Comparison Approaches Bundle

This lesson bundle is designed to help students master one of the most challenging areas of AQA Psychology: comparing psychological approaches using key Issues and Debates. The resource moves beyond simple AO1 recall and develops the analytical skills required for both short-answer and extended-response exam questions.

Students begin with retrieval activities focused on the Humanistic and Psychodynamic Approaches before exploring the core principle that approaches represent different viewpoints about human behaviour. The lesson uses engaging discussion activities, including psychologist debates (e.g. Freud vs Maslow, Pavlov vs Bandura), to encourage students to think critically about similarities and differences between approaches.

The lesson explicitly teaches students how to compare approaches through key Issues and Debates, including:

Nature vs Nurture
Free Will vs Determinism
Holism vs Reductionism
Idiographic vs Nomothetic
Psychology as a Science

Included resources provide structured support for students, including:

Multiple-choice recap quizzes
Reading materials and comparison guides
Comparison tables covering all major approaches
Model paragraphs
Sentence starters and scaffolds
Guided practice activities
Independent exam-style writing tasks

A particular focus is placed on developing high-quality comparison paragraphs, helping students move beyond listing AO1 knowledge and instead explain why approaches differ or agree. Students are supported in writing detailed comparisons such as free will versus psychic determinism and scientific credibility across approaches.

Suitable for:

AQA A Level Psychology
Approaches in Psychology
Issues and Debates revision
Exam skills development
Year 12 and Year 13 students

Contents:

Full lesson PowerPoint
Do Now retrieval quiz
Comparison guide
Issues and Debates recap sheet
Comparison table activity
Reading and comprehension tasks
Model answers
Writing scaffold/support sheet

Ideal for classroom teaching, revision sessions, intervention groups, or independent study. This lesson is particularly useful for preparing students for 8-mark and 16-mark comparison questions, an area where many students nationally struggle to achieve top marks.