Postgraduate Psychology 2017-2018

This course aims to provide students with a good understanding of the biological basis of behaviour and cognition. The course is split into two sections: Section 1 focuses on psychopharmacology, which is the study of the effects of drugs on normal and abnormal brain function; Section 2 examines neuropsychology, which focuses on the relationships between specific brain structures and psychological processes

Psychological assessment is used by psychologists in a number of areas, including clinical, occupational and forensic settings. The aim of this course is to introduce students to psychometric theory, real life applications of psychological assessment, and the legal and ethical issues surrounding test administration. Topics covered on this lecture based course include: IQ and mood assessment, clinical neuropsychological tests of cognitive function and memory, assessment of dementia, and forensic aspects of assessment (legal malingering).

The aim of this course is to consider a range of approaches to human perception, from historical beginnings to recent innovative research. Topics covered include visual attention, colour perception, face recognition, and perception of painspecific brain structures and psychological processes.

This course aims to introduce students to a broad range of methods used in psychological research. Lectures cover methods used to collect physiological data (e.g. brain imaging techniques), behavioural data (e.g. measures of task performance) and self-report data (e.g. survey, questionnaire and interview techniques).   Practical classes involve students working in small groups to design studies, collect and analyse data, and write reports. Practical sessions are also used to teach students to use a statistical software package (SPSS) to analyse data collected in psychological studies.

The initial lectures of this course provide introductory information that is essential for new postgraduate students. The subsequent lectures and assessments develop essential research skills and knowledge such as academic writing, ethics and philosophy of science.

In order to conduct research in Psychology, students will need to use specialized software and learn some basic programming. This course provides instructive lectures on how to use some of the more widely adopted and useful software suites and programming languages, accompanied by workshops in which students perform PC based exercises to practice their skills.

A major component of the MRes is the Research Module. For this, students complete their own research project supervised by a member of staff who is an expert in the relevant field.  They also attend departmental seminars, present their research at a postgraduate psycholoquia and take part in journal clubs.

The ability to identify, select, carry out and interpret a range of core psychological statistical methods is required to interpret research evidence and complete successful research in clinical psychology. This course enables you to develop a theoretical and practical understanding of key research methods and statistical techniques applied to clinically relevant data.

A fundamental aspect of developing clinical psychology knowledge and skills is the ability to identify, critique and integrate information covering key issues and debates in the current field.  This course is structured to help you develop these essential skills while building your understanding of key aspects of the theoretical knowledge underpinning the application of clinical psychology.

Fundamental to the practice of clinical psychology are the processes of psychological assessment, formulation, intervention and evaluation for effective assessment and treatment of a range of psychologically-based distress/mental health issues. Using case examples, this course will help you develop your theoretical and practical understanding of these processes, with a focus on the development of your psychological formulation skills. 

These courses introduce some of the core skills required for a career in research, including reviewing the literature, publishing webpages, preparing funding applications, disseminating research through presentations and papers.

A thorough understanding of common statistical techniques and the ability to apply them is essential to conduct research in Psychology. This course provides lectures on the most important statistical techniques in Psychology accompanied by workshops in which students perform PC based data analysis exercises.

Social Psychologists explore the psychological factors that influence behaviour in social situations. As such, the aim of this course is to provide students with an introduction to the range of topics within experimental social psychology, with a defined focus on social cognition. Topics covered include: Stereotypes, social perception and action, self-control, consciousness, and mimicry.

The aim of this course is to expand on the material covered in the “Introduction to Methods and Analysis” course by covering a range of more advanced research methods and statistical techniques, including analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regression, as well as providing a thorough grounding in qualitative approaches to research. This is a ‘hands-on’ course, where students will have the opportunity to conduct a small research project, as well as practice carrying out different sorts of data analyses.

The Memory component of this course aims to introduce students to the main theoretical components of memory (e.g. working memory, autobiographical memory), psychological theories of forgetting, and applications to the study of eyewitness memory. The Language component will introduce students to key issues in psycholinguistics, including sentence processing, language production, and factors that influence communication in different settings.

This course takes a developmental approach to the question “What does it mean to be human?”, covering a range of psychological attributes that change with age. The course aims to introduce students to theories of perceptual, language, social and emotional development along with encouraging debate on some key conceptual issues (e.g. nature versus nurture). Specific topics covered within this course include: Awareness of mental states, information processing theory, and Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

This course provides an overview of the principals of good research design, as well as training and skills development in qualitative research methods.

This course  provides lectures on a range of more specific and/or advanced research skills than those provided in term 1 such as grant writing and career development.

Core clinical skills are fundamental to the application of clinical psychology. Through a series of workshops involving experiential group tasks, students are introduced to some key therapeutic skills including building and sustaining a therapeutic relationship,  basic psychological assessment skills, developing formulation skills, some basic intervention techniques, the importance of self-care and using supervision effectively. These core skills will be explored from both the perspective of the therapist and the client (expert by experience). Regular psychologist-led reflection during and following the experiential group tasks will enable students to reflect on and further consolidate their learning. Regular self-practice of some therapeutic tasks and techniques, keeping a reflective journal and developing an example of a behavioural experiment intervention will allow students to develop their capacity for self-reflection and develop some core basic therapeutic skills.

Students will be required to provide feedback and commentary to their peers in a variety of ways and will receive feedback on their contributions to group tasks and activities.  

The ability to carry out and appraise clinically relevant research is a crucial aspect of working in clinical psychology. This course enables you to develop an understanding of some key clinical research methods, including systematic review, service evaluation, clinical audit, quantitative and qualitative clinical research and their application in clinical practice. 

An awareness of the importance of ethical and professional issues is an essential part of the practice of clinical psychology and related professions. This course highlights key ethical and professional issues, exploring case examples in the context of current professional guidelines to enable you to confidently identify issues and develop a practical understanding of current professional practice. 

Fundamental to the practice of Clinical Psychology are the processes of psychological assessment, formulation, intervention and evaluation for effective assessment and treatment of a range of psychologically-based distress/mental health issues. Focusing on case examples, this course will help you develop your theoretical and practical understanding of these processes, with a focus on the development of your psychological formulation skills applied to more complex cases in specialist areas (e.g. Neuropsychology). 

This course covers statistical topics that go beyond the scope of what is normally taught at undergraduate level. The topics covered help researchers surpass the limitations of standard statistical approaches (e.g. NHST).

Students will complete an empirical project, under the supervision of a member of staff, where the student collects and analyses data in answer to a specific research question.   The aim is to further develop the skills and knowledge necessary to carry out psychological research at a very high standard.

One of the fundamental skills involved in clinical psychology is the ability to carry out clinically relevant literature reviews, service evaluation, audit and research. This course enables you to develop some of these key skills by completing a substantial, individual clinical project, typically co-supervised by a Practitioner Psychologist. As part of your clinical project, you will disseminate your findings, including presenting to clinical and academic colleagues and producing a poster/article for peer-reviewed publication/dissemination.