BCS Written Post-Related Psychology study guide
BCS Written Post-Related Psychology · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The BCS Written Examination includes a post-related paper in Psychology for candidates who choose or are assigned that subject. It is a descriptive, essay-type paper: you write structured answers rather than shading bubbles, so examiners are judging your command of concepts, your ability to organise an argument, and the precision of your terminology. The BCS Written Post-Related Psychology study guide has 10 sections and about 2,242 words.
01Introduction to Psychology: Nature, Scope, Schools and Methods
Psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes. Candidates must distinguish it from pseudo-psychology and from related fields: it is empirical, uses systematic observation, and tests falsifiable claims.
291 words, about 1 min02Biological Bases of Behaviour: Nervous System, Brain and Endocrine Influences
The nervous system divides into central (brain and spinal cord) and peripheral. Peripheral divides into somatic (voluntary) and autonomic, and autonomic into sympathetic (arousal, fight-or-flight) and parasympathetic (rest, digestion).
235 words, about 1 min03Sensation, Perception, Attention and States of Consciousness
Sensation is detection of physical energy by sense organs; perception is interpretation. Know absolute threshold (minimum detectable stimulus), difference threshold (just noticeable difference, Weber's law), and signal detection theory (hits, misses, false alarms, correct rejections, influenced by sensitivity and criterion).
230 words, about 1 min04Learning: Classical and Operant Conditioning, Observational and Cognitive Learning
Pavlov paired a neutral stimulus (CS) with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) to produce a conditioned response. Know acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalisation, discrimination, and higher-order conditioning.
224 words, about 1 min05Memory, Forgetting and Cognitive Processes: Thinking, Language, Problem Solving
Know the three-stage model: sensory memory, short-term/working memory (capacity about seven plus or minus two items, duration seconds), and long-term memory (unlimited, durable). Long-term divides into explicit (episodic, semantic) and implicit (procedural, priming).
223 words, about 1 min06Motivation, Emotion and Stress
Motivation theories include instinct, drive-reduction (homeostasis, primary and secondary drives), arousal (Yerkes-Dodson: moderate arousal optimal, optimum varies with task difficulty), incentive, and Maslow's hierarchy (physiological, safety, belonging, esteem, self-actualisation). Intrinsic motivation arises from interest; extrinsic from external reward; overjustification can undermine intrinsic motivation.
217 words, about 1 min07Intelligence, Aptitude and Personality: Theories and Assessment
Spearman's g and s factors; Thurstone's primary mental abilities; Gardner's multiple intelligences; Sternberg's triarchic theory (analytical, creative, practical); Cattell-Horn-Carroll fluid versus crystallised intelligence. Fluid declines with age; crystallised holds or grows.
214 words, about 1 min08Developmental Psychology across the Life Span
Know germinal, embryonic, and fetal stages, and teratogens. Piaget's stages: sensorimotor (object permanence), preoperational (egocentrism, conservation failure, symbolic play), concrete operational (conservation, logical operations on concrete objects), formal operational (abstract reasoning).
201 words, about 1 min09Social Psychology: Attitudes, Groups, Influence and Intergroup Relations
Attitudes have affective, behavioural, and cognitive components. Cognitive dissonance (Festinger) motivates attitude change when behaviour and belief conflict.
199 words, under 1 min10Abnormal Psychology and Mental Health: Disorders, Assessment and Therapy
Criteria include statistical deviation, violation of norms, personal distress, dysfunction, and danger. No single criterion suffices.
208 words, about 1 min