Psychology, Development and Developmental Disorders

Core Modules

Year 1

• Understanding Psychological Research

  This module provides an introduction to core aspects of psychological research. This includes how to find and read psychological papers, and thinking critically about research. General aspects of research covered include ethics in psychological research, designs and variables in research, reliability and validity, designing psychological research studies (correlational and experimental), and qualitative methods. Students are introduced to different types of data and distributions, and to describing data. In addition, the use of statistical tests in psychological research and how to choose the right test are introduced. Statistics covered may include inferential statistics, chi-squared test, independent and repeated t test, one-way independent ANOVA, correlation, linear regression, and non-parametric statistics. This course encompasses a Psychology Toolkit component; teaching sessions combined with self-study for the preparation of a portfolio.

• Understanding Individuals and Groups

  This course aims to introduce students to the basics of personality and social psychology. The course will start with an introduction to key dynamic personality theories of Freud, followed by Jung. Students will then learn about theories and research on agreession, pro-social behaviour and conformity. In addition, key fundamental topics in social psychology, attitudes and values, will be introduced, as well as cross-cultural psychology and leadership.

• Understanding Development across the Lifespan

  This course provides an introduction to developmental psychology, which seeks to understand and explain changes in an individual’s physical, cognitive, and social capacities across the lifespan. The overarching themes are to describe changes in an individual’s observed behaviour over time, and to uncover the processes that underlie these changes. The course begins by introducing the historical and conceptual issues underlying developmental psychology and the research methods used for studying individuals at different ages. It then proceeds to address physical development in the prenatal period, followed by cognitive and social development during infancy. The course then examines change during childhood by introducing major theories of cognitive development and addressing the social contexts of development (parents, peers, and social relationships; morality, altruism, and aggression). The course concludes by addressing the physical, cognitive, and social changes of adulthood and ageing.

• How to be a Psychologist

  The aim of this module is to give students the core skills and knowledge needed to be successful as an academic psychologist. The module is divided into three components. First, students will develop a strong understanding of the academic skills needed within undergraduate studies for psychology, including finding and reading research journal articles, thinking critically, and writing about psychology. Second, they will be introduced to the typical career paths for psychology graduates, and they will be introduced to resources to allow them to develop their employability through their degree. Third, they will learn about the conceptual and historical issues underpinning current psychological research.

• Understanding Perception and Cognition

  This module will provide an introduction to the key theories and research findings regarding Perception and Cognition. This may include topics within perception such as sensory perception as gateway to the world; attentional modulation of perception; illusions as key to reality, brightness, perception of colour, time, motion and depth; auditory perception, touch, taste and smell; the control of eye and head movements as a link between perception and action; and memory processes (both experimental and applied).

   

• Understanding Neuroscience

  The module provides an introduction to the key neuroscience cencepts and research techniques relevant to Psychology.  Topics include the basics of neural function, neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, sensorimotor processing, and research methods used.

• Understanding Mental Health and Wellbeing

  This module provides an introduction to the concept of abnormal psychology. The course starts with developing an understanding and knowledge about how we define abnormality in psychology and how this has developed and changed throughout history. Different approaches to understanding abnormal psychology are covered, starting with the biomedical model of abnormality. Following this, social and cultural approaches to abnormality are covered, followed by the philosophy of abnormality. Psychodynamic, behavioural and cognitive approaches to abnormality are also covered in detail. There is a focus on psychological disorders as we currently classify them in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The hierarchy of evidence in clinical psychology research is also covered.

• Academic Integrity

  This module will describe the key principles of academic integrity, focusing on university assignments. Plagiarism, collusion and commissioning will be described as activities that undermine academic integrity, and the possible consequences of engaging in such activities will be described. Activities, with feedback, will provide you with opportunities to reflect and develop your understanding of academic integrity principles.

   

Year 2

• Psychological Research Methods and Analysis

  In this module you will learn about how to use SPSS to analyse, interpret and graph data, one way ANOVA (independent and repeated), factorial ANOVA (independent, repeated and mixed), ANCOVA, complex correlations, linear regression (multiple, categorical predictors, stepwise and hierarchical), logistic regression and factor analysis. You will also study research methods topics including advanced experimental design (factorial and quasi-experimental designs), questionnaire design and validation, and qualitative analyses.

• Cognitive Psychology

  This module will provide you with an overview of the key theoretical and empirical issues in cognitive psychology, including selective attention, multisensory perception and problem solving. You will look at reasoning, judgement and blindsight, and examine the impact of unilateral neglect and attention for action.

• Social Psychology

  In this module, you will develop an understanding of the key topics in social psychology, with a particular focus on topics that highlight over-arching debates within this area of study. You will look at how social psychology can be applied to real-world issues, examining the social psychology of relationships, the self-concept, prejudice and group conflict, attribution theory, group decision-making, situational perspectives on evil, and non-verbal behaviour and social cognition.

• Developmental Psychology

  In this module you will develop an understanding of cognitive development, including intelligence across the lifespan, language development, and number representation, and the development of social understanding, including social cognition, emotional development, prejudice, and adolescence. You will look in depth at the research techniques used in developmental psychology, as well as enhancing your ability to conduct critical analyses.

• Personality and Individual Differences

  In this module you will examine theory and research in key areas of personality and individual differences. You will explore the difference between these two areas of study, and become equipped with methods of evaluating theories of personality. You will review key topics in personality and individual differences, with consideration for the relations between them in order to develop your integrative understanding of personality.

• Brain and Behaviour

  In this module you will develop an understanding of why modern psychology requires an understanding of neuroscience. You will look at neuronal structure, function and information transmission, and the organisation of the nervous system and how this reflects the principles of information processing. You will examine the methods used to study structure and information processing in the brain, becoming familiar with the brain's functional architectures and the neural basis of learning. You will also consider brain evolution, and the biology and psychopharmacology of reward, reinforcement and psychological disorders.

Year 3

• Final Year Project

  In this module, you will carry out a piece of research as part of a small group, closely supervised by a member of academic staff. You will develop teamwork, presentation and analytical skills, and produce a substantial, independently written, report of your study.

Optional Modules

There are a number of optional course modules available during your degree studies. The following is a selection of optional course modules that are likely to be available. Please note that although the College will keep changes to a minimum, new modules may be offered or existing modules may be withdrawn, for example, in response to a change in staff. Applicants will be informed if any significant changes need to be made.

Year 1

• All modules are core

Year 2

• Employability in Psychology

  In this module students will attend four workshops that will allow them to explore four different areas of employability that psychology graduates typically enter: Mental health (clinical psychology, health psychology, forensic psychology, etc.), Education (teaching, educational psychologist, etc.), Research (PhD, research associate, market research, etc.), and Careers beyond psychology (finance, HR, graduate schemes).

   

• How can Psychology change the world – Applied and Developmental Perspectives

  This module provides an overview to some of the ways in which applied and developmental perspectives in Psychology can be used to improve society. Students will obtain an appreciation regarding some of the conceptual issues regarding applied psychology, as well as an introduction to various ways that these perspectives can apply to societal issues/advancements.

   

• How can Psychology change the world – Clinical and Neuroscience perspectives

  This module provides an overview to some of the ways in which clinical and neuroscientific perspectives in Psychology can be used to improve society. Students will obtain an appreciation regarding some of the conceptual issues regarding clinical and neuroscience ethics, as well as an introduction to various ways that these perspectives can apply to societal issues/advancements.

   

Year 3

• Advanced Developmental Psychology

  This advanced course option offers topical treatments of aspects of cognitive and social development (infancy to adolescence) not otherwise covered in introductory developmental psychology courses. One overarching theme is cognitive development, particularly abstract or symbolic thinking, including object representation, language, drawing, and pretend play. Other cognitive topics include autobiographical memory development and executive functioning development. Another overarching theme focuses on the social contexts of development, including how children negotiate their relationships with peers, how values develop in childhood and adolescence, and what neuroscience can tell us about social cognition in adolescence.

• The Ageing Brain

  This module provides an introduction to developmental neurobiology, cognitive and perceptual development and the cognitive and neural bases of Dementia. Topics will include Normal and Abnormal brain development, Alzheimer's Disease, cognitive ageing and lifespan influence on ageing. The course develops an understanding of brain development across the life span, an understanding of developmental disease processes, and learning the relation between brain and cognitive development.

• Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience

  This module builds on knowledge from previous courses to develop an advanced understanding of current issues in Cognitive Neuroscience, to understand the mechanisms of brain damage, recovery and techniques employed in rehabilitation, and to develop a comprehensive understanding of specific specialist topics in clinical and cognitive neuroscience. Cognitive Neuroscience component: Controversies in Cognitive Neuroscience, The Human Brain: Understanding structure in the context of disorders, Primate Association Cortex: Rules and Decisions, The Social Brain, Neuroscience and the illusion of free will. Clinical Neuroscience component: Mechanisms of brain damage (neurodegenerative diseases and acute brain injury), mechanisms of recovery from brain damage (brain plasticity), Rehabilitation (Using neural transplants to repair brain damage, brain- machine interfaces)

• Communication in the Social World

  To provide a good understanding of communication, the skill that is the basis of social interaction, and that is argued to have allowed humans to create culture and advanced technology. The module will cover all aspects of communication – from understanding why language exists at all and how it influences our thoughts and behaviour, to understanding how we communicate with others, and what can go wrong. This module will provide the basis for understanding the importance of communication in society as a first step for understanding how to evaluate it, exploit it, and improve it.

• Developmental Disorders

  This course uses the neuroconstructivist framework to study disorders of known genetic origin (Down syndrome, Fragile X, William syndrome) and multifactorial disorders such as ADHD, autism spectrum conditions, reading disorders, and specific language impairment. Core features of each disorder and methods for assessment and diagnosis are described. There is an emphasis on cross-syndrome comparisons and understanding the contributions of genes and environment to the wide variation in behavioural and cognitive profiles in different clinical conditions.

• Educational Psychology

  This module includes lectures and readings covering classical and contemporary approaches in educational psychology. These may include work on gender and diversity in education, learning and classroom interaction, intelligence and motivation, learning disorders and special educational needs, assessment, attainment, socio-emotional approaches to development and learning, psychological perspectives on education at different levels/ages.

• Health Psychology and Wellbeing

  This module develops understanding of how to identify research papers relevant to a health psychology topic, techniques to summarise and evaluate published evidence, relating to a health psychology, how to apply health psychology theory to a practical problem and how to describe and think critically about a number of health psychology theories, models and concepts.

• Data Science: AI & Machine Learning in Psychology & Beyond

  The main focus of the module is to familiarise students with a range of software (e.g. R and Matlab) and quantitative techniques that are commonly used in psychology and behavioural neuroscience. The emphasis of the module is not on a deep understanding of mathematical principles but rather of how and when such techniques might be appropriate in real-world settings (e.g. market research, predicting consumption patterns). As such, the module is designed to introduce students to how and when these techniques might be applied in a range of software platforms that are commonly used in the private and public sector, as well as in academic research environments.

• Literature Review: Independent Critical Analysis (LiRICA)

  The aim of this module is to produce a substantial piece of original written work exploring a topic of the student’s own interest in an in-depth, advanced level extended essay prepared under the guidance of a supervisor.

   

• User-Centre Design

  This module introduces user-centred design aspects and challenges in interactive traditional, augmented and virtual reality contexts, and addresses the approaches that can be used to create displays and interfaces to enhance user experience.

• Advanced Statistics

  This course will introduce students to advanced statistical techniques, building upon the statistics knowledge gained from year one and year two modules. The aim is that throughout the course students will gain an understanding about how advanced statistical techniques can address more complex research questions. In building on previous knowledge this course will explore 3 way ANOVA (where you have three independent variables), MANOVA (where you have more than one dependent variable), Signal Detection Theory, dummy variables and interactive predictors in regression, structural equation modelling and more.

• Psychology of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

  This module has been designed to raise awareness of EDI and aims to explore factors such as gender, racism, discrimination, poverty, social class, disability and sexuality and the implications of these concepts for education, workplace and physical and mental health. This module will take an in-depth view into how characteristics of EDI can lead to exclusion through behaviour that is driven by implicit norms and address the importance of acknowledging and tackling unconscious bias. Each lecture explores the importance of intersectionality and provides an overview of the key issues involved in barriers and access to equality of access, provision and learning.