IB Diploma Programme · Psychology Resource Hub

Every subtopic of DP Psychology, ready to teach.

Every subtopic of the DP Psychology syllabus, structured across the core approaches, four contexts, HL extensions, and key concepts — with a lesson plan, student worksheet, and mark scheme for each of the 50 lessons.

78Lessons
5Units · 48 topics
SL · HLEvery subtopic
AO1–AO4Aligned throughout
What's included

One pack. Everything you need to teach the course.

78
Lesson plans
A full plan for every subtopic — objectives, timings, and a clear teaching arc.
78
Student worksheets
Structured practice tasks ready to print or assign.
78
Mark schemes
Full mark schemes aligned to the assessment objectives.
Interactive digital lessons
Self-paced lessons for in-class or independent study.
5
Units · 48 topics
The complete DP Psychology syllabus, SL and HL.
AO1–4
Exam-aligned
Exam-style questions + mark schemes mapped to the AOs.
The units

48 topics, one coherent course.

Open any unit to see its topic map and the skills students build across SL and HL.

Unit 1

Core — Approaches to Understanding Behaviour

The biological, cognitive, and sociocultural approaches to psychology, built on a foundation of research methodology and the assessment objectives.
12 lessons · 5 topics

Across 12 lessons and 4 topics, this unit establishes the three approaches that underpin the entire DP Psychology course. Students examine experimental and non-experimental research designs, quantitative and qualitative methodologies, and the criteria of reliability, validity, generalizability, and bias before turning to the biological, cognitive, and sociocultural explanations of behaviour. Key concepts — Evidence, Measurement, Bias, Behaviour, Cognition, and Perspectives — are introduced here and carried forward throughout the course.

MeasurementBiasCognitionEvidence
5 topics · SL & HL
Biological approachCognitive approachResearch methodsSociocultural approachApproaches to research

Skills & assessment. Lessons develop the command-term skills required across all papers: from defining and explaining (AO1) to analysing research studies and applying theoretical models (AO2–AO3) to evaluating the strengths and limitations of each approach (AO4). Structured practice tasks and mark schemes accompany every lesson, providing a clear benchmark for exam-style responses at both SL and HL.

Unit 2

Contexts

The three approaches applied to four real-world contexts — Health & Well-being, Human Development, Human Relationships, and Learning & Cognition — across 15 structured lessons.
15 lessons · 4 topics

Across 15 lessons and 4 topics, students apply the biological, cognitive, and sociocultural approaches to the four DP Psychology contexts. Topics span the determinants of physical and mental health, brain maturation and cognitive development, the dynamics of group and interpersonal relationships, and the biological and cognitive factors underlying learning and memory. The key concepts of Change, Development, Behaviour, Cognition, and Perspectives organise inquiry within each context.

ChangeBehaviourCognitionDevelopment
4 topics · SL & HL
Health and well-beingHuman developmentHuman relationshipsLearning and cognition

Skills & assessment. Lessons model how to construct multi-perspectival responses — drawing on biological, cognitive, and sociocultural evidence within a single context — as required by Paper 2. Command terms including discuss, evaluate, and to what extent are practised through exam-style tasks, with mark schemes provided for every lesson to support both self-assessment and teacher feedback.

Unit 3

HL Extensions

Five HL-only extension topics — Culture, Data Analysis, Internal Assessment, Motivation, and Technology — developed across 17 lessons that deepen conceptual understanding and build research skills.
17 lessons · 5 topics

Across 17 lessons and 5 topics, this unit addresses the additional demands of the HL course. The Culture and Motivation extensions revisit each of the four contexts through a focused lens, while the Technology extension examines how digital environments shape health, development, relationships, and cognition. Three dedicated Internal Assessment lessons guide students through the research proposal — from formulating a research question and selecting methodology to analysing data and addressing reflexivity and ethics. The Data Analysis topic develops descriptive statistics, graphical representation, and inferential significance testing.

ChangeMethodologyCausation and ChangeResponsibility
5 topics · SL & HL
Culture (HL extension) HLMotivation (HL extension) HLTechnology (HL extension) HLData analysis and interpretation HLInternal assessment (research proposal) HL

Skills & assessment. HL lessons are explicitly aligned to the additional assessment requirements of Paper 2 and the Internal Assessment research proposal. Data analysis lessons build the quantitative literacy needed to interpret and evaluate research evidence (AO2–AO3), while IA lessons address the principled justification of methodological choices and the ethical responsibilities of psychological research (AO4).

Unit 4

Concepts

Six standalone lessons, one for each key concept, examined as integrating ideas that cut across approaches, contexts, and the discipline as a whole.
6 lessons · 6 topics

Six lessons — one each for Bias, Causality, Change, Measurement, Perspective, and Responsibility — treat each key concept as a disciplinary lens rather than a topic-specific idea. Each lesson draws on examples from across the course to show how the concept operates in research design, theoretical explanation, and ethical practice, reinforcing the synoptic understanding expected in Paper 3 and extended-response questions.

PerspectiveMeasurementChangeCausality
6 topics · SL & HL
BiasCausalityChangeMeasurementPerspectiveResponsibility

Skills & assessment. Lessons develop the higher-order evaluative skills associated with AO3 and AO4 — constructing arguments, identifying assumptions, and weighing evidence — through tasks that require students to connect the concept to material studied across units. Mark schemes support precise, criterion-referenced feedback on extended and evaluative responses.

Unit 5

Additional Core Topics

28 lessons · 28 topics

IdentityMotivationBehaviourPerspectives
28 topics · SL & HL
Abnormal psychology: diagnosing and classifying disordersTreatment and therapy for psychological disordersHuman relationships option: violence and conflictHuman relationships option: origins of attraction and mate selectionSport and exercise psychology optionHL extensions: additional HL-only content across core topics HLBiological approach: the role of animal researchQualitative research methods: specific techniquesContent analysis and thematic analysis as research toolsSampling methods in psychological researchEmotion and its biological basisStereotypes, prejudice and discriminationGlobalisation and its psychological effectsAbnormal psychology: etiology and treatment of specific disordersHL extensions: additional HL topics across all three approaches HLApproaches to research: the scientific method and falsifiability inObservationsSurveys and questionnaires as a research methodCorrelational research and the correlation coefficientContent analysis as a research methodEmotion and its role in behaviourSport and exercise psychology: additional required subtopicsHuman relationships: violence and conflict in relationshipsDevelopmental psychology: moral developmentDevelopmental psychology: identity formation in adolescenceBiological approach: the role of the endocrine system and hormones inPaper 3 skills: evaluating a textCognitive approach: schema theory and social cognition

Skills & assessment.

How the lessons work

A clear teaching arc in every lesson.

01
Hook
Surface prior thinking and frame the inquiry.
02
Develop
Guided development of the theory and key concepts.
03
Practise
Structured practice on the worksheet tasks.
04
Apply
An applied or evaluative task that lifts thinking.
Explicit learning objectivesCommand-term focusATL skill linksDifferentiation support
Assessment-ready

Built for the exams students will sit.

AO1
Knowledge & understanding
Recall and demonstrate the content.
AO2
Application & analysis
Apply understanding to new contexts.
AO3
Synthesis & evaluation
Formulate, analyse and evaluate.
AO4
Skills
Use and apply subject-specific technique.
Why DP Psychology teachers choose this hub

Walk into every lesson already prepared.

The entire DP Psychology course, built to the current syllabus and ready to teach — so your time goes into the students in front of you, not into building resources from scratch.

01
Aligned to the current DP guide
Every SL and HL subtopic, framed by the key concepts and the inquiry approach.
02
The planning, already done
78 lesson plans, worksheets and mark schemes with a consistent teaching arc — teach as-is or adapt.
03
Exam confidence built in
Exam-style questions and full mark schemes mapped to AO1–AO4 and the command terms.
Available per subject, or added to a whole-school license bundle.