Psychology updates

The new DP psychology course will be launched in February 2025 for first teaching in August 2025. First assessment will take place in May 2027.

Below you will find an overview of the course updates. For a technical breakdown of the DP curriculum and assessment methods for this course, read the psychology subject brief.

To view all subject briefs, visit the DP curriculum page.

General description of the course and teaching format

Psychology is the scientific study of human and animal cognition and behaviour, with the goal of solving problems and increasing the quality of life for individuals and their communities.  Psychologists attempt to describe, explain, predict and change behaviour by observing humans, forming hypotheses and theories regarding behaviour, and testing them empirically. However, psychology also is a human science and looks for the meaning behind human behaviour through conversations and inquiry. 

In the DP psychology course, students will develop knowledge and understanding of psychological concepts, content and contexts, as well as the models and theories associated with these areas.  Through the course, students will develop the ability to engage in critical thinking, assess evidence and acknowledge the evolving nature of knowledge. They will acquire the ability to seek fresh information and generate understanding by employing research methodologies. The goal of the DP psychology course is not to create psychologists, but to promote psychological literacy, which includes:   

• understanding basic concepts and principles of psychology  
• understanding the scientific research process  
• having the ability to problem-solve 
• applying psychological principles to personal, social, or organizational problems  
• acting ethically  
• thinking critically 
• communicating well in different contexts  
• having cultural competence and respecting diversity  
• possessing self-awareness.  

The course encourages the application of psychology through concept-based learning and engaging in class practicals in each of the four contexts. See below for an overview of the research methodology students will use in each context.

Context	Type of class practical	Minimum sample size
Health and well-being	Interview (structured, semi-structured or focus group)	One participant in an individual interview or three to eight participants in one focus group
Human development	Observation (naturalistic or controlled, overt or covert, participant or non-participant)	One participant
Human relationships	Survey/questionnaire (used interchangeably)	10 participants
Learning and cognition	Experiment (true or quasi-)	Five participants

Curriculum review meets the current teaching landscape

Psychology currently is a rich and diverse field of study with many different perspectives. Those fields have traditionally been dominated by a Western perspective, but modern psychologists recognize the importance of other voices.  Not only are women’s and minorities’ voices now more common in psychological research, but there is a shift from psychologists studying other cultures using Western understandings to an appreciation of how indigenous psychologies contribute to a fuller understanding of human cognition and behaviour. This shift informed the IB’s curriculum review and selection of course content.

Course content changes

Standard level (SL) and higher level (HL) students will investigate four contexts—using psychological content and concepts relevant to the study of each of these contexts. Reading empirical research and everyday claims in the media will provide opportunities to identify concepts and further the knowledge of psychological content applied within a context. Students will be required to think critically about data analysis and interpretation in psychological research and everyday claims (e.g., in social media, etc.); however, only HL students will be directly assessed on data analysis and interpretation. HL extensions require students to further investigate the role of culture, motivation and technology’ in shaping human behaviour. HL and SL students will engage in an internal assessment (IA) task requiring the development of a research proposal. This task is supported through class practicals, which is required for each context of study.

Comparing the new psychology curriculum with the previous curriculum—first, the core has been renamed to “content”, with key theories and terms integrated into the study of each of the approaches. Second, the options have become the four contexts of applied psychology that students will investigate. In the previous curriculum, SL students selected one, and HL students two, of the topics within the options. The differences between the two curriculums include the identification of six concepts relevant to the study of psychology.

The term abnormal psychology has been renamed to health and well-being, and the HL extension material includes the study of motivation and deeper investigation into the role of culture on human behaviour.

The last key difference is a change to the internal assessment (IA), which has become a research proposal for both SL and HL students.

Concepts	Content	Context
Bias  Causality  Change  Measurement  Perspective  Responsibility	Biological approach  Cognitive approach  Sociocultural approach  Research methodology	Health and well-being  Human development  Human relationships  Learning and cognition
SL & HL IA Task: Design a research proposal to investigate a topic in relation to a specified population of interest
HL Extensions
The role of culture, motivation and technology in shaping human behaviour Data analysis and interpretation

 

Syllabus component	Teaching hours
	SL	HL
Concepts, contexts, and content  Integrating content and concepts in understanding contexts  Class practicals within contexts (4 minimum)  HL only  Extensions (culture, motivation, technology)  Data analysis and interpretation	100  30    n/a	100  30    45 45
Internal Assessment  Psychology research proposal to investigate a topic in relation to a specified population of interest.	20	20
Total teaching hours	150	240

Changes to the assessment model

The assessment tasks have changed.

Assessment outline—SL

Assessment component	Weighting
External assessment (3 hours) Paper 1 (1.5 hours) Integration of the concepts, content and contexts (35 marks) Section A: Two compulsory short-answer questions from two of the three content areas. Section B: Two compulsory short-answer questions asking students to apply their knowledge of content to an unseen situation, each from one of four contexts. Section C: Students answer one of two concept-based extended response questions, each from a different context.	70% 35%
Paper 2 (1.5 hours) Applying concepts and content to research contexts (35 marks) Section A: Four compulsory questions that focus on the class practicals. Section B: Evaluation of an unseen research study with regard to two or more concepts.	35%
Internal assessment (20 hours) Research proposal (24 marks) Design a research proposal to investigate a population of interest using one of the four research methods used in the class practicals. This component is internally assessed by the teacher and externally moderated.	30%

 

Assessment outline—HL

Assessment component	Weighting
External assessment (4.75 hours)  Paper 1 (1.5 hours)  Integration of the concepts, contexts, and content (35 marks)  Section A: Two compulsory short-answer questions from two of the three content areas Section B: Two compulsory questions asking students to apply their knowledge of content to an unseen situation, each from one of four contexts Section C: Two concept-based extended response questions, each from a different context	80% 25%
Paper 2 (1.5 hours)  Applying concepts and content to research contexts (35 marks)  Section A: Four questions that focus on the class practicals  Section B: Evaluation of an unseen research study with regard to two or more concepts    Paper 3 (1.75 hours)  Interpretation and analysis of research data (30 marks)  Four source-based questions with quantitative and qualitative findings will be provided. The focus of the questions will be from one of the HL extensions.	25%          30%
Internal assessment (20 hours)  Research proposal (24 marks)  Design a research proposal to investigate a population of interest using one of the four research methods used in the class practicals. This component is internally assessed by the teacher and externally moderated.	20%