Psychological Studies
Background
As this programme is accredited by the British Psychological Society, successful graduates from the programme are eligible for the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership of the Society (GBC). GBC provides an important verification of the breadth and depth of psychology graduates’ knowledge and skills. It is also a validation of graduates’ readiness to undertake independent research in psychology. A student’s completion of an accredited stage one programme indicates that they have gained an appropriate breadth and depth of knowledge in the relevant domain, which will underpin their further development as practitioners. It also indicates their development as independent researchers. Completion of an accredited programme at any level contributes towards graduates’ understanding of the key bodies of knowledge which are relevant to the profession-specific Standards of Proficiency specified by the Health Professions Council. Importantly, it also indicates that knowledge and skills have been gained as a result of work with and support from appropriately qualified people.
Who is the programme for?
Most individuals who want to become psychologists gain their initial education and training by means of the successful completion of a British Psychological Society (BPS) accredited undergraduate honours psychology degree. However, some become interested in pursuing a career in Psychology later in life.
The purpose of the MSc Psychological Studies is to enable such students to build on the transferable skills they have attained in their previous undergraduate degree in a related subject, and provide them with the necessary level of study in psychology which is acceptable to the British Psychological Society and which allows them to pursue a career in psychology.
The programme attracts a diverse range of students who bring a range of valuable experiences to discussions within the programme. Students on the programme include students from across the UK, European countries including Ireland, Poland, Greece, Italy, Hungary and Lithuania and international students from China, Malaysia, India, USA, Canada, Jordan, Ghana and Pakistan.
What will you get from this programme?
By the end of this programme you will be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge that covers and integrates the main areas of psychology, including a critical understanding of the principal and specialised theories, principles and concepts, which is informed by developments at the forefront of research in psychology;
- Use a significant range of principal and specialised skills, techniques, practices and/or materials which are associated with psychology;
- Apply a range of standard and specialised research instruments and techniques of enquiry in psychology;
- Plan and execute a significant project of research, investigation or development in psychology.
Introductory Reading
Since this conversion programme is very intensive, it would greatly help incoming students to start preparing themselves for the programme by reading many of the books below. In particular, sharpening their knowledge and skills in statistics for psychology will be tremendously useful and will stand students in good stead for the coursework assessments.
Field, A. (2009). Discovering statistics using SPSS (3rd Ed). London: Sage.
Eysenck, M. W. & Keane, M. T. (2000) Cognitive Psychology: A student's handbook. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Harris, M. (2008) Exploring Developmental Psychology: Understanding Theory and Methods, Sage Publications.
Maltby, J., Day, L. & Macaskill, A. (2010) (2nd ed.) Introduction to personality, individual differences and intelligence. Harlow: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Hogg, M. & Vaughan, G. (2008) Social Psychology (5th Ed) Harlow: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
Smith, J.A. (2007). Qualitative Psychology. A Practical Guide to Research Methods. London: Sage.
Kennedy, P. and Llewelyn, S (Eds). (2009). Clinical psychology in practice. Chichester. BPS: Blackwell.
Woolfolk, A., Hughes, M. & Walkup, V. (2008) Psychology in Education. New York, NY: Pearson Longman.
Ogden, J. (2008). Essential Readings in Health Psychology. Maidenhead: Open University Press.