Psychology (Conversion course)

This module provides students with the opportunity to undertake an in-depth and independent empirical study within the field of psychology. Students will apply theoretical and methodological knowledge and research skills gained across the programme. They will be required to resolve the complex conceptual, methodological and practical problems that are often encountered by psychological researchers. Completion of a dissertation will demonstrate their comprehensive understanding of all stages in the research process, an ability to deal with complex issues creatively and systematically, and to communicate information in a clear and appropriate fashion. The module will prepare students to undertake future psychological research through the practical experience that they have gained under the supervision of a member of academic staff.  

This module equips students with the numeracy and analytic skills required to meet the various research and analytic requirements of the programme. Students are introduced in workshops to the principles of research design, and to basic techniques of qualitative and quantitative data analysis. In these sessions they will develop key skills in research design, data collection, analysis, and report writing. They are encouraged to see how data analysis relates to research design, and hence to understand and value the insights that can be gained by a competent knowledge of quantitative and qualitative analytic techniques. In personal tutorials and related group sessions, students will gain an awareness of the Psychology-related career pathways available to them upon graduation, and will be helped to evolve their career goals and aspired professional identities. They will also gain a critical awareness of the specific requirements of diverse audiences, both professional and academic, in relation to ethical practice and effective communication.  

The aim of this module is to introduce students to qualitative research methods in psychology. The module will cover the historical development of qualitative methods, key conceptual debates (e.g. the philosophy of science), theoretical approaches to qualitative research, qualitative research designs and procedures, qualitative data collection methods (e.g. interviews and focus groups, qualitative surveys, vignettes and story completion tasks) and qualitative analytic methods (e.g. thematic analysis, interpretive phenomenological analysis and discourse analysis). Students will be given a chance to collect and analyse qualitative data, and write these up in a report. The module will emphasize the acquisition of practical research skills (in relation to key methods of data collection and analysis) as well as the development of critical analytic skills and a broad awareness of ethical issues relating to qualitative research methods in psychology. 

This module introduces you to quantitative approaches to psychological research methods. It will comprise weekly statistics lectures and workshops, in which you will go through a number of set work questions using a statistical software package (SPSS). The module will emphasise the acquisition of practical research skills (in relation to key methods of data collection, management and analysis), critical skills (e.g. through evaluating research papers and methods), and a broad awareness of issues concerning ethics in quantitative methods in psychology and conceptual and historical development of research methods (e.g. philosophy of science).

This module explores some of the key approaches and topics in Social Psychology. Students will be introduced to key conceptual and historical issues and debates in social psychology, as well as some of the traditional areas of the discipline such as social identity, the self, social cognition and prejudice. The module will examine both ‘classic’ studies and theories, as well as contemporary treatments of these topics. The module will also cover critical approaches to social psychology and traditions emerging from these, such as social constructionism and discursive psychology.

This module aims to extend your understanding of the spectrum of individual differences and draws on content from a range of areas of psychology. This module covers key issues of contemporary significance using core areas of individual difference psychology such as personality, motivation, emotion and well-being. Topics are focused on in depth by examining different theoretical approaches to these concepts which allows you to understand how conceptual and historical issues inform our understanding and application of individual differences. The application of individual difference theory and research will be considered with the module in a number of contexts, for example, clinical, educational or organisational contexts. 

This module aims to introduce students to both developmental theory and developmental methods. Developmental psychology covers a considerable number of historical and conceptual issues and current theories as well as applied issues. The focus is on childhood/adolescence from a wide perspective, including among others social, cognitive, biological and cultural perspectives. Diversity of development across the lifespan (childhood, adolescence) will be considered in areas such as attachment, social relations, cognition, language, moral and cultural development. Students will also gain a critical understanding and practical experience of the observation research methods applied to an aspect of child development. 

This module provides you with a broad overview of fundamental topics in cognitive psychology, such as sensation and perception, attention, language, learning, memory, thinking, problem solving, decision making, metacognition, consciousness and cognitive neuropsychology. Conceptual and historical issues relevant to cognitive psychology are also covered. You will gain critical understanding and practical experience of research methods used by cognitive psychologists. 

This module provides students with an insight into the biological basis of human and non-human behaviour, including comparative and evolutionary psychology, typical and atypical neuropsychology, neuroscience, behavioural genetics, and the effect of hormones on behaviour. Students will learn how our conceptual models of biological psychology have developed through history as new methods of investigation were developed. Students will also gain critical understanding and practical experience of research methods used by biological psychologists.