Course Catalogue

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The aim is to enhance students' knowledge, understanding, and application of the subject of Psychology with a particular focus on research and theory within the core field strands of Individual Differences, Cognition, Developmental Psychology, Statistics, and Research Methods.

Lectures Monday to Friday 10 a.m. - 11 a.m.
Weekly laboratories.

Students must be enrolled on a single or joint honours psychology plan and have passed PSYCH1001 and PSYCH1002. Other students will be admitted on a ranked basis to a class limit of 300.

None

Assessment

1 portfolio (50%) and 1 degree exam (50%).

The exam for L2A is split into two separate papers - Paper 1 and Paper 2 - both of which will be part of the December exam diet. The lecture module topics within these papers will be distributed as follows:

■ Paper 1 - a written exam lasting 120 minutes will assess from the modules of Cognitive Psychology, Developmental, and Individual Differences. 

■ Paper 2 - an open book and partially seen (e.g. data, transcript, as appropriate) exam lasting 60 mins will assess from the modules of Research Planning and Design, Statistical Analysis and Design 1, and the practical lab course. 

The aim is to broaden and, especially, to deepen knowledge of the subject area by building on the foundations laid in Psychology 1A and 1B. The primary aim is to develop the student's knowledge of core material in the areas of developmental, cognitive, individual differences, research planning, design, and analysis with each module highlighting the application of psychology within the field along with the underlying theory. A secondary aim is to apply this psychological knowledge to real-world problems, and enable students to evaluate psychological issues from multiple perspectives. The overarching aim is to provide students with fundamental research skills relevant to the British Psychological Society core strands, including instruction in and exposure to psychological experimental design and research methods, conduct of experimentation, data gathering, knowledge of statistical analyses, scientific writing - complemented by knowledge of the practical, theoretical and ethical issues associated with different research designs. In addition, the students will be encouraged to work on their time management and study skills as a way to enhance these important graduate attributes, but also to prepare them for the honours phase.

Students at the end of this course will be equipped with skills and knowledge to:

■ Summarise a broad range of psychological theories and research findings in each core topic; cognitive psychology, developmental, individual differences, research planning, design, and statistical analysis, using concrete examples from the British Psychological Society core strands.

■ Critically evaluate theories in psychology in terms of their internal coherence and methodological underpinnings with reference to fundamental aspects of psychological research.

■ Critically evaluate the practical, theoretical and ethical issues associated with different research designs.

■ Prepare written reports relevant for psychological research to summarise empirical work, with a focus on research designs specific to addressing psychological questions.

■ Engage in groupwork on a semester-long project involving topic exploration, research question conceptualisation, methods description, data wrangling/analysis, and discussion/conclusion.

■ Operate within a team to complete in-class exercises addressing psychological issues using theoretical knowledge and practical research skills relevant in psychological research.

■ Apply psychological knowledge to real-world problems.

■ Enhance time management and study skills and increase self-regulated learning.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment at a grade D or above.