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Department of Psychology, Unit Catalogue 2002/03

PS10001: Psychology 1

Credits: 6

Level: Certificate

Semester: 1

Assessment: CW100

Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To introduce students to basic concepts and current themes and debates in psychology. To introduce the major methods used in psychological research. To familiarise students with some classic psychological studies. After completing the unit, students will: * Have knowledge of some key studies that have shaped psychology. * Appreciate how psychologists approach research questions concerning the individual in relation to society. * Appreciate the importance of social processes and social group membership in individual mental functioning.
Content:
Lectures will be broadly based on the question "Who am I" and will focus on society and the individual, conformity and deviance, gender and social identity, the self, language and social life, thinking and reasoning, personality, life span development, and concepts of normality.

PS10002: Mind, brain & behaviour

Credits: 6

Level: Certificate

Semester: 1

Assessment: EX100

Requisites:

While taking this unit take PS10001

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To provide an understanding of the key biological knowledge and concepts necessary for the study of psychology. After completing the unit students will: Understand the mechanisms by which the nervous system transmits information. Understand how our senses work to accept information from the world around us. Understand various aspects of the nervous system's normal operation (e.g., sleep, learning) as well as problems that can arise in its behaviour.
Content:
The neuron and nervous system, learning and memory, sleep, motivation and emotion, language, pain, vision, hearing, taste, smell, migraine and epilepsy.

PS10003: Psychology laboratory 1

Credits: 6

Level: Certificate

Semester: 1

Assessment: PR100

Requisites:

While taking this unit take PS10001

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To provide students with the basic skills required for conducting experimental and practical work in psychology. After completing the unit students will: * Be able to plan and conduct a psychology experiment * Be familiar with the basic principles of research design and sampling * Be able to use the appropriate basic statistics * Be able to consider ethical issues in research * Be able to write a psychology laboratory report.
Content:
Students will participate in supervised practical work using appropriate equipment and techniques. They will conduct and analyse experimental and practical studies on a range of psychological topics. They will learn introductory statistical procedures including chi-square, t-tests, descriptive statistics.

PS10004: Psychology laboratory 2

Credits: 12

Level: Certificate

Semester: 2

Assessment: PR100

Requisites:

Before taking this unit you must take PS10003

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To develop students' competence in design, conduct, analysis and reporting of experimental and practical work in psychology. After completing the unit students will: * Be able to design experiments in psychology. * Be able to demonstrate the principles for analysing data from experiments. * Be able to perform a range of statistical analyses appropriately and interpret statistical material * Be able to plan, execute and analyse an experimental exercise involving data collection. * Be able to report practical and experimental studies appropriately. * Be competent in the concepts of validity and reliability
Content:
Skills of experimental psychology will be developed through practical exercises involving data collection and analysis, using appropriate equipment and techniques. Students will have instruction in statistical methods including correlation, regression, ANOVA, and non-parametric statistics, and will apply these in the analysis of class data, and show their understanding of their use and interpretation.

PS10057: Becoming a social person

Credits: 6

Level: Certificate

Semester: 2

Assessment: EX100

Requisites:

Before taking this unit you must take PS10001

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To equip the student with an understanding of how we become 'social beings'. Students will understand the core questions of social psychology and the development of social processes. They will be acquainted with classic studies in social and developmental psychology and the ways in which psychologists have approached the social nature of the human.
Content:
The unit will use 'classic' studies in social and developmental psychology to address the following: How do we form early relationship and attachment? How do we make friends? How do we form impressions of others? How do we behave in groups? How do groups affect our identity? What is the basis of prejudice, discrimination and inter-group relations? How do we develop and change our beliefs and attitudes?

PS10058: Intelligence & mental processes

Credits: 6

Level: Certificate

Semester: 2

Assessment: EX100

Requisites:

Before taking this unit you must take PS10001

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To provide a foundation understanding of cognitive processes. The student will understand the basic questions that psychologists have addressed regarding learning, memory and reasoning. They will have been introduced to the methods and theories by which research has been conducted in general psychology.
Content:
This unit will introduce some of the classic studies which address the questions: How do we learn? How do we remember? How do we reason and solve problems? How have psychologists thought about learning, remembering and reasoning? How have psychologists thought about intelligence and how has it been measured? How does intelligence develop? What is the role of emotion in our understanding of the world? What can we learn from the errors we make? The unit will highlight different approaches in psychology and where they contrast.

PS10075: Psychology laboratory 2

Credits: 6

Level: Certificate

Semester: 2

Assessment: PR100

Requisites:

Before taking this unit you must take PS10001

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To develop students' competence in the design, conduct, analysis and reporting of experimental and practical work in psychology. After completing the unit students will: * Be able to design experiments in psychology. * Be able to demonstrate the principles for analysing data from experiments. * Be able to perform a range of statistical analyses appropriately and interpret statistical material * Be able to plan, execute and analyse an experimental exercise involving data collection. * Be able to report practical and experimental studies appropriately. * Be competent in the concepts of validity and reliability
Content:
Skills of experimental psychology will be developed through practical exercises involving data collection and analysis, using appropriate equipment and techniques. Students will have instruction in statistical methods including correlation, regression, ANOVA, and non-parametric statistics, and will apply these in the analysis of class data, and show their understanding of their use and interpretation.

PS20005: Research methods & design

Credits: 12

Level: Intermediate

Semester: 1

Assessment: PR100

Requisites:

Before taking this unit you must take PS10004

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To provide students with an understanding and competence in qualitative and quantitative methods and statistics, and the skills to design, conduct and analyse studies using appropriate methodology. After completing the unit students will: * Be able to explain, design and critically evaluate key quantitative and qualitative methods in psychological research * Be able to assess practical issues of research design and the interpretation of data * Be able to use more advanced statistics and understand their interpretation * Be able to conduct and analyse a study using questionnaires * Be able to conduct a research interview. * Be familiar with key methods of qualitative data analysis and know how to apply them.
Content:
Students will engage in practical workshops in questionnaire design, interview techniques, focus groups, observation and in qualitative data analysis such as discourse analysis, grounded theory, narrative and case studies. They will acquire appropriate skills in the use and interpretation of advanced statistics such as factor analysis, cluster analysis, advanced regression techniques and MANOVA. They will conduct two independent studies, one involving questionnaire design and one using qualitative data analysis of interviews and focus groups.

PS20006: Psychology research project

Credits: 6

Level: Intermediate

Semester: 2

Assessment: PR100

Requisites:

Before taking this unit you must take PS20005

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To develop students' competence in the design, analysis and interpretation of two group research projects. After completing the unit students will: * Be able to plan and conduct psychology research projects. * Be able to analyse data and interpret it appropriately. * Be able to report a substantial piece of research. * Be able to work effectively in a team. * Demonstrate their awareness of ethical issues in research.
Content:
Students will design, conduct, analyse and report an independent study, working in small groups.

PS20007: Developmental psychology

Credits: 6

Level: Intermediate

Semester: 1

Assessment: EX100

Requisites:

Before taking this unit you must take PS10001 and (take PS10057 OR take PS10058)

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To introduce students to human development from birth to old age. To equip students with knowledge of the major theories and debates in developmental psychology. To familiarise students with the methodologies of developmental psychology. After completing the unit students will: * Understand how psychologists conduct research on human development. * Be familiar with the main theories of human development. * Be aware of major debates and controversies in human development theory and research. * Be able to utilise their knowledge to discuss issues in human development.
Content:
Key issues in theory of human development. How the 'well-equipped stranger' becomes the competent adult. Stages and developmental shifts. The development of language. The role of culture in human development. The development of self. Life crises and transitions.

PS20008: Cognitive psychology

Credits: 6

Level: Intermediate

Semester: 1

Assessment: EX100

Requisites:

Before taking this unit you must take PS10002 and take PS10058

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To familiarise students with current methodological and theoretical issues in cognitive psychology. To equip students with an understanding of the principles of cognitive processes. To familiarise students with methodological issues in the study of cognition. After completing the unit students will: * Be familiar with the main theories and debates in cognitive psychology. * Be aware of the methods used in research in cognition. * Be able to utilise concepts and research findings in discussion of cognitive processes.
Content:
Information processing, problem-solving, reasoning, perception and the representation of knowledge. Consciousness, monitoring and attention. How we use tools and their relationship to thinking. Models of mind-brain relations. Problems of logic and rationality. Individual and social factors in tasks and problems. Experts and novices. Decision making.

PS20009: Social psychology

Credits: 6

Level: Intermediate

Semester: 2

Assessment: CW100

Requisites:

Before taking this unit you must take PS10057

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To enable students to understand the relationship between individual, social and cultural psychological processes. To familiarise students with research on the individual in the social context. To provide understanding of the major theoretical debates and recent developments in social psychology. After completing the unit students will: * Be aware of key studies in social psychology. * Be familiar with how psychologists approach the student of communication and the social construction of meaning. * Understand the main theoretical debates about the relationship between the individual and the social and cultural context.
Content:
Language as dialogue and social negotiation. Rhetoric and discourse: how we persuade, argue, negotiate and interpret. Construction of meaning. The role of metaphor and narrative. Communication processes. Effective and ineffective communication. The relationships between individual schemas, representations and lay theories, and social and cultural repertoires.

PS20010: Clinical psychology

Credits: 6

Level: Intermediate

Semester: 2

Assessment: EX100

Requisites:

Before taking this unit you must take PS10001 and take PS10002

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To introduce the work of clinical psychologists in the main areas of Adult Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and work with older adults. After completing the unit students will: * Have knowledge of key psychotherapeutic techniques. * Understand the role of the clinical psychologist. * Be able to set the work of the clinical psychologist in the context of NHS organisation. * Be able to contrast a psychological approach with other approaches such as psychiatry.
Content:
The basis of psychiatric diagnosis. Introduction to counselling and psychotherapy. Depression; anxiety; schizophrenia. Loss and bereavement. Learning disabilities. Eating disorders. Older adults and mental health. The context of work and the evaluation of interventions.

PS20025: About science 2: discovery, dissemination & status of scientific knowledge

Credits: 6

Level: Intermediate

Semester: 2

Assessment: CW100

Requisites:

Before taking this unit you must take PS20024 or take PS10001

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To develop and evaluate several main views of the nature of scientific investigation with particular reference to philosophical and psychological models of perception, interpretation, and reasoning; to present historical case studies of scientific discovery and controversies; to demonstrate use of case studies to evaluate the models. This unit goes on to deal with the research process, the application of science in technology and medicine, and the problematic status of science in relation to its cultural context. Students will become familiar with key sources on the nature and scope of scientific research; be able to evaluate and compare these views with particular reference to their own case studies and apply their findings to key issues. Students are expected to develop an analytical and critical approach to ideas an opinions about science, and to master the use of documentary sources.
Content:
Images of science and scientists. Strange phenomena and difficult cases: how do scientists agree about facts? Two isons of science: method and discovery. Methods, machines and people: science as a human activity. Scientific consensus in the face of risk and uncertainty. Lay perceptions of science. Evaluating images of science. Case studies include: life on Mars, carbon 60; penicillin, number theory, intelligence, gender, brain reserch, BSE, GM foods.

PS20028: Psychology placement

Credits: 60

Level: Intermediate

Academic Year

Assessment: RT100

Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To provide the experience of work in a professional psychology context, to facilitate the acquisition and practice of transferable professional research skills. Students will develop planning skills, communication skills, problem-solving skills, experience group work and response to leadership, learn how to make appropriate decisions. They will have the opportunity to apply psychological knowledge acquired in the first two years of the programme. They will normally have the opportunity to undertake an independent research study under supervision, which will form the basis of their dissertation work in the final year.
Content:
Students will spend 30 weeks attached to an approved supervisor ina professional psychology field. The placement is a pass/ fail assessment based on completion of: 1. A 1500 word report of progress due after 10 weeks - 15% 2. A description of the placement for the file - 15% 3. A research proposal and ethical statement - 20% 4. A final report of 2500 words - 50%.

PS20074: Research methods & design

Credits: 6

Level: Intermediate

Semester: 1

Assessment: PR100

Requisites:

Before taking this unit you must take PS10075

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To provide students with an understanding and competence in qualitative and quantitative methods and statistics, and the skills to design, conduct and analyse studies using appropriate methodology. After completing the unit students will: * Be able to explain, design and critically evaluate key quantitative and qualitative methods in psychological research * Be able to assess practical issues of research design and the interpretation of data * Be able to use more advanced statistics and understand their interpretation * Be familiar with the appropriate procedures for a study using questionnaires * Be familiar with the appropriate procedures for conducting a research interview. * Be familiar with key methods of qualitative data analysis and know how to apply them.
Content:
Students will engage in practical workshops in questionnaire design, interview techniques, focus groups, observation and in qualitative data analysis such as discourse analysis, grounded theory, narrative and case studies. They will acquire appropriate skills in the use and interpretation of advanced statistics such as factor analysis, cluster analysis, advanced regression techniques and MANOVA. They will conduct one independent study, either involving questionnaire design or using qualitative data analysis of interviews and focus groups.

PS30011: Psychology dissertation 1

Credits: 6

Level: Honours

Semester: 1

Assessment: OR100

Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To plan, execute and report a piece of original empirical research in psychology After completing the units the student will: * Be able to conduct an individual piece of psychological research * Be able to reflect on the strengths and limitations of the work and skills involved * Be able to analyse data and to recognise the strengths and limitations of the methods used. * Be able to write a 12,000 word dissertation * Be able to present effectively an oral report of ongoing research.
Content:
The dissertation is conducted over two semesters. At the end of semester 1, the assessment is an oral presentation of work to date. At the end of semester 2, the assessed work is the complete 12,000 word report. Students are required to design the project, carry out data collection and analysis, and write a critical discussion.

PS30012: Psychology dissertation 2

Credits: 12

Level: Honours

Semester: 2

Assessment: DS100

Requisites:

Before taking this unit you must take PS30011

PS30013: Models of counselling & psychotherapy

Credits: 6

Level: Honours

Semester: 1

Assessment: EX100

Requisites:

Before taking this unit you must take PS20010

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To introduce the main models of counselling and psychotherapy used in clinical practice. After completing the unit students will: * Be able to formulate a clinical case * Be familiar with the kind of clinical problems that patients present to a therapist * Be able to set models of counselling and psychotherapy in the context of issues and dilemmas involved in working psychotherapeutically
Content:
The context in which psychotherapists and counsellors work; the main models of psychotherapy - psychodynamic, behavioural, cognitive, systemic, humanistic and group. Evaluating interventions - outcome and process research. A postmodernist approach to counselling and psychotherapy.

PS30014: History of psychology

Credits: 6

Level: Honours

Semester: 1

Assessment: EX100

Requisites:

Before taking this unit you must take PS10001 and take PS10002 and take 2 units from (PS20007, PS20008, PS20010)

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To equip the student with an understanding of the History of Psychology and the relationship between a historical perspective and how a field is conceptualised. After completing the unit students will: * Understand the development of theory. * Understand the development of methodology. * Be familiar with the development of critiques. * Be aware of the relationship between the development of psychology and related fields. * Be aware of the role of social and historical context in historical accounts and in the acceptance of new ideas.
Content:
The function that historical perspective plays in how we think about a field. Key ideas in the history of psychology; their context and roots. How and why such ideas waxed and waned. The predominant and recurrent themes in the history of psychology. Key individuals in psychology, and how their intellectual lives illuminate how ideas are embedded in cultural and historical context.

PS30015: Economic & political psychology

Credits: 6

Level: Honours

Semester: 1

Assessment: EX100

Requisites:

Before taking this unit you must take PS20009 and take (PS20007 or take PS20008 or take PS20010)

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To introduce students to the psychological organisation of social, political, economic and ethical beliefs. After completing the unit the students will: * Be familiar with the theoretical models around the organisation of beliefs. * Be aware of models of development and aetiology of beliefs. * Understand how implicit models of psychological processes underpin commonsense conceptions of rationality and ethics. * Be aware of the tensions between 'discourse' and 'ideology' models of explanation. * Appreciate the problematic nature of links between beliefs and action.
Content:
Psychological models of ideology in the organisation of beliefs. Mainstream and emergent political-social beliefs -feminism, Green politics. Lay beliefs, e.g., about unemployment, poverty, ethics. Concepts of fairness and equity. Moral development. Elite beliefs - what constitutes 'legitimation'? Political propaganda and rhetoric. Social movements, social change and intergroup relations.

PS30016: Health psychology

Credits: 6

Level: Honours

Semester: 1

Assessment: EX100

Requisites:

Before taking this unit you must take PS20008 and take PS20009

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To introduce students to concepts, theory, methods and applications of health psychology, using the concepts of social psychology and psychobiology. After completing the unit students will: * Understand how concepts in health can be assessed. * Understand the concepts around what it means to be healthy, well and have good quality of life. * Know about the range of methods appropriate to measuring and evaluating outcomes in health psychology. * Appreciate some of the key interventions designed by health psychologists for use in clinical and non-clinical settings, in chronic disease. * Be able to set the psychology of health within a broad multidisciplinary context in the health an social sciences. * Be able to appraise the dynamics of organising psychological care within the health care system.
Content: Health psychology interventions for major chronic diseases e.g. cardiovascular, pain. An appraisal of the process of health reporting and health care from the detection of symptoms, decision to consult, through the consultation to adherence to treatment. An appreciation of key concepts; stress, uncertainty, social support. The impact of care. Health promotion and education practices covering smoking, sex, disability, exercise, diet, etc.

PS30017: Controversies in cognition

Credits: 6

Level: Honours

Semester: 2

Assessment: CW75OT25

Requisites:

In taking this unit you cannot take PS50063 and you must take PS20007 and take PS20008

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To equip the student with an understanding of current issues and controversies in psychology After completing the unit students will: * Understand what is meant by 'controversy' * Be familiar with current debates and their implications for the development of theory and methodology. * Be able to present a critical perspective on the issues. * Be able to evaluate the relevant perspectives in the controversies.
Content:
Current debates for example in: problems of consciousness, the interface between cognitive psychology, philosophy and neuroscience, connectionist theory and its implications, the rise of evolutionary psychology, the role of culture in human development.

PS30018: Mind & social being

Credits: 6

Level: Honours

Semester: 2

Assessment: EX100

Requisites:

Before taking this unit you must take PS20008 and take PS20009 and take PS30014

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To introduce students to the social construction of knowledge in relation to psychological theory and research. After completing the unit students will: * Be able to outline key theories on the nature of the self as a social being. * Be able to analytically apply this understanding to central issues of psychological research: * Be reflexive about their learning and the processes of group work.
Content: 'Discursive psychology'. The importance, in particular, placed on discourse (language, argument); and the social construction of reality (identity, being and becoming). Consciousness, self, gender, identity, the body and emotion in relation to discursive theory. The unit will begin with introductory lectures, and will be followed by student-led presentations and seminars on selected topics.

PS30019: Artificial minds: Minds, machines & persons

Credits: 6

Level: Honours

Semester: 1

Assessment: ES80OR20

Requisites:

In taking this unit you cannot take PS50061 and you must take PS20025 or take PS20008 or take PS50036

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To introduce the field of computer-based modelling and simulation of human activities which require the intelligent use of knowledge - otherwise known as Artificial Intelligence. After completing the unit students will: * Understand how to approach the question, could human intelligence be simulated, equalled or even exceeded by machines. * Understand how to approach the question; can the machine-metaphor help us to understand human cognitive and social processes? * Be able to apply research in AI to questions concerning the nature of intelligence * Understand the relevance of AI to scientific approaches to the replication of complex human attributes such as problem-solving and language use * Be familiar with key authors and texts * Be able to evaluate claims about computer programs relating to: their power, intelligence and other capabilities; * their influence on theory; * their continuing role in psychological and social research; * their influence on notions of expertise, intelligence, creativity and humanity.
Content:
Machine-metaphors for human thinking and reasoning and their relationship to evolutionary biology and neurology. The historical background to AI research. Main areas of debate; criticisms made by AI researchers about rival approaches, and arguments from philosophy, sociology and psychology about the attempt to simulate intelligence. This unit shares teaching with the postgraduate unit of the same title PS50061.

PS30020: Artificial lives: Simulation, modelling & visualisation of complex systems

Credits: 6

Level: Honours

Semester: 2

Assessment: PR60ES40

Requisites:

In taking this unit you cannot take PS50062

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To develop students' understanding of applications of computer modelling and simulation techniques to cognitive and social processes After completing the unit students will: * Understand the application of current research in AI and simulation, to the explanation of consciousness. * Understand the application of current research in AI to the exploration of the dynamics of group processes. * Demonstrate basic familiarity with simulation software. * Understand the applications of computer simulation in the natural and social sciences * Demonstrate their understanding of the methods of major research projects. * Be aware of the implications of computer simulation for psychological theories of communication, social interaction, cognition, brain function and consciousness. * Present their work as a research report.
Content:
The application of biological models in AI and to social processes; complex systems and emergence; the methods used in research in AI, and AI life. Students will undertake practical projects in the form of experiments with computer models and simulation programs, and the evaluation of such programs. This unit shares teaching with a postgraduate unit of the same title: PS50062.

PS30026: Public knowledge 3a: history, philosophy & sociology of science

Credits: 6

Level: Honours

Semester: 1

Assessment: ES100

Requisites:

Before taking this unit you must take PS20025 and you cannot take PS50036

Aims & Learning Objectives:
The course aims to introduce students to key issues raised by historical, philosophical and sociological studies of science and to recent developments in psychological studies of science. Students will develop an infomed and critical view of the nature of scientific activity and the problems arising from the differences between scientific and other approaches to problems. To enable students to develop an informed and critical view of the nature of scientific activity and the issues arising from differences between scientific and other approaches to problems,
Content:
Contested views about science; scientists on science; scientific, expert and lay knowledge; science and public understanding; public acceptance of science and technology; science and psychology; science and other modes of knowledge. The course is lecture based with considerable directed reading and class discussion. All students read and discuss a number of key authors. Video documentaries are used and there is an associated film series. All students undertake a research project, written up as an extended essay.

PS30059: The cultures of belief

Credits: 3

Level: Honours

Semester: 2

Assessment: ES100

Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
This unit provides an historical exposition of the changing relationship between major religious traditions and western science, and a critical discussion of theses about the ways in which religion and science interact. Students will be expected to demonstrate, through written assignments and seminar discussion, that they have mastered the arguments of at least two main authors or schools and can make a critical appraisal of these arguments.
Content:
Attention will be given to historical and philosophical views of the nature of religion and of science, theses about their interaction (e.g., conflict, independence, interdependence); each of the main theses will be examined in the light of recent historical and critical studies. The application by popular science writers of core scientific theories to religious and metaphysical themes is also explored. This unit shares teaching with the postgraduate unit The cultures of belief (PSYC0046).

PS30060: Science & religion

Credits: 3

Level: Honours

Semester: 2

Assessment: ES100

Requisites:

While taking this unit take PS30059

Aims & Learning Objectives:
This unit examines the roles of religious and scientific traditions in western culture with particular reference to Christian theology, traditions and religious practices, in order to provide (1) an deeper understanding of the cultural context of the ways in which Christianity and western science interact and (2) an analytical basis to evaluate claims about the implications of religious beliefs and practices for science and of scientific developments for Christianity. Students will be expected to demonstrate, through written assignments and seminar discussion, that they have mastered the arguments of at least two main authors or schools and can make a critical appraisal of these arguments.
Content:
Studies of the cultural context of historical and philosophical views of the nature of religion and of science; critical analysis of theses about their interaction; examination and appraisal of historical and contemporary claims about the implications of science for religions and of religion for science; implications for Public Understanding of Science, esp. the place of science in post-modern culture. Students will be expected to demonstrate through seminar discussion, an assessed oral presentation and an essay that they have mastered the arguments of the main authors or protagonists and can make a critical appraisal of their arguments. This unit shares teaching with the postgraduate unit Science & religion (PS50047).

PS30070: Science & communication I

Credits: 6

Level: Honours

Semester: 1

Assessment: CW50EX50

Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To equip students with an appreciation of the main debates in the relationship between science and public understanding, and with knowledge of communication theory and methods of analysis. Students will understand the theoretical and methodological issues involved in science communication. They will be familiar with the role of language discourse, rhetoric and metaphor in written, visual and virtual media. They will be acquainted with major controversies around science and 'anti-science' and in areas of scientific debate. They will be familiar with issues relating to efforts to increase public understanding of science, and the relationship between science and culture.
Content:
The 'Two Cultures' debate and its heirs; Public understanding of science: the history of recent agendas; What constitutes 'science'?; Scientific literacy criticised: how to study (measure, analyse) what people understand and don't understand about science and what we can learn from this - examples from understanding the immune system; Science fiction and representations of science; the role of metaphor; Mechanisms of rhetoric; Discourse and narrative; the relationship between politics, activism and science; Epistemic cultures: how knowledge is held and transmitted.

PS50029: Health, disease, illness & sickness

Credits: 6

Level: Masters

Semester: 1

Assessment: ES50EX50

Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
The course provides a broad introduction to health psychology and related health disciplines. It supplies the foundation stones for the remainder of the course by integrating related concepts from epidemiology, physiology, developmental psychology and medical sociology.
Content:
The course begins by introducing different models of health care, addresses causes of morbidity and mortality together with risk factors and inequalities in health care. Mechanisms of disease are considered, followed by a systematic appraisal of health across the lifespan from children to palliative care. Lastly the social processes of becoming ill are addressed.

PS50030: Health cognitions & health emotions

Credits: 6

Level: Masters

Semester: 1

Assessment: EX100

Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
The unit draws upon central concepts in cognitive and social psychology and examines their application to health and health care. The focus is on the health of individuals and the psycholoical processes and mechanisms involved in understanding sickness and wellbeing.
Content:
Measuring individual differences and psychophysiology. The self concept and body image. Hardiness, vulnerability and monitoring symptoms. Unrealistic optimism, controllability, self efficacy, uncertainty and helplessness. Perception and attention to symptoms. Representations and memories of health and illness, Information processing and decision-making about consultation. Modules of stress, stressful environments and psycho-neuroimmunology.

PS50031: Treatment, communication and context

Credits: 6

Level: Masters

Semester: 1

Assessment: EX100

Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
The course aims to provide students with a full appreciation of the psychological processes involved in the consultation, in the provision of treatment and its effects on subsequent behaviour, and health in different settings and contexts.
Content:
Beliefs, expectations and preparation for treatments with particular reference to primary health care and screening. Help seeking, help giving and self help. Communications between provider and patient including bad news. Adherence to treatment, alternatives to treatment, and acceptance of treatment including the placebo. The context of treatment in institutions, surgeries and hospices.

PS50032: Coping with ill health

Credits: 6

Level: Masters

Semester: 1

Assessment: EX100

Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
The main aim is to understand how ill people cope with chronic and acute health conditions. It provides skills and knowledge about how pain, stress and disability can be managed. Suitable techniques in the provision of rehabilitation and support in these conditions and policy for health care.
Content:
Coping with acute illness, particularly pain and perioperative conditions. Coping styles, stress management and social support in chronic and acute conditions. Coping with chronic illness; models and mechanisms of chronic pain and disability. Vocational rehabilitation for chronically ill people. Policy and politics in the provision of health care.

PS50033: Advanced research design in health

Credits: 6

Level: Masters

Semester: 2

Assessment: CW100

Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To develop advanced knowledge and skills in setting up studies to evaluate and assess health and health care and to design therapeutic interventions using methods and theories in health psychology.
Content:
Qualitative methods to include discourse and conversation analysis interviewing, action research. Doing research. Uses of theory, theory development. Research issues including ethical practices, professional and legal issues, international perspectives. Quantitative methods and experimental designs to include designing cross-sectional, longitudinal, single case and RCT designs, meta analysis, measuring outcomes including focus groups. Item analysis and advanced psychometric techniques, especially quality of life, pain and disability and public opinion.

PS50034: Health promotion, disease prevention & health psychology interventions

Credits: 6

Level: Masters

Semester: 2

Assessment: CW30EX70

Requisites:

Before taking this unit you must take PS50032

Aims & Learning Objectives:
The course has the aims of providing understanding, knowledge and skills in two areas; (a) health promotion and disease prevention (b) intervention in health psychology. A problem solving approach is dominant in the teaching of this course.
Content:
Health promotion to include models of prevention, factors maintaining health and behavioural risk factors in prevention. The planning organisation and co-ordination of health education and promotion strategies for changing behaviour. Health psychology intervention in the workplace and community. Public health and media campaigns. The management of diseases using health psychology techniques e.g. cardiovascular conditions, HIV/AIDS, cancer etc.

PS50035: Measurement & meaning in the natural & social sciences

Credits: 6

Level: Masters

Semester: 1

Assessment: ES100

Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Aims: This is an introductory course for postgraduate students who need to develop their understanding of the historical, philosophical and social factors that shape research methods in the humanities and social sciences, and of related philosophical and methodological issues. With a particular focus on two contrasting approaches -- the interpretation of texts and images and the development and impact of measuring and computing technologies, this unit aims to provide an overview of the way in which interpretative and quantitative approaches develop in various sciences, of how they interact and of how standardised quantitative methods achieve acceptance across disciplines. Students will become familiar with key concepts, arguments and authors in the philosophy of social science which they will be expected to apply to their own particular research field. The unit will provide them with an understanding of assumptions, techniques, technologies and social institutions on which different types of methods are based, and will equip them with critical insights to be applied to their own work.
Learning Objectives: By the end of the course the students should:
Knowledge and understanding:
* Be aware of several significant developments in methods including hermeneutics, the use and interpretation of images; the analysis of metaphor, standardisation of methods; the development of laboratories, the rise of statistics, bureaucracy and trust in numbers, digitalization, calculation and computation, models, modeling and simulation.
* Understand the contextual character of methods and how they become established as definitive of a disciplines or of research fields within a discipline.
Intellectual skills:
* Be able to recognise and describe different research styles associated with the humanities, social and natural sciences;
* Be able to recognise and describe philosophical and methodological issues associated with particular methods;
* Be able to identify features of method that contribute to the validation of results;
* Be able to identify features of method that give rise to controversy between research groups within and between disciplines, recognising that this is often disputed
* Be familiar with the arguments of key advocates of mainstream approaches to the interpretation of texts, images, and quantitative data.
Professional practice skills:
* Understand that methods have histories and that selection of methods requires justification;
* Apply understanding of the disputed nature of method to the evaluation and justification of particular methods in humanities and social science research.
Content:
The course will cover: Hermeneutics; Making and Reading Images; Envisioning Information; Use and analysis of Metaphors; Method and Controversy; Bureaucracy, Measurement and Modern Science; Method as a standard and the Standardisation of Method; Transforming qualities to quantities: Quantification, Calculation and Computation; Instruments: material, conceptual and social; Models, Hypotheses and Theories; Models and Simulations; The rise of Statistics; Guest speakers from different disciplines will provide seminars on various aspects of the history and use of methods in the humanities and the sciences.

PS50036: History, philosophy & psychology of science

Credits: 6

Level: Masters

Semester: 1

Assessment: EX40ES60

Requisites:

In taking this unit you cannot take PS30026

Aims & Learning Objectives:
The course aims to introduce students to key issues raised by historical, philosophical and sociological studies of science and to recent developments in psychological studies of science. Students will develop an infomed and critical view of the nature of scientific activity and the problems arising from the differences between scientific and other approaches to problems, and to apply these views to science communication and the public understanding of science. To enable students (i) to develop an informed and critical view of the nature of scientific activity and the issues arising from differences between scientific and other approaches to problems, and (ii) to demonstrate how these views bear upon the communication of science and issues in the debate about public understanding of science.
Content:
Contested views about science: traditions, continuity and change; disciplinary approaches to science studies; understanding scientific practice; scientists on science; scientific, expert and lay knowledge; science and public understanding; public acceptance of science and technology; science and psychology; science and other modes of knowledge. The course is lecture based with considerable directed reading and class discussion. All students read and discuss a number of key authors. Video documentaries are used and there is an associated film series. All students undertake a research project, written up as an assessed review-essay.

PS50041: Media workshop 1

Credits: 6

Level: Masters

Semester: 2

Assessment:

Requisites:

No Description Available

PS50042: Media workshop 2

Credits: 6

Level: Masters

Semester: 2

Assessment:

Requisites:

No Description Available

PS50043: Dissertation 1: Design, pilot project & evaluation

Credits: 12

Level: Masters

Semester: 2

Assessment: DS90OR10

Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
(i) to establish a topic and research plan for the dissertation, (ii) to evaluate the feasibility of the planned research on the basis of a pilot study and an evaluation conference, (iii) provide an opportunity for students to present and defend the proposal in a peer seminar.
Content:
Requires students to apply knowledge and skills acquired on the Research Methods Units to the planning and design of a thesis project, and to prepare and conduct a pilot study. Seminar participation during a project evaluation conference is required.

PS50044: Dissertation - research & write up 1

Credits: 6

Level: Masters

Semester: 2

Assessment:

Requisites:

No Description Available

PS50045: Dissertation - research & write up 2 (MSc)

Credits: 24

Level: Masters

Dissertation Period

Assessment: DS100

Requisites:

No Description Available

PS50046: The cultures of belief

Credits: 3

Level: Masters

Semester: 2

Assessment: ES70PR30

Requisites:

While taking this unit you must take PS50047 and in taking this unit you cannot take PS30059

Aims & Learning Objectives:
This unit provides an historical exposition of the changing relationship between major religious traditions and western science, and a critical discussion of theses about the ways in which religion and science interact.Students will be expected to demonstrate, through written assignments and seminar discussion, that they have mastered the arguments of at least two main authors or schools and can make a critical appraisal of these arguments. Additionally, postgraduate degree students will understand and be able to explain the relevance of these positions and arguments to contemporary issues in the public understanding of science, particularly the popularisation of scientific theories.
Content:
Attention will be given to historical and philosophical views of the nature of religion and of science, theses about their interaction (e.g., conflict, independence, interdependence); each of the main theses will be examined in the light of recent historical and critical studies. The application by popular science writers of core scientific theories to religious and metaphysical themes is also explored.

PS50047: Science and religion

Credits: 3

Level: Masters

Semester: 2

Assessment: ES80OR20

Requisites:

In taking this unit you cannot take PS30060

Aims & Learning Objectives:
This unit examines the roles of religious and scientific traditions in western culture with particular reference to Christian theology, traditions and religious practices, in order to provide (1) an deeper understanding of the cultural context of the ways in which Christianity and western science interact and (2) an analytical basis to evaluate claims about the implications of religious beliefs and practices for science and of scientific developments for Christianity.Students will be expected to demonstrate, through written assignments and seminar discussion, that they have mastered the arguments of at least two main authors or schools and can make a critical appraisal of these arguments. Postgraduate degree students will understand and be able to explain the relevance of the interaction of western science and religious traditions to contemporary issues in the public understanding of science, particularly the popularisation of scientific theories as presented in popular books and films.
Content:
Studies of the cultural context of historical and philosophical views of the nature of religion and of science; critical analysis of theses about their interaction; examination and appraisal of historical and contemporary claims about the implications of science for religions and of religion for science; implications for Public Understanding of Science, esp. the place of science in post-modern culture. Students will be expected to demonstrate through seminar discussion, an assessed oral presentation and an extended essay that they have mastered the arguments of the main authors or protagonists and can make a critical appraisal of their arguments.

PS50051: Placement

Credits: 6

Level: Masters

Semester: 2

Assessment:

Requisites:

No Description Available

PS50052: Economic & environmental psychology

Credits: 6

Level: Masters

Semester: 1

Assessment: EX100

Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To understand how psychological factors influence economic decision making and economic behaviour generally and how action, especially with respect to the environment, is influence by beliefs, attitudes and perceptions.
Content:
Topics include: car and public transport use; household domestic energy consumption; communitarianism, selfishness and social welfare; lay economic beliefs; the psychology of money.

PS50053: Morals, markets & politics

Credits: 6

Level: Masters

Semester: 2

Assessment: EX100

Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To examine the role of moral considerations, values and notions of fairness in citizenship and the operation of commercial markets.
Content:
Profit, loss, fairness and expectations; ethical investing; consumer boycotts and shareholder action; charitable giving and public expenditure; self interest and social welfare; the development of societal competence and citizenship.

PS50054: Research proposal (& oral presentation)

Credits: 6

Level: Masters

Semester: 2

Assessment:

Requisites:

No Description Available

PS50055: Dissertation

Credits: 36

Level: Masters

Semester: 2

Assessment: DS100

Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To provide students with the opportunity to carry out an independent research project by putting into practice some of the methods, theories and skills that they have learned.
Content:
The student will carry out a substantial research project of their own design, in health psychology, under the joint supervision of a practising health psychologist and an academic supervisor.

PS50061: Artificial minds: Minds, machines & persons

Credits: 6

Level: Masters

Semester: 1

Assessment: ES80OR20

Requisites:

Before taking this unit you must take PS50036 and in taking this unit you cannot take PS30019

Aims & Learning Objectives:
This course introduces some recent research in the field of computer-based modeling and simulation of human activities which require the intelligent use of knowledge, otherwise known as Artificial Intelligence. We will approach machine intelligence through two complementary questions: could human intelligence be simulated, equalled or even exceeded by machines? Can the machine-metaphor still help us understand human cognitive and social processes? Students will understand the relevance of research in A. I. To larger questions concerning the nature of intelligence and of scientific approaches to the replication of complex attributes such as intelligence. MSc/Diploma students will additionally be expected to relate their understanding to issues addressed in MSc core units, specifically the significance of boundary issues (human, animal and machine) and the debates on public understanding of scientific research on AI and robotics.
Content:
Machine-metaphors for human thinking and reasoning now compete with evolutionary biology and neurology for influence in both psychological and sociological approaches to human behaviour. The course will provide historical background, will introduce some of the main approaches and research projects in the field, and will set out two main areas of debate: criticisms made by AI researchers about rival approaches, and arguments of philosophers, sociologists and psychologists about the attempt to simulate intelligence. Students will become familiar with key authors and texts, and will learn to evaluate claims about computer programs relating to:
* their power, intelligence or other capabilities
* their influence upon psychological and social theory
* their continuing role in psychological and social research
* their influence on our notions of expertise, intelligence, creativity and humanity. MSc/Diploma students will undertake research for an additional essay on the impact of AI research on human/machine boundaries. This unit shares teaching with the undergraduate unit of the same title PS30019.

PS50062: Artificial lives: Simulation, modelling & visualisation of complex systems

Credits: 6

Level: Masters

Semester: 2

Assessment: PR60ES40

Requisites:

In taking this unit you cannot take PS30020

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To develop students' understanding of biological models of cognitive and social behaviour as they inform recent applications of computer modelling and simulation techniques to cognitive and social processes, including: visual and analogical reasoning, explanations of consciousness, and the dynamics of communication-based group processes. Familiarity with the literature relating to two influential developments simulation techniques and with the application of current research techniques in AI and simulation, basic familiarity with cellular automata and agent-based simulation software and the evaluation of its use. Students will be expected to demonstrate a wider understanding of the development, significance and evaluation of simulation techniques in the natural and social sciences.
Content:
No prior programming or modeling experience is necessary, but students undertake short practical projects based on computer models and simulation programs, which will be presented orally and written up as a project report. Postgraduate students will undertake an extended project which extends their competence in the use of a particular simulation and in the evaluation of simulation methods. This unit shares teaching with the undergradate unit of the same title PS30020.

PS50063: Controversies in cognition

Credits: 6

Level: Masters

Semester: 2

Assessment: EX50ES50

Requisites:

Before taking this unit you must take PS50036

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To equip the student with an understanding of current issues and controversies in psychology. Additionally, MSc/Diploma students will be expected to relate their understanding to issues addressed in MSc core units, specifically the significance of controversiality in science and the debates on public understanding of science.
Content:
The course will address key issues in contemporary psychology relating to cognition, language and models of mind. These will include: problems of consciousness and the interface of neuroscience, cognitive science and philosophy; connectionist theory and its implications; the rise of evolutionary psychology; debates about culture and human development. An additional requirement for MSc students is to discuss the development of one of the above debates in relation to contemporary public understanding of the significance of psychological research. This unit shares teaching with the undergraduate unit PS30017 of the same title.

PS50064: Placement

Credits: 3

Level: Masters

Semester: 2

Assessment:

Requisites:

No Description Available

PS50065: Multivariate statistics for use in health contexts 1

Credits: 3

Level: Masters

Semester: 1

Assessment: CW100

Requisites:

While taking this unit you must take PS50066

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To equip students with the skills to use and interpret multivariate statistics using SPSS and an appreciation of the applications of multivariate analysis in health.
Content:
Refresher session in univariate parametric and non-parametric statistics using SPSS: advanced correlations & factor analysis, discriminant analysis, ANOVA & ANCOVA.

PS50066: Multivariate statistics for use in health contexts 2

Credits: 3

Level: Masters

Semester: 1

Assessment: CW100

Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To equip students with the skills to use and interpret multivariate statistics using SPSS and an appreciation of the applications of multivariate analysis in health.
Content:
Multiple regression (simple, stepwise and hierarchical), Path analysis, MANOVA & MANCOVA.

PS50067: Communication theory

Credits: 6

Level: Masters

Semester: 1

Assessment: EX50ES50

Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To enable students to understand the psychological principles of communication. Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of how meaning, discourse and rhetoric are constructed and interpreted.
Content:
The unit will cover the analysis of meaning, and on problems of interpretation and construction of meaning. through looking at rhetoric, semiotics, 'common ground', discourse, narrative and metaphor. There will be material on the psychology of intra and inter group communication, and on general theories of communication; medium and message issues, and formal and informal channels of communication. Culture and context, both macro and micro, will be explored. Core Reading;
A A Berger Cultural Criticism, Sage 1998
A A Berger Media Research Techniques Sage 1998
M Billig Arguing and Thinking Cambridge 1995
R Harri & G Gillett The Discursive Mind Sage 1995
A Mattelart and M Mattelart Theories of Communication, Sage, 1998
S Turkle Life on the Screen; identity in the age of the Internet, Simon & Schuster 1995

PS50071: Science & communication I

Credits: 6

Level: Masters

Semester: 1

Assessment: CW25EX25OT50

Requisites:

PS50072: Science & communication II

Credits: 6

Level: Masters

Semester: 2

Assessment: CW40EX40OR20

Requisites:

Before taking this unit you must take PS50071

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To provide students with the skills to analyse and interpret science communication and the relationship between science and culture, building on Science and Communication 1 Students will be able to use interpretative methods for analysing film, video, written and virtual media material relating to science communication. They will be able to present such analyses using a range of media techniques.
Content:
Brain science and science fiction brains; changing cultural conceptions of mind/brain and mental health; the metaphor of 'connections' in portrayal of the brain and its development - dangers to the brain, and the dangerous brain; Analysis of film/drama; video documentary; written text; the Internet.

PS50078: Theoretical issues in psychology

Credits: 6

Level: Masters

Semester: 1

Assessment: ES40EX50OR10

Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To equip students with an understanding of the nature of psychological knowledge. To enable them to appreciate the role of biological context, social context and cultural perspectives on the formulation of psychological theories and research. After completing the unit students will:
Knowledge and Understanding:
* have a critical appreciation of how theory in psychology develops
* understand the relationship between theory and methodology
* understand the relationship between biological perspectives and social perspectives in theory and research questions in key studies
* be aware of the cultural context within which research questions and theories are developed, and data interpreted
* understand the epistemological context of key studies in psychology and the implications of these for interpretation of data
* be able to apply their understanding of key studies in psychology to the principles of research design
* have an in-depth appreciation of the development and evaluation of key studies in psychology
* be able to appreciate alternative approaches to core research questions
* appreciate the tensions between applied and policy considerations and theoretical agendas, in the development of research questions in psychology
* appreciate the relationship between psychology and other disciplines in the development of research in psychology.
Transferable Skills:
* effective presentation of material using appropriate visual aids
* develop writing skills and skills in the formulation of argument and the presentation of critical appreciation of debate and controversy.
Content:
The unit will comprise
1. core lectures on key theoretical issues in psychology, in social, cognitive, health, developmental, communication and applied fields and the history of psychology,
2. indepth studies of selected key pieces of research, through seminar and essay work.

PS50079: Measurement & meaning

Credits: 3

Level: Masters

Semester: 1

Assessment: ES100

Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Aims: This is an introductory course for postgraduate students who need to develop their understanding of the historical, philosophical and social factors that shape research methods in the humanities and social sciences, and of related philosophical and methodological issues. With a particular focus on two contrasting approaches -- the interpretation of texts and images and the development and impact of measuring and computing technologies, this unit aims to provide an overview of the way in which interpretative and quantitative approaches develop in various sciences, of how they interact and of how standardised quantitative methods achieve acceptance across disciplines. Students will become familiar with key concepts, arguments and authors in the philosophy of social science which they will be expected to apply to their own particular research field. The unit will provide them with an understanding of assumptions, techniques, technologies and social institutions on which different types of methods are based, and will equip them with critical insights to be applied to their own work.
Learning Objectives: By the end of the course the students should:
Knowledge and understanding:
* Be aware of several significant developments in methods including hermeneutics, the use and interpretation of images; the analysis of metaphor, standardisation of methods; the development of laboratories, the rise of statistics, bureaucracy and trust in numbers, digitalization, calculation and computation, models, modeling and simulation.
* Understand the contextual character of methods and how they become established as definitive of a disciplines or of research fields within a discipline;
Intellectual skills:
* Be able to recognise and describe different research styles associated with the humanities, social and natural sciences.
* Be able to recognise and describe philosophical and methodological issues associated with particular methods.
* Be able to identify features of method that contribute to the validation of results.
* Be able to identify features of method that give rise to controversy between research groups within and between disciplines, recognising that this is often disputed.
* Be familiar with the arguments of key advocates of mainstream approaches to the interpretation of texts, images, and quantitative data.
Professional practice skills:
* Understand that methods have histories and that selection of methods requires justification.
* Apply understanding of the disputed nature of method to the evaluation and justification of particular methods in humanities and social science research.
Content:
The course will cover Hermeneutics; Making and Reading Images; Envisioning Information; Use and analysis of Metaphors; Method and Controversy; Bureaucracy, Measurement and Modern Science; Method as a standard and the Standardisation of Method; Transforming qualities to quantities: Quantification, Calculation and Computation; Instruments: material, conceptual and social; Models, Hypotheses and Theories; Models and Simulations; The rise of Statistics; Guest speakers from different disciplines will provide seminars on various aspects of the history and use of methods in the humanities and the sciences.

PS50080: Dissertation

Credits: 30

Level: Masters

Dissertation Period

Assessment: DS100

Requisites:

MSc Applied Social Psychology Dissertation

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