The module is co-ordinated by Dr Gillian Sandstrom, to whom queries should be addressed.
PS212 Psychology Research builds upon your statistics classes in the first year, and combines statistics lectures and computer workshops using statistical software.
This is a full-year course, delivered as two components:
(1) Lectures will cover data analysis skills, along with their underlying principles, which will equip you for most of the laboratory class and project work that you will encounter in the rest of your psychology degree.
(2) Computer workshops will give you a supervised opportunity to solve exercises using statistical software, and the chance to ask questions about any aspects of the topics covered in the lectures.
PS212 is assessed by two computer-based assignments (the first worth 20%; the second worth 27%), research participation (3%) and a final end-of-year summer examination (50%).
PS212 Psychology Research builds upon your statistics classes in the first year, and combines statistics lectures and computer workshops using statistical software.
This is a full-year course, delivered as two components:
(1) Lectures will cover data analysis skills, along with their underlying principles, which will equip you for most of the laboratory class and project work that you will encounter in the rest of your psychology degree.
(2) Computer workshops will give you a supervised opportunity to solve exercises using statistical software, and the chance to ask questions about any aspects of the topics covered in the lectures.
PS212 is assessed by two computer-based assignments (the first worth 20%; the second worth 27%), research participation (3%) and a final end-of-year summer examination (50%).
- Module Supervisor: Paul Hanel
The module is co-ordinated by Dr Rael Dawtry, to whom all enquires should be made.
Please see PS300 the project outline for further guidelines, details, and deadlines.
The PS300 Research Project is an original piece of empirical psychological research assessed via a poster and a written report. The project provides an opportunity to apply, in an original piece of research, the statistical and the research methodology learned during the first two years of the psychology degree.
- Module Supervisor: Carina De Klerk
- Module Supervisor: Jonathan Rolison
The module aims to provide students with an overview of research on some of the main topics in Developmental Psychology. This starts with Piaget's theory, and topics that may be covered include prenatal development, early sensorimotor development, childhood cognitive development and social development, as well as developmental disorders. Classical and contemporary theoretical views of child development will be contrasted, highlighting key issues and current controversies for each topic. The module will also examine methods of research and the research designs employed in Developmental Psychology. There are 10 lectures which will be led by Dr Maria Laura Filippetti, Dr Andrew Simpson and Dr Silvia Rigato. PS406 is assessed by a compulsory piece of coursework (25%) relating to research in Developmental Psychology, and a Multiple Choice Question examination, during Christmas vacation, before the start of the Spring term (75%).
- Module Supervisor: Andrew Simpson
Queries should be addressed to the Module Co-ordinator.
Aims: The aim of this module is to study a range of theory and research concerned with our thinking and behaviour in a social world. The Social Psychology module addresses core theories of social behaviour and social information processing. At the end of the module you should have a clear understanding of the topics social psychologists are interested in and their approach to their study. Each of the topics will be covered in sufficient depth for you to be able to appreciate classical social psychological theories and findings as the foundation of this empirical discipline.
A full outline will be provided at the first lecture.
- Module Supervisor: Paul Hanel
The module is co-ordinated by Dr Nick Cooper, to whom queries should be addressed.
The aim of the module is to provide an appreciation of the physiological mechanisms that underlie human behaviour. The brain is an extremely complex organ, and many areas of interest to psychologists are as yet, beyond the reductionist approach adopted here. However, it is hoped that the module will at least establish the possibility that even our deepest thoughts and feelings arise from a combination of electrical and chemical interactions.
The lectures will be taught by Dr Nick Cooper, Dr Steffan Kennett, Dr Vincenzo Romei, Dr Gethin Hughes, Dr Marcello Costantini & Dr Elia Vanentini. PS411 will be supported by additional tutorial classes, which will introduce the use of Powerpoint Presentations.
PS411 is assessed by an oral PowerPoint presentation (10%), and a timed essay (15%) and a final end-of-year essay-based summer examination (75%).
Socrate and International students:
These students have different assessments and must check with the department what the requirements are.
The aim of the module is to provide an appreciation of the physiological mechanisms that underlie human behaviour. The brain is an extremely complex organ, and many areas of interest to psychologists are as yet, beyond the reductionist approach adopted here. However, it is hoped that the module will at least establish the possibility that even our deepest thoughts and feelings arise from a combination of electrical and chemical interactions.
The lectures will be taught by Dr Nick Cooper, Dr Steffan Kennett, Dr Vincenzo Romei, Dr Gethin Hughes, Dr Marcello Costantini & Dr Elia Vanentini. PS411 will be supported by additional tutorial classes, which will introduce the use of Powerpoint Presentations.
PS411 is assessed by an oral PowerPoint presentation (10%), and a timed essay (15%) and a final end-of-year essay-based summer examination (75%).
Socrate and International students:
These students have different assessments and must check with the department what the requirements are.
- Module Supervisor: Nicholas Cooper
- Module Supervisor: Helge Gillmeister
This module aims to provide an introduction to cognitive psychology. It will run throughout the first term. The module covers major areas of cognitive psychology as defined by the British Psychological Society, such as visual and auditory perception, and visual cognition. The module consists of 10 lectures, and a set of laboratory classes.
This module continues the introduction to cognitive psychology that commenced with PS414 Cognitive Psychology I. The module will run throughout the second term. It includes coverage of major areas of cognitive psychology, as defined by the British Psychological Society such as language, memory, and attention. At the end of the module, students should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the psychological theories and data related to major areas of cognitive psychology as defined by the British Psychological Society.
The module is co-ordinated by Dr Tracy Robinson, to whom queries should be addressed.
The aim of the module is to give a detailed review of personality, intelligence and individual differences. It is intended to provide a parsimonious account of theories and approaches to personality and individual differences. A number of areas of Psychology will be covered including cognitive, trait theories and biological. It will also cover influential topics in individual differences that are contemporary and exciting. This module will give students a theoretical and research-based knowledge of the sources of individual differences in behaviour.
By the end of the module, students will have investigated:
(1) Theories of personality, i.e. to what extent do differences in temperament influence people's behaviour.
(2) Theories of intelligence, i.e. how and why people differ in their problem solving and inference skills.
(3) Further contemporary debates and applications in individual differences, i.e. how do individual differences explain a wealth of human behaviours, feelings and thinking.
The aim of the module is to give a detailed review of personality, intelligence and individual differences. It is intended to provide a parsimonious account of theories and approaches to personality and individual differences. A number of areas of Psychology will be covered including cognitive, trait theories and biological. It will also cover influential topics in individual differences that are contemporary and exciting. This module will give students a theoretical and research-based knowledge of the sources of individual differences in behaviour.
By the end of the module, students will have investigated:
(1) Theories of personality, i.e. to what extent do differences in temperament influence people's behaviour.
(2) Theories of intelligence, i.e. how and why people differ in their problem solving and inference skills.
(3) Further contemporary debates and applications in individual differences, i.e. how do individual differences explain a wealth of human behaviours, feelings and thinking.
This module is concerned with the study of emotional behaviour and experience from a scientific point of view. The emphasis throughout the module is on how emotions arise and are manifest as patterns of bodily response and mental activity. Theories of emotion from psychodynamic, introspective, and constructionist positions will not form a major component of the module, although some of the important insights which these approaches have offered will be considered. We will examine theories of both normal and abnormal emotion. The former will receive the lion's share of our attention, but the case studies on particular emotions (e.g. sadness) include discussion of their pathological extensions (depression).
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the module, students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate an appreciation of how biology and cognition interact in the experience and expression of emotion.
2. Demonstrate how emotions can be profitably viewed as adaptive, that they more often help than hinder.
3. Adopt a critical approach to the study of emotion.
4. Evaluate and understand the different theoretical approaches to emotion.
5. Summarise and condense scientific information using concise wording.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the module, students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate an appreciation of how biology and cognition interact in the experience and expression of emotion.
2. Demonstrate how emotions can be profitably viewed as adaptive, that they more often help than hinder.
3. Adopt a critical approach to the study of emotion.
4. Evaluate and understand the different theoretical approaches to emotion.
5. Summarise and condense scientific information using concise wording.
- Module Supervisor: Tracy Robinson
This module will introduce how the human brain and body interact in order to shape our minds and our behaviour. Several different aspects of brain-body-behavioural interactions are covered by different experts in the field. These topics range from basic bodily functions to high-order existential concerns and include: recreational drugs; lifestyle, diet and well-being; how the microbes in our guts affect behaviour; the role of the immune system; how our environment affects how our genes work; how we taste and smell; how our senses interact to shape perception; the experience of physical and social pain; existential neuroscience.
The aim of this module is to provide Year 3 students with a deep understanding of the way the brain and body interact to control behaviour. At the end of the module students should be able to:
1. Understand the psychophysiological processes and consequences of various lifestyle choices (e.g. diet, exercise, recreational drugs); how embodiment affects brain and behaviour (via the enteric nervous system, the immune system, and gene-environment interactions)
2. Understand how the senses interact to provide the experience of perception.
3. Develop knowledge into the new neuroscientific findings that are providing insight into areas of deep philosophical intrigue (such as the putative link between physical and social pain, and how an awareness of death can influence cognition and behaviour).
4. Know how to pass on their new knowledge to others in an educationally useful way.
The aim of this module is to provide Year 3 students with a deep understanding of the way the brain and body interact to control behaviour. At the end of the module students should be able to:
1. Understand the psychophysiological processes and consequences of various lifestyle choices (e.g. diet, exercise, recreational drugs); how embodiment affects brain and behaviour (via the enteric nervous system, the immune system, and gene-environment interactions)
2. Understand how the senses interact to provide the experience of perception.
3. Develop knowledge into the new neuroscientific findings that are providing insight into areas of deep philosophical intrigue (such as the putative link between physical and social pain, and how an awareness of death can influence cognition and behaviour).
4. Know how to pass on their new knowledge to others in an educationally useful way.
This module will introduce how the human brain and body interact in order to shape our minds and our behaviour. Several different aspects of brain-body-behavioural interactions are covered by different experts in the field. These topics range from basic bodily functions to high-order existential concerns and include: recreational drugs; lifestyle, diet and well-being; how the microbes in our guts affect behaviour; the role of the immune system; how our environment affects how our genes work; how we taste and smell; how our senses interact to shape perception; the experience of physical and social pain; existential neuroscience.
The aim of this module is to provide Year 3 students with a deep understanding of the way the brain and body interact to control behaviour. At the end of the module students should be able to:
1. Understand the psychophysiological processes and consequences of various lifestyle choices (e.g. diet, exercise, recreational drugs); how embodiment affects brain and behaviour (via the enteric nervous system, the immune system, and gene-environment interactions)
2. Understand how the senses interact to provide the experience of perception.
3. Develop knowledge into the new neuroscientific findings that are providing insight into areas of deep philosophical intrigue (such as the putative link between physical and social pain, and how an awareness of death can influence cognition and behaviour).
4. Know how to pass on their new knowledge to others in an educationally useful way.
The aim of this module is to provide Year 3 students with a deep understanding of the way the brain and body interact to control behaviour. At the end of the module students should be able to:
1. Understand the psychophysiological processes and consequences of various lifestyle choices (e.g. diet, exercise, recreational drugs); how embodiment affects brain and behaviour (via the enteric nervous system, the immune system, and gene-environment interactions)
2. Understand how the senses interact to provide the experience of perception.
3. Develop knowledge into the new neuroscientific findings that are providing insight into areas of deep philosophical intrigue (such as the putative link between physical and social pain, and how an awareness of death can influence cognition and behaviour).
4. Know how to pass on their new knowledge to others in an educationally useful way.
- Module Supervisor: Nicholas Cooper
- Module Supervisor: Steffan Kennett
The module covers three major themes in the psychology of ageing; mind, brain, and behaviour. The mind theme introduces cognitive, social, and emotional aspects of ageing. We consider decision making in older age, how older adults interact with their social environment, and how emotional processing changes with age. The brain theme introduces neurological changes that occur with age and how these affect memory and attention and other aspects of cognition and emotion. Dementia and neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, are also explored. The behaviour theme focuses on the physiology of ageing and introduces students to applied topics.
This module builds on the 2nd year module Developmental Psychology in order to provide a greater understanding of the relation between brain development and the development of skills in infants and children, and will provide insights into applied developmental psychology. The topics range from typical and atypical development to how neuroscience can inform educational practices, and may include: prenatal brain development, the development of the sense of self and self control, infant and children attachment and social skills, neurodevelopmental disorders and applied neuroscience.
The aim of this module is to provide final year undergraduate students with a deep understanding of the connections between brain development and child behaviour and skills, and how neuroscience can inform educational practices
The aim of this module is to provide final year undergraduate students with a deep understanding of the connections between brain development and child behaviour and skills, and how neuroscience can inform educational practices
Positive Psychology Strengths Lecture
Should you save for the future or live life in the moment? Should you travel the world or settle in a secure job? The decisions we make shape our lives. While people have an amazing ability to make good decisions, and to do so quickly and intuitively often on gut feeling, they are also prey to cognitive biases and limits to mental capacity that cause them to make the wrong decisions. Are you an intuitive decision-maker who relies on “gut feeling” or do you think critically and carefully about every decision you make? This module will reveal how the human mind is capable of both good and bad judgements and decisions and will explore who makes the best decisions and how decisions making can be improved.
Aims
The module aims to develop in students an understanding of the psychological processes underpinning human judgement and decision-making. Students will also develop a strong command of the ways in which insights into how people decide can be leveraged and applied to improve the decisions people make in their own lives and for tackling some of the major current challenges faced by society such as climate change or antimicrobial resistance.
Learning Outcomes
1. Develop a good command of the major theories and models of judgement, decision-making, and reasoning.
2. Critically analyse the empirical research on judgement and decision-making quality (e.g., biases, heuristics).
3. Acquire the ability to leverage basic behavioural science theories to alleviate current societal challenges in a range of context (environmental, medical, and social).
Aims
The module aims to develop in students an understanding of the psychological processes underpinning human judgement and decision-making. Students will also develop a strong command of the ways in which insights into how people decide can be leveraged and applied to improve the decisions people make in their own lives and for tackling some of the major current challenges faced by society such as climate change or antimicrobial resistance.
Learning Outcomes
1. Develop a good command of the major theories and models of judgement, decision-making, and reasoning.
2. Critically analyse the empirical research on judgement and decision-making quality (e.g., biases, heuristics).
3. Acquire the ability to leverage basic behavioural science theories to alleviate current societal challenges in a range of context (environmental, medical, and social).