PSYCHOLOGY

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr G Scott

Pre-requisites

None

Co-requisites

None

Notes

Although this course has no co-requisites, it will be a co-requisite for Introductory Psychology I: Methods and Applications.

Overview

Biological psychology, perception; developmental psychology.

Structure

The course will comprise 3 one-hour lectures/week and 6 one-hour workshops, 2 every 3 weeks.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Multiple-choice examination (75%). Continous assessment in workshops (25%). 

Resit: Multiple-choice examination (75%). Continuous assessments (25%).

Formative Assessment

Peer feedback will be provided for workshops. In-class quizzes will be provided.

Feedback

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr D Pearson

Pre-requisites

None

Co-requisites

PS 1009

Overview

The course will cover core experimental methods and research design in psychology. These experimental methods will be linked to a range of data handling techniques and interpretation skills.

Structure

The course will consist of a weekly group practical (2 hour) and lecture (1 hour), and 6 hours of individual participation in psychological experiments.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Continuous assessment of practicals (100%); including two full practical write ups and multiple choice assessments, and presentations.

Resit: Students will be able to repeat individual components.

Feedback

Students will receive written feedback on continuous assessment.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr A Hunt

Pre-requisites

None

Co-requisites

None

Notes

Introductory Psychology II: Concepts and Theory is a co-requisite for Introductory Psychology II: Methods and Applications.

Overview

Cognitive psychology, social psychology and animal behaviour.

Structure

The course will comprise 3 one-hour lectures/week and 6 one-hour workshops, 2 every three weeks. 

Assessment

1st Attempt: Multiple-choice examination (75%). Continous assessment in workshops (25%).

Resit: Multiple-choice examination (75%). Continuous assessments(25%).

Formative Assessment

Peer feedback will be provided for workshops. In-class quizzes will be provided.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr D Pearson

Pre-requisites

PS 1009 and PS 1010

Co-requisites

PS1509

Notes

Overview

The course will cover core experimental methods and research design in psychology. These experimental methods will be linked to a range of data handling techniques and interpretation skills.

Structure

The course will consist of weekly group practical (2 hours) and lecture (1 hour), and individual participation in 6 hours of psychological experiments.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Continuous assessment of practicals (100%); including two full practical write ups, multiple choice assessments and presentations.

Resit: Students will be able to repeat individual components.

Feedback

Students will receive written feedback on continuous assessment.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr R Allen

Pre-requisites

PS 1009 Introductory Psychology I: Concepts and Theory.
PS 1509 Introductory Psychology II: Concepts and Theory.

Notes

Although this course, Advanced Psychology A: Concepts and Theory, has no co-requisites, it will be a co-requisite for Advanced Psychology A: Methods and Applications.

Overview

Cognition & language, developmental psychology and behavioural neuroscience.

Structure

The course will consist of 3 one-hour lectures/week and 2 one-hour workshops/semester.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (70%); continuous assessment (20%) - essay no more than 2,000 words, workshop (10%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (70%). Continuous assessment marks will remain unchanged.

Formative Assessment

There are formative assessments associated with the lecture programme.

Feedback

Students will receive written feedback during continuous assessment.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr D Sutherland

Pre-requisites

PS 1009 Introductory Psychology I: Concepts and Theory
PS 1010 Introductory Psychology I: Methods and Applications
PS 1509 Introductory Psychology II: Concepts and Theory
PS 1510 Introductory Psychology II: Methods and Applications

Co-requisites

PS 2015 Advanced Psychology A: Concepts and Theory.

Overview

This course will cover advanced experimental methods and basic statistical techniques in psychology. These methods will be linked to a range of data handling techniques and interpretation skills.

Structure

The course will consist of 1 one- hour lecture plus two-hours of small group practical work per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Continuous assessment (100%); including practical write-ups and MCQ quizzes.

Resit: Students will be able to repeat individual components.

Formative Assessment

Formative assessment will be provided through a subset of practical sessions and tutorials.

Feedback

Students will receive written feedback on continuous assessment.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr R Allen

Pre-requisites

PS 1009 Introductory Psychology I: Concepts and Theory.
PS 1509 Introductory Psychology II: Concepts and Theory.

Notes

Although this course has no co-requisites, it will be a co-requisite for PS 2516

Overview

Perception, organizational psychology and clinical psychology.

Structure

The course will consist of 3 one-hour lectures/week and 2 one-hour workshops/semester.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 x two-hour examination (70%); continuous assessment (20%) - essay (no more than 2,000 words), workshop (10%).

Resit: 1 x two-hour examination (70%). Continuous assessment marks will remain unchanged.

Formative Assessment

There are formative assessments associated with the lecture programme.

Feedback

Students will receive written feedback during continuous assessment.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr D Sutherland

Pre-requisites

PS 2015, PS 2016, PS 1009, PS 1010, PS 1509, PS 1510

Co-requisites

PS 2515 Advanced Psychology B: Concepts and Theory.

Overview

The course will cover core experimental methods in Developmental Psychology, Language & Cognition, and Social & Organizational Psychology. This course will cover advanced experimental methods and basic statistical techniques in psychology. These methods will be linked to a range of data handling techniques and interpretation skills.

Structure

The course will consist of 1 one-hour lecture plus two-hours of small group practical work per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Continuous assessment (100%); including practical write-ups and MCQ quizzes.

Resit: Students will be able to repeat individual components.

Formative Assessment

Formative assessment will be provided through a subset of practical sessions and tutorials.

Feedback

Students will receive written feedback on continuous assessment.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr L DeBruine

Pre-requisites

PS 1008, PS 1508, PS 2013, PS 2513 and permission of Head of School.

Notes

This course can only be taken by students pursuing an Honours Degree programme in Psychology.

Overview

The purpose of this course is to equip students with the skills and knowledge needed to carry out and evaluate psychological research. It consists of lectures on data analysis (especially various models of the analysis of variance) and examples of specific research methodologies, as well as statistical and data exploration exercises using the statistical package SPSS for Windows. Students also work together in small groups under staff supervision on a practical project for which a full report (counting as the in-course assessment component of the course) is required.

Structure

12 week course - 1 lecture, 2 SPSS practicals and 1 laboratory session per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 ninety-minute multiple-choice examination paper (70%) and in-course assessment (30%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Professor L Phillips

Pre-requisites

PS 1008, PS 1508, PS 2013 and PS 2513.

Co-requisites

PS 3012 and PS 3014.

Notes

This course can only be taken by students pursuing an Honours, Behavioural Studies or Designated Degree Programme in Psychology.

Overview

Outline and evaluation of various methods of psychological assessment including issues relating to their application.

Structure

12 week course - 1 lecture per week and two workshops during the course.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 ninety-minute written examination, (75%) and in-course assessment (25%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Professor A Sahraie

Pre-requisites

PS 1008, PS 1508, PS 2014 or PS 2013, PS 2514 or PS 2513.

Co-requisites

(Except Neuroscience students): PS 3014, PS 3011.

Notes

This course can only be taken by students pursuing an Honours, Behavioural Studies or Designated Degree Programme in Psychology or an Honours or Designated Degree Programme in Neuroscience.

Overview

Theories and data relating to the normal and abnormal processing of visual attributes such as colour, motion, spatial structure and depth. Retinal and cortical structures for visual perception.

Structure

12 week course - 1 lecture per week and two workshops during the course.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 ninety-minute written examination (75%) and in-course assessment (25%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr M Milders

Pre-requisites

PS 1008, PS 1508, PS 2014 or PS 2013, PS 2514 or PS 2513.

Co-requisites

(except Neuroscience students): PS 3011, PS 3012

Notes

This course can only be taken by students pursuing an Honours, Behavioural Studies or Designated Degree Programme in Psychology or an Honours or Designated Degree Programme in Neuroscience.

Overview

The course examines the biological basis of behaviour and cognitive functions by considering how brain damage and changes in brain biochemistry can affect behaviour and cognition.

Structure

12 week course - 1 lecture per week and 2 workshops during the course.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 ninety-minute written examination (75%) and in-course assessment (25%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Professor J Crawford

Pre-requisites

PS 3009

Notes

This course can only be taken by students pursuing an Honours Degree Programme in Psychology.

Overview

This course is a sequel to PS 3009 aiming to equip students with the skills and knowledge needed to carry out and evaluate psychological research. It consists of lectures on data analysis (especially correlation, regression, and various multivariate forms of analysis) and examples of specific research methodologies, as well as statistical and data exploration exercises using the statistical package SPSS for Windows. Students also work together in small groups under staff supervision on a practical project for which a full report (counting as the in-course assessment component of the course) is required.

Structure

12 week course - 1 lecture, 2 SPSS practicals and 1 laboratory session per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 ninety-minute multiple-choice examination (70%) and in-course assessment (30%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Prof N Macrae

Pre-requisites

PS 3011, PS 3012, PS 3014

Co-requisites

PS 3518 and PS 3519.

Notes

This course can only be taken by students pursuing an Honours, Behavioural Studies or Designated Degree Programme in Psychology.

Overview

Attribution Theory, Social Perception and Memory, Sterotyping and Prejudice, Mental Control and Self-Regulation; Attitude Formation and Attitude Change, Social Indentity Theory, Self-Categorisation Theory, Inter-group Relations, Aggression.

Structure

12 week course - 1 lecture per week and two workshops during the course.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 ninety-minute written examination (75%) and in-course assessment (25%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr J Hosie

Pre-requisites

PS 3011, PS 3012, PS 3014

Co-requisites

PS 3517 and PS 3519.

Notes

This course can only be taken by students pursuing an Honours, Behavioural Studies or Designated Degree Programme in Psychology.

Overview

Theories and approaches to language acquisition; Human face processing; Theory of Mind and atypical development.

Structure

12 week course - 1 lecture per week and two workshops during the course.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 ninety minute written examination (75%) and in-course assessment (25%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr D Pearson

Pre-requisites

(except Neuroscience students) PS 3011, PS 3012 and
PS 3014. Neuroscience students: PS 3012 and PS 3014.

Co-requisites

(except Neuroscience students): PS 3517 and PS 3518.

Notes

This course can only be taken by students pursuing either an Honours, Behavioural Studies or Designated Degree Programme in Psychology or an Honours or Designated Degree Programme in Neuroscience.

Overview

The memory component of the course examines the cognitive study of human learning and memory; the modal and working memory models; the application of memory models to everyday cognition. The language component of the course examines cognitive mechanisms underlying sentence processing and production, and higher level processes of language comprehension.

Structure

12 week course - 1 lecture per week and two workshops during the course.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 ninety-minute written examination (75%) and in-course assessment (25%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr K Mearns

Pre-requisites

120 credit points from level 3 Psychology courses.

Overview

A thesis based on an empirical investigation conducted under the guidance of a supervisor.

Structure

20 week course - 1 one-hour tutorial per week. Laboratory work as required. Continues in second half-session.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Assessment of the thesis counts for one ninth of the final Honours assessment.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr J Hosie and Dr K Mearns

Pre-requisites

120 credit points from Level 3 Psychology courses.

Co-requisites

PS 4019

Notes

This course is only open to students taking Combined Honours in Psychology. Such students will take Psychology A for Combined degree plus Psychology B for Combined degree plus PS 4019 (thesis). These students cannot take other listed fourth year psychology courses.

Overview

Two options chosen from a list made available by the School of Psychology and which may change from year to year. Tutorials and essays will consider general issues and current developments in psychology.

Structure

12 week course - 2 one-hour lectures, 1 one-hour research seminar, 1 one-hour tutorial every three weeks.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 2 ninety minute written examinations (66%) and in-course assessment (33%).

Credit Points

45

Course Coordinator

Dr J Hosie and Dr K Mearns

Pre-requisites

120 credit points from Level 3 Psychology courses.

Co-requisites

PS 4019

Notes

This course is only open to single honours psychology students. Students registered for single honours psychology will take Senior Honours Psychology A plus Senior Honours Psychology B plus PS 4019 (thesis). These students cannot take other listed fourth year psychology courses.

Overview

Three options chosen from a list made available by the School of Psychology and which may change from year to year. Tutorials and essays will consider general issues and current developments in psychology.

Structure

12 week course - 3 one-hour lectures, 1 one-hour research seminar, 1 one-hour tutorial every fortnight.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 3 ninety minute written examinations (75%) and in-course assessment (25%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Professor A Sahraie

Pre-requisites

Level 4 Psychology Joint Honours degree students.

Overview

Introduction to some of the problems with the interpretation of retinal images.
Perception of wavelength and colour vision anomalies and deficits.
Stereopsis and theories of depth perception. Monocular and binocular cues to depth information.
Use of sinusoidal gratings in visual sensitivity experiments and the determination of the contrast sensitivity function (CSF).
Visual processing at the cortex. In particular cortical processing of orientation, colour and motion. Abnormalities of cortical processing. Similarities and differences in cortical architechture of human and monkey brain.
Pre-attentive and attentive processing of orientation, motion and colour. Investigation of visual attention using psychophysical and physiological techniques.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 90-minute written examination 75%; in-course assessment 25%.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr M Milders

Pre-requisites

Level 4 Psychology Joint Honours degree students.

Overview

This course examines further the biological basis of behaviour and cognitive functions. Topics covered wil include evolutionary explanations of behaviour and comparative psychology, the effects of hormones and psychopharmacology on behaviour, and the effects of brain damage on behaviour and cognition.

Assessment

1st attempt: 1 90-minute written examination 75%; in-course assessment 25%.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr J Hosie

Pre-requisites

PS 3011, PS 3012, PS 3014, PS 3517, PS 3518, PS 3519

Notes

Restricted to students in level 4 Behavioural studies degree (full honours or joint).

Overview

Psychology staff will provide all students on this course with a list of possible thesis topics from which the student will choose one. Students provide an annotated bibliography of relevant sources (with evaluation of the most crucial ones) at the end of the first half-session (contributing 10% to the final assessment). Students submit a maximum 7000 word thesis by the end of week 44 which is double marked by two members of staff (contributing 90% to the final assessment).

Structure

1 two-hour lecture given in week 2 or three of the first half-session. Monthly scheduled meetings with the allocated supervisor and additional ad hoc appointments as necessary.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Assessment of the library thesis accounts for one ninth of the final Behavioural studies assessment.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr K Mearns

Pre-requisites

60 credit points from level 3 courses. This course is for Joint Honours Psychology students only.

Overview

The course requires the student to carry out, under supervision, an empirical piece of research on a topic chosen by the student in consultation with the supervisor.

Structure

2 one-hour tutorials per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment (100%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr J Hosie and Dr K Mearns

Pre-requisites

PS 4029

Co-requisites

PS 4013

Notes

This course is only open to students taking Combined Honours in Psychology. Such students will take Psychology A for combined degrees plus Psychology B for combined degrees plus PS 4019 (thesis). These students cannot take other listed fourth year psychology courses.

Overview

Two options chosen from a list made available by the School of Psychology and which may change from year to year. Tutorials and essays will consider general issues and current developments in psychology.

Structure

12 week course - 2 one-hour lectures, 1 one-hour research seminar, 1 one-hour tutorial every three weeks.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 2 ninety minute written examinations (66%) and in-course assessment (33%).

Credit Points

45

Course Coordinator

Dr J Hosie and K Mearns

Pre-requisites

PS 4030

Co-requisites

PS 4013

Notes

This course is only open to single honours psychology students. Students registered for single honours psychology will take Senior Honours Psychology A plus Senior Honours Psychology B plus PS 4019 (thesis). These students cannot take other listed fourth year psychology courses.

Overview

Three options chosen from a list made available by the School of Psychology and which may change from year to year. Tutorials and essays will consider general issues and current developments in psychology.

Structure

12 week course - 3 one-hour lectures, 1 one-hour research seminar, 1 one-hour tutorial every fortnight.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 3 ninety minute written examinations (75%) and in-course assessment (25%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr D Pearson

Pre-requisites

Level 4 Psychology Joint Honours degree students.

Overview

The memory component of the course examines multi-store models of memory, the characteristics of short and long term memory, the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad components of working memory, the dual-coding theory of human learning, mental imagery and how information is organised within long-term memory. The applicability of cognitive models of learning and memory to aspects to everyday cognition will be assessed. The language component of the course examines the cognitive mechanisms underlying the processing of sentence structure, the higher level processes of language comprehension, and some of the factors affecting sentence production.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 90-minute written examination 75%; in-course assessment 25%.