Conceptual and Historical Issues in Psychology
You’ll learn about the scientific, historical, and philosophical underpinnings of psychology as a discipline, which will demonstrate the inherent variability and diversity in the theoretical approaches to psychology.
By the end of the module, you will have a good knowledge and critical understanding of the influences of history on psychological theories.
Personality and Individual Differences
You will explore psychological explanations of personality and individual differences. In particular, the major personality theories are considered in detail and the application of these theories to areas such as abnormal psychology, criminal behaviour, and health are discussed. IQ is also covered and the evolutionary bases of traits. Complementary and alternatives to trait approaches are discussed.
Neuroscience and Behaviour
This module will cover issues in neuroscience and behaviour that are particularly relevant to understanding the biological bases of psychological functions.
Among the topics to be covered are psychopharmacology, psychobiological explanations of mental disorders, dementia, sexual development and behaviour, and methods of studying neuropsychological processes.
You will also examine the effects of brain damage on mental functioning including amnesias, agnosias, and aphasias, among other topics.
Social and Development Psychology
Examine theories and experimental studies of social processes and human development.
Topics relating to social processes will include:
- social cognition and social thinking
- conformity and obedience
- intergroup behaviour
- theories of attraction and relationships
- prosocial behaviour and intrinsic motivation
- self-determination
Human development topics are also explored in depth such as the:
- development of phonology
- importance of social referencing in early language acquisition
- atypical socio-cognitive development in people with autism
Empirical Research Project - Psychology (Conversion) MSc
You will undertake an independent research project over the summer. You will be supervised by a research-active academic. This is your opportunity to further your knowledge in a particular area.
Cognitive Psychology 2
You will examine in greater depth - perception, language, human memory, thinking, and problem-solving.
For each topic, you will explore existing theories and contemporary issues to enable you to take an interdisciplinary perspective.
Statistical Methods 4
This module will cover the basic concepts and assumptions with respect to univariate and multivariate statistics, as well as issues relating to field studies, ethics, the reliability and validity issues as well as basic qualitative techniques. The module will cover ANOVA, post-hoc tests, power, multiple linear regression, factor analysis, the nature of causality and field designs (both experimental and quasi-experimental), ethics, the reliability and validity of measures and field designs, as well as exploring some basic issues in questionnaire design and qualitative methods.
Practical Methods
This module supports the development of practical and conceptual skills necessary for running experiments in psychology and interpreting data.
Skills include:
- experimental design
- interpretation of summary data
- analysis of quantitative and qualitative data
- implementing experiments with the computer-based user-interface PsychoPy
- writing up appropriate reports
- working independently as well as in groups.