Undergraduate Psychology 2022-2023

PS1009 introduces you to major concepts and theories
in psychology to provide you with a strong understanding of the human mind and behaviour. You will attend lectures on biological, social and cognitive psychology and participate in tutorials where you will work with peers to discuss topics related to the lecture materials. Studying psychology is beneficial to a wide range of careers including management, education, and counselling, to name a few.  

PS1011 is the perfect combination of subject-specific knowledge and transferable skills. In weekly lectures and practicals you will learn how various research methods are applied across a variety of Psychology sub-fields. As you do so, you will learn to read scientific articles and will begin to critically evaluate them. Knowledge and skills will be practiced and assessed using a variety of methods: Critical reviews, close-reading exercises and oral presentations. The strong emphasis on developing critical thinking skills means that this course will be a valuable addition to any degree.

PS1509 introduces you to major concepts
and theories in psychology to provide you with a strong understanding of human mind and behaviour. You will attend lectures on evolution & emotion, lifespan development, and sensation & perception and participate in tutorials where you will work with peers to discuss topics related to the lecture materials. Studying psychology is beneficial to a wide range of careers including management, education, and counselling, to name a few.

PS1511 builds onto PS1011. You will learn more about research methods in Psychology through lectures, practicals and taking part in research. You will also learn how to set up and conduct a Psychology study yourself. Part of the lectures will focus on statistics, to equip you with the skills to analyze and interpret your own data. In doing so, you will also learn about the role of ethics in research. The main assessments are two research reports and and MCQ test about the lectures.

This course builds on the material covered in the 1st-year courses, expanding on psychology’s concepts and theories. The course covers three core areas of psychology: language and cognition, perception, and individual differences.

This course introduces students to fundamental concepts and methods in psychological research and data analysis. Lectures cover distributions and probability, null hypothesis significance testing, t-tests, chi-square tests, and correlations. Practical classes involve the application of these methods to research examples from different areas of psychology, using the statistical software package SPSS.

This course builds on the material covered in the 1st-year courses, expanding on psychology’s concepts and theories. The course covers four core areas of psychology: social psychology, behavioural neuroscience and developmental psychology.

This course covers a broad range of data collection and analysis methods used in psychological research. Lectures cover survey and observational methods, regression analysis, ANOVA, and qualitative research methods. Practical classes involve the application of these methods to research examples from different areas of psychology.

Psychological assessment is used by chartered psychologists in a number of areas, including clinical, occupational and forensic applications.  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 dysfunction and memory; assessment of dementia and forensic aspects of assessment (legal malingering).

An ideal course for students intending to secure a career in applied psychology.

Interaction with the world around us involves perceptual processing using our three main senses : visual (seeing), auditory (hearing) and haptic (touch).  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: colour perception; face recognition; perception of pain and age related changes in perception.  Students will also engage in guided debate with their peers regarding media portrayal of recent research findings.

This course is produced by academics that specialise in this field, ensuring the most up-to-date and relevant lecture material.

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, each featuring 5 lectures. Section 1 focuses on psychopharmacology, which is the investigation of the effect of medication on normal and abnormal brain function. Section 2 focuses on neuropsychology, examining what can be learnt about psychological processes from studying patients with brain damage.

Specific topics that will be covered include: neurotransmitters; drug effects; psychedelic drugs; impaired object and face recognition; amnesia; and disorders of motor control.

The main aim of this course is to help students prepare, evaluate and run their own Psychological research.  As such this is a ‘hands-on’ course, where students will have the opportunity to conduct a small qualitative research project and practice using SPSS for a variety of statistical analyses. The course provides a thorough grounding in qualitative and quantitative research methods through a lecture series.  Specific topics covered in this course include: verification and falsification of results; ANOVA and qualitative research strategies.

The aim of this course is to consolidate and extend students’ knowledge of a number of core areas of developmental psychology, focusing on the age range of young children (3 years) to adolescence. This course will examine both historical and contemporary issues and findings in (1) cognitive development and (2) social-emotional development. In one half of the course students will evaluate how some main types of memory undergo developmental changes, and how cognitive plasticity develops. In the other half students will evaluate the development of aggression and its risk factors, and gain a deeper understanding of the role of play in typical and atypical development of social interaction with a focus on autism. There will also be opportunity to learn about some intervention programmes aimed at improving cognitive and socio-emotional skills in childhood. The broad range of developmental topics makes this an ideal course for anyone with interest in working with children. 

The memory component of this course aims to introduce students to the main theoretical components of memory (working and autobiographical memory).  Psychological theories of forgetting and eyewitness memory will also be discussed.

The second component of the course, language, will introduce students to the key issues in psycholinguistics.  This will include assessment of sentence processing, analysis of the processes underlying language production and factors that influence communication in different settings.

The assessment of multiple approaches within both research areas will provide all students with a good basis for developing critical thinking skills.

Social Psychologists explore the psychological factors that influence individual behaviours within 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 within this lecture based course include: Stereotypes; social perception and action; self-control; consciousness and mimicry.

This course provides a scientific explanation for social phenomena, making it ideal for students with an interest in individual and group behaviour.

This course builds on the skills already developed through participation in Methodology A. Similar to that course the aim is to help students prepare, evaluate and run their own Psychological research. As such this is a ‘hands-on’ course, where students will have a second opportunity to conduct a small research project and practice using SPSS for a variety of statistical analyses. The course also builds on the thorough grounding in qualitative and quantitative research methods provided in Methodology A through a second lecture course.  This course also features workshops on employability, providing students with information on career planning, networking etc.

The human brain is one of the most complex structures known to us. What does the brain do that makes possible the wide range of activities that humans engage in? This course will provide an in-depth introduction to the state-of-the-art developments in cognitive neuroscience that address such fundamental questions. The last two decades have led to an explosion of experimental techniques and theories that have provided substantial insights into the neural mechanisms of normal and abnormal cognitive processing in the brain. This course will be a window into that exciting field.

This course constitutes the final-year thesis for the single honours Psychology degree. The thesis is an empirical research project, where the student collects and analyses data in answer to a research question. The thesis itself begins in September and the final draft of the thesis is handed in for assessment at the end of the second term. The School has an international-level research culture and the final-year projects offer the students an opportunity to be involved in that culture. A number of student projects have contributed towards research publications.

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, each featuring 5 lectures. Section 1 focuses on psychopharmacology, which is the investigation of the effect of medication on normal and abnormal brain function. Section 2 focuses on neuropsychology, examining what can be learnt about psychological processes from studying patients with brain damage.

Specific topics that will be covered include: neurotransmitters; drug effects; psychedelic drugs; impaired object and face recognition; amnesia; and disorders of motor control.

This course constitutes the final-year thesis for the single honours Behavioural Studies degree. The project within the Behavioural Studies programme is a library-based one. Students perform a literature search focused on a topic or question agreed with their supervisor and produce a literature review in answer to this research question. The thesis begins in September and is submitted at the end of the second term.

Interaction with the world around us involves perceptual processing using our three main senses: visual (seeing), auditory (hearing) and haptic (touch).  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: colour perception; face recognition; perception of pain and age related changes in perception.  Students will also engage in guided debate with their peers regarding media portrayal of recent research findings.

This course is intended for students completing joint honours degrees in Behavioural Studies or Psychology. 

This course focuses on two broad areas of psycholinguistic research. The first half of the course covers developmental disorders of reading skills in children. The second half of the course provides an introduction to bilingualism research and covers key questions in the field.

This course will introduce students to a range of contemporary research developments and applications in psychology.

The Critical Review allows you to study a contemporary research topic area in depth and further develop your critical thinking skills.

This course provides an opportunity for students to reflect on their employability and professional development through a part-time job, placement, personal development project or volunteering activity based within the UK.  Students work towards a range of personal and work-related outcomes through a range of assessments.  All external engagement activities require the approval of the School and must be verified by the external organisation.

This course focuses on two broad areas of psycholinguistic research. The first half of the course covers developmental disorders of reading skills in children. The second half of the course provides an introduction to bilingualism research and covers key questions in the field. 

The science of Human Factors brings together multiple disciplines, including Biology, Psychology and Engineering to understand and support worker performance and wellbeing.

This course takes an Applied Psychology approach to Human Factors with a focus on understanding human behaviour and the issues that can lead to accidents and errors. Through the course you will learn more about the impact of design on safety and how people work together through interactive lectures and real life case studies.

The Social Mind details the psychological processes through people understand the self and others. Emphasis is placed a range of core topic in social cognition; including: stereotyping and prejudice, mind wandering, self-control, and mind perception.

To understand and critically evaluate some disorders of conscious visual perception and visuomotor control and what these disorders tell us about the complex interplay between the perceptual and motor system.

The human brain is one of the most complex structures known to us. What does the brain do that makes possible the wide range of activities that humans engage in? This course will provide an in-depth introduction to the state-of-the-art developments in cognitive neuroscience that address such fundamental questions. The last two decades have led to an explosion of experimental techniques and theories that have provided substantial insights into the neural mechanisms of normal and abnormal cognitive processing in the brain. This course will be a window into that exciting field.

The memory component of this course aims to introduce students to the main theoretical components of memory (working and autobiographical memory).  Psychological theories of forgetting and eyewitness memory will also be discussed.

The second component of the course, language, will introduce students to the key issues in psycholinguistics.  This will include assessment of sentence processing, analysis of the processes underlying language production and factors that influence communication in different settings.

This course is intended for students completing joint honours degrees in Behavioural Studies or Psychology. 

Face processing underpins human social interaction, allowing us to recognise friends and avoid enemies, identify social groups, decode emotional messages and find romantic partners. Despite the advice not to ‘judge a book by its cover’, people also form judgements of a stranger’s attractiveness and character within seconds of seeing their face. This course will examine how these aspects of face processing relate to contemporary real-world topics, including the rise of facial AI.

This course will canvass a range of theoretical and applied issues in forensic and criminal psychology.

The course will cover both psychological theories and classic empirical findings of the self and its latest research progress, with a focus on cognitive, affective and societal consequences.

What makes us happy?  What improves our psychological wellbeing?  How can we increase life satisfaction?  This course will explore the factors that contribute to psychological wellbeing at both and individual and societal level.  We will look at theories of psychological wellbeing and explore the science and theory of what improves wellbeing.  Students will also have the opportunity to apply this in their own life and consider how this can be applied to improve the well being of communities and societies.

Positive psychology is “the scientific study of what goes right in life” and “what makes life most worth living” (Peterson, 2006). Focusing on what is right with people is increasing being successfully applied to the world of work thus creating work settings which provide the greatest satisfaction amongst workers and where people, teams and organisations flourish and thrive. This course considers how the application of positive psychology theory and models can help overcome organisational challenges such as change management, motivation and effective leadership.