Psychology - U7UPSYCH

You will gain a broad overview of some key theoretical approaches in psychology, in the context of their application to therapy. Three fundamental schools of thought will be examined: the psychodynamic school, the humanistic-existential school, and the cognitive behaviour school, which have strongly influenced the development of contemporary psychological therapy. Lectures will examine the historical context and philosophical origins of a range of different therapies (e.g. psychoanalysis, person-centred therapy, rational-emotive therapy) which may be used in the treatment of common mental health issues (e.g. anxiety, depression, phobias). The theoretical basis of each approach will be addressed, with a consideration of how important concepts are applied in therapeutic interventions. 

This module will provide a broad overview of some key theoretical approaches in psychology, in the context of their application to therapy. Three fundamental schools of thought will be examined: the psychodynamic school, the humanistic school, and the cognitive behaviour school, which have strongly influenced the development of contemporary psychological therapy.

Lectures will examine the historical context and philosophical origins of a range of different therapies (e.g. psychoanalysis, person-centred therapy, rational-emotive therapy) which may be used in the treatment of common mental health issues (e.g. anxiety, depression, phobias). The theoretical basis of each approach will be addressed, with a consideration of how important concepts are applied in therapeutic interventions.

The course will cover theories and models of altruism, cooperation and helping form the perspective of psychology, economics and evolutionary biology. Among the theories examined will be reputation-based, strong-reciprocity, warm-glow and crowding and altruistic punishment from economics; kin selection, reciprocity, coercion, mutualism, cooperative breeding from biology; and empathy, personality, sexual selection and situational constraints from psychology.

You will consider why people sometimes don't help and actively try to benefit from others and apply these models to anti-social behaviour, and how we cooperate to inflict injury on other groups. It will also examine not just models of helping others, but also why people ask for help. You will finally look at how charities implement some of these principles and if they are successful.

10 credits in the Spring Semester.

This module will explore how Social Psychology is applied to societal issues. The module will take students through a series of examples, to include topics such as cyberpsychology, conspiracy theories, existential anxiety, justice and attitudes towards victims of injustice, environmental psychology, prejudice and discrimination and discuss how theories and evidence from social psychology can be used to address these in everyday life. Students on this module will consider how the evidence can be best communicated to a wider audience.

An introduction to the concepts of clinical psychology and the application of psychology in clinical settings.

The module illustrates how psychological models are developed and how they are applied in developing interventions. You will examine theory and evaluation of interventions for a number of disorders/clinical issues.

During this module you will have two hours of lectures weekly. 

10 credits in the Spring Semester.

You will cover modern version of nativist and empiricist theories of cognitive development.

This module will also give you an overview of current theories which have been proposed to explain Autism Spectrum Disorder. It will provide an evaluation of these theories using behavioural, clinical and neurophysiological evidence from a range of domains including drawing and musical skills (savant skills), scientific knowledge, maths, social learning (trust and imitation) and social motivation.

You will have two hours of lectures per week for this module.

This module will allow students to understand how psychology relates to contemporary issues and debates.

Students will have the opportunity to specialise in one area and consider the deeper implications for the world and society. Topics may vary from year to year but may include topics such as health behaviours, the environment and climate change, psychology of women and others. Students will write an extended essay in the specified area, guided by an academic.

This module explores psychological theories of developmental dyslexia and educational issues pertaining to this pervasive developmental disorder. It examines the cognitive characteristics and educational attainments of pupils with developmental dyslexia and addresses the ways in which individual educational needs might be met at both the classroom and whole school level.

This module should be of interest to you if you have an interest in developmental, cognitive, and/or educational psychology, and are wishing to pursue a career in child psychology, educational psychology, general teaching practice, and/or special needs education.

Some key questions to be considered are:

• what criteria should be used to diagnose developmental dyslexia?
• does developmental dyslexia reflect delayed or deviant behaviour?
• what are the specific educational issues pertaining to the provision of educational policy and practice for pupils with developmental dyslexia?
• how should pupils with developmental dyslexia be supported in the classroom?

This module provides an introduction to the contexts in which educational psychologists operate by examining the historical development of this profession within a set of major legislative and policy contexts, such as the recent drive to increase social inclusion. In particular, successes in, and barriers to, establishing a role as scientist-practitioners in educational settings will be explored.

The module will concentrate on assessment and intervention work with specific populations such as young people who display challenging behaviour in schools, vulnerable adolescents, and bilingual learners. Additionally, it will examine psychological approaches to group work with teachers and pupils as well as the application of system theory in helping transform aspects of schools and other organisations.

The area of forensic mental health is extremely pertinent in both the criminal justice system and mental health services, and the integration of the two. It is a growing area of research in Psychology and it is an area in which students are increasingly wishing to work following their degree.

The module will concentrate on offending behaviours, typical categorisation of those who commit crimes or harm themselves, and standard interventions for offenders. The course will also examine the role of the UK criminal justice system (CJS) in dealing with individuals who offend and the impact of current psychological research and theory for the processes involved within the CJS.

An introduction to the neural and biological bases of cognition and behaviour. You will learn about the structure and evolution of the brain and the main functions of the different parts.

You will examine how the brain receives, transmits, and processes information at the neural level, as well as its visual pathways. The main scientific methods for investigating brain and behaviour will also be covered.

You will have two hours of lectures weekly.

10 compulsory credits in the Autumn Semester.

This module examines the psychological and neural basis for the planning and control of human action. You will be introduced to scientific research through guided exploration of the neuropsychological bases for human action.

You will experience the multi-disciplinary nature of research into human behaviour and, by the end of the module, will understand how a single issue can be addressed from multiple perspectives including: experimental psychology, neurophysiology, neuroanatomy, neuropsychology, and functional brain-imaging.

To provide students with an advanced understanding of current social and cognitive neuroscience topics, as well as an understanding of the methods and analyses required to test specific theories related to that topic, and guidance on the critical evaluation of research papers. Students will receive lectures on and study a specific social neuroscience issue in detail, and will devise ways to further research into that issue.

The course will provide an introduction to neuroscience methods and will focus on current research and theory behind various aspects of human social interaction, speech communication and body perception from a neuroscience perspective. Complementary evidence from different branches of behavioural and cognitive sciences will be integrated with current neuroscientific research.

The course will focus predominantly on the neural mechanisms thought to be involved in the interpretation of our own and others’ bodies, actions, faces, voices and emotions. The course will also provide advice on developing ideas for research as well as how to write for each assessment.

20 credits throughout the full year.

The central theme of this module is to explore how the architecture and function of the visual brain has been designed and shaped by experiences over a range of timescales. The innate properties of the eye and visual brain that are present at birth have been designed over millions of years of evolution. The brain continues to physically change it structure and function within a lifetime  a property termed brain plasticity.

Over the years of development, brain plasticity is the driving force for the maturation of different visual brain functions. Even well into adulthood, plasticity is retained in the form of learning, which can optimise performance for certain visual tasks and be exploited for therapeutic uses. Another prominent form of plasticity in the visual brain is that caused by adaptation effects of visual experience over the preceding tens of milliseconds to minutes. The module will examine the consequences of evolution, development, learning and adaptation for visual brain function and perception. 

This module explores how psychologists study and understand disorders of cognitive development. The course focuses largely on disorders which include impairments in attention, memory and/or executive function. Disorders covered include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, reading disorders and Down Syndrome. List of lectures.

1. General introduction and research methods
2. Typical development of attention/memory and executive function
3. ADHD
4. Autism
5. Developmental Coordination Disorder
6. Fragile X Syndrome
7. Down Syndrome
8. Preterm Birth
9. Interventions
10. Revision

The module provides an insight into some more advanced or specialised techniques of data collection, organisation and analysis in psychological research (e.g., eye-tracking, EEG, fMRI, TMS, computational modelling, diary methodologies and Workshops Lectures will include implementation of analytical procedures in for example specialised data management and statistical packages and on specialised data gathering equipment and software.

20 credits in the Spring term

This module will examine:

• Conduct disorder
  
• Oppositional Defiant Disorder
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Childhood onset schizophrenia
• Therapies for young people
• Pharmacological interventions
• Comorbidity of mental health problems and developmental disorders

The content of this module is designed from the perspective of psychologists working in multidisciplinary rehabilitation teams. Topics are covered from both a theoretical and a practical point of view. These include intervention strategies for impairment of language, perception, memory, attention and executive skills. In addition, techniques to evaluate the effectiveness of clinical intervention will be discussed. There will be an emphasis on evaluating the effectiveness of interventions and there will be teaching on systematic reviews as part of the module. 

This module is an opportunity to work in depth on a specific topic in Cognitive Neuroscience. Students explore their chosen topic and its related methodological issues to their own research interests. The topic is based on a seminar provided in the School of Psychology, with approval from the convenor. The module concerns independent study in addition to supervision sessions.

10 credits in the Spring term

Experience a brain imaging session at our on-campus MRI centre. You will then analyse one of the data sets in further lab classes. 

You will be introduced to some of the standard tools used across many labs (including FSL, the FMRIB Software Library from Oxford).

This course will provide you with multi-disciplinary perspectives on dementia – an increasingly common condition that may affect, directly or indirectly, many of our lives.

There are many areas of enquiry that improve our understanding and can improve the quality of life for people with dementia, their families and professionals who work with them.

We hear from leading researchers and experienced practitioners: psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, music therapists, arts therapists and care providers. We discover from sociolinguistic experts how dementia is represented in the media and about the impact on public understanding. We find out that alcohol is a risk factor, and reflect on how public health messages about drinking can best be framed. We hear about the latest research in assistive and information communication technologies for people with dementia, about managing dementia whilst still in employment, and the challenges of providing healthcare in rural communities. We also learn about decision-making and ethical challenges.

This module provides a conceptual overview of the various approaches and debates associated with theory and practice of qualitative research. It examines a range of contrasting perspectives on the design of research including problem identification, selection and sampling, and analysis. Research ethics, and the role of the researcher in generating qualitative data, are key themes which run through the module. Specific consideration is given to the ways in which qualitative and quantitative approaches may be seen as complementary, and the use of mixed methods. The module will also cover the ways in which qualitative research can be evaluated. The module will also facilitate dialogue between members of different social science disciplines, to give an understanding of how some issues or practices may be viewed differently from different disciplinary perspectives. 

This module involves problem-based learning to support lectures on neuroimaging topics. Topics covered include an introduction to computer programming with MATLAB, the design and analysis of behavioural experiments, and the analysis of functional MRI data. 

This module familiarises you with the concept of mental health and the issues surrounding the classification, aetiology and treatment of mental illness.

How can we better understand mental illness and how can we treat it?

Thoughts, feelings and behaviours combine in patterns to formulate specific syndromes or sets of symptoms that can be looked at from different perspectives in mental health research and practice.

A range of pharmacological, psychological, behavioural and psychosocial models adopted in mental health and illness will be covered in this module with reference to common mental health problems or disorders, such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

By the end of this module, you should be able to understand key relevant concepts and critically appraise the evidence concerning models of research and therapeutic interventions; this knowledge and understanding will be gradually developed throughout the module and will be assessed at the end of the module in the form of an essay on one of the taught topics.

In this module, you will engage with three distinct parts:

• science and the philosophical critique of science
• epistemological debates in the social sciences - including, but not limited to, positivism and its critics, interpretative approaches including phenomenology, critical realism, social construction and the politics of knowledge and the sociology of science
• the funding environment - interdisciplinarity and the impact agenda

This module covers contemporary issues in selection and assessment both from a psychological perspective and as an important personnel system for organisations. It provides discussion of: the nature of the selection system, organisational and job analysis, recruitment, selection interviewing and psychometric testing, selection validation, the nature and use of assessment centres, and the adverse impact of selection methods. The emphasis throughout the module is on selection as a process comprising an identification stage, a design and delivery stage, and an evaluation stage, with multiple feedback loops between stages. 

This module focuses on the analytical, practical and ethical organisation of social science research. The analytical organisation is often referred to as research design and will constitute the bulk of the content of this course. Research design consists of choices necessary to transform a research question into actual research. These choices pertain to strategies and modes of case selection, observation methods, data collection and modes of analysis, and these choices pertain equally to so-called ‘qualitative’, ‘quantitative’ and ‘mixed-methods’ studies.

Every research question can be elaborated in different ways (different designs), none of which will be ideal in all respects as the various choices pertain involve. Each design has its own implications in terms of costs and in terms of potential threats to the validity of its eventual conclusions. The module discusses these implications and how to handle the resulting choice problems in actual practice. 

In this module, you'll gain practical research experience. It could include a range of activities such as literature searching, study design, ethics, obtaining participants, data collection and analysis, and writing reports. The specific content will depend on the individual Internship. 

In this module you will gain insights into the difficulties of assessing, diagnosing and treating mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions in children and adolescents.

You’ll hear from experts in the field about what works, what doesn’t work and the factors that can influence outcomes in children and young people.

You will be encouraged to read widely to enhance your understanding of the effects of lifespan factors on conditions that emerge in childhood and will be exposed to the latest scientific developments in the field.

Your knowledge will be assessed by an oral presentation which you will put together and deliver to a small group of peers and staff and you will also design a research project that could advance the field.

This module is ideal for those of you considering pursuing a career focusing on child and adolescent mental health or for anyone with an interest in this area.