: Define the terms perceptual set and culture.
LO2: Describe and explain the ways in which culture affects perception.
LO3: Evaluate the cultural factors affecting perception.
The activities include an introduction to the terms ‘perceptual set’ and ‘culture’ with an activity which has the students consider what culture is before moving on to reading about Hudson’s study and then checking their understanding with a short quiz. Finally, student work through guided practice in constructing evaluations of the theory and study.
I designed this as a double lesson (100 mins) but can be delivered over two shorter lessons.
My lessons follow the textbook ‘AQA Psychology for GCSE’ from Illuminate Publishing.
This is the fifth lesson in the topic of PERCEPTION in the AQA GCSE Psychology course, 8182.
The lesson covers a comparison between the principles of Gibson’s and Gregory’s theories of perception, including evaluations.
LO1: Recall the key points of two theories of perception.
LO2: Draw parallels between two theories of perception.
LO3: Apply knowledge of theories of perception to exam-style questions.
The activities include starter questions,recalling knowledge from the previous two lessons, comparing elements of said knowledge, and finally guided practice in the responding to exam-style questions.
I designed this as a double lesson (100 mins) but can be delivered over two shorter lessons.
My lessons follow the textbook ‘AQA Psychology for GCSE’ from Illuminate Publishing.