What you will study
Take a look at some of the content and modules that you may have the opportunity to study on this course:
Year 1
In your first year you will acquire a broad foundation of knowledge around key theories and ideas of psychological science. You will begin to critically analyse historic perspectives, contemporary issues and ways of thinking about identity. You will be introduced to key strategies which are used in psychological research.
Core modules
Foundations of Psychology
30 credits
This module introduces students to theories and ideas of psychological science in core areas of research. This module allows students to acquire a broad foundation of knowledge of these core areas, as well as many specialist sub-areas of psychology (e.g., biological psychology, learning, sensory and perceptual processes, memory, thought and knowledge, language, social, developmental, neuropsychology, individual differences, clinical).
Psychology Research Methods 1
30 credits
This module is a core requirement for students taking psychology in level 4. The module will introduce you to key strategies which are used in psychological research, including designing an experiment, hypothesis testing, and statistical analysis. The main features of the module will involve the acquisition of practical skills in psychological research, learning how to apply and carry out statistical tests using SPSS, and how to report research findings.
Throughout the module you will learn how to design a research project, analyse data and report a psychological experiment.
Historical and Philosophical Concepts in Psychology
30 credits
This module will set modern psychology in its historical and philosophical context. Key scientific ideas and perspectives will be introduced and then applied specifically to psychology. No previous experience of history or philosophy will be assumed.
The content of the module will include historical perspectives of prominent individuals on science and psychology (eg., Donders, Wundt, Ebbinghaus, James, Freud, and Jung) and also broader philosophical movements (eg., rationalism, empiricism). Having established such historical issues, contemporary issues in philosophy of psychology will be developed (eg., reductionism and biological explanation, realism/anti-realism, modularity, free will and determinism, consciousness and the mind-body problem). Workshops will serve to consolidate the lecture material, providing opportunities for students to apply principles and ideas learned in the lectures to worked examples in psychological theory and practice. A central aim of the module is to allow students to develop their critical analysis skills.
Social Selves
30 credits
This module introduces students to some of the most influential ways of thinking about self and identity, drawing on both sociology and psychology. It deals with key dimensions of identity in contemporary life such as gender; work; sexuality; race; ethnicity; understandings of mental health; connections with places such as nations, cities and the globalised world; spirituality and religion. It explores the inseparable interweaving of society and the psyche; the psychological and the socio-political; collective forces and universal human drives. It places the ongoing process of constructing the self in the foreground in attempts to understand people's behaviour and development more generally. The very notion of the ‘self' is treated as an interactive, social phenomenon. The first part of the module considers the questions such as ‘what is the self?' and ‘how does the self arise?' The second part goes on to focus on a number of social dimensions which pattern selfhood. Students' employability is enhanced through the development of presentation skills as well as the ongoing development of analytical and critical skills through discussion and written work.
Year 2
In the second year you will explore ‘how to change the world'. You will learn about the relationship between brain function and our understanding of cognition and behaviour. And explore current theory and practice that focuses on the person in psychology. Whilst developing experimental research designs and delve further into inferential statistics.
Core modules
Brain, Behaviour and Cognition
30 credits
This module will cover major topics within the field of cognitive psychology, and will examine the relationship between brain function and our understanding of cognition and behaviour. The module will introduce key theoretical explanations proposed to account for human cognition and introduce students to some real-life applications of cognitive psychology. The module will also introduce students to the structure and function of the nervous system before examining the contribution of specialised brain structures to cognitive functions such as perception, attention, language, memory and decision making, and behaviours such as motivation, eating, emotion and sleep. Finally the module will examine the effect of hormones, drugs and neurological dysfunction on cognition and behaviour.
Social, Individual and Developmental Psychology
30 credits
The module will cover a broad range of key theories and empirical research in social, individual and developmental psychology. This module will allow students to explore current theory and practice in psychology across range of topics that focuses on the person in psychology. In consideration of the social, individual (human abilities and personality attributes) and developmental areas of enquiry, the scientific approach and the notion of measurement is fundamental.
Psychology Research Methods 2
30 credits
This module builds on the introduction to research methods and inferential statistics offered in PS4001 Research Methods 1. It will cover more advanced research designs — involving multiple independent variables — and more advanced inferential statistics such as analysis of variance, regression analysis and factor analysis. It will also introduce students to qualitative research methods and data analysis. Students will learn to develop and implement multifactorial experimental designs through practical research exercises and a project. Students' scientific writing skills will be further developed on the basis of a series of lab reports.
Social Justice and Social Movements
30 credits
Building on the modules ‘Classical Social Theory in a Contemporary World' and ‘Social Selves', this module will develop the concept of ‘the sociological imagination', first outlined by the US theorist C. Wright Mills to indicate "the vivid awareness of the relationship between personal experience and the wider society" (1959). Although Mills was writing in the post-war era, the concept can be traced back to the development of the discipline as it emerged in response to the challenges of social life in industrial cities of the 19th century. Hence this module will use a range of classic and contemporary thinkers to address the double role that sociology has inherited from its origins: not just to understand the world, but to try to change it. This problem will be explored within the context of the city as a strategic unit of analysis in order to understand wider processes of modernisation, industrialisation and the subsequent onset of postmodernity and post-industrialism.
By studying original texts and placing them within their social and historical contexts, students will deepen their understanding of the discipline's critical engagement with different aspects of social life. There will be a strong focus on London with opportunities for fieldwork.
The module will be team-taught and will address the underlying questions: what role can sociologists play in tackling different forms of social injustice and inequality?
Optional year
Study abroad optional year
You have the option to take an additional year to study abroad or to undertake a year-long work placement overseas (or even a mix of both.)
Sandwich year
This course has a sandwich year option which takes place between Year 2 and your Final Year. During this sandwich year you will take a placement within a relevant setting, ensuring you gain essential experience to add to your CV and help you secure a graduate job.
Final year
In your final year you will be able to choose from selection of optional modules, which cover a range of topics, this will enable you to tailor your studies to your own interests and aspirations.
Optional modules
Psychology Research Project
30 credits
This module will provide the opportunity to study and employ different methodologies in psychology by evaluating the strengths and limitations of different research designs. Students will execute an empirical research project on a topic agreed in consultation with a Psychology staff supervisor. Supervisory sessions with an academic supervisor will guide students to conduct a literature review, formulate a research question, design a research study, and consider research ethics relating to their study, culminating in data collection and writing up of a research report which satisfies APA guidelines.
Advanced Developmental Psychology
30 credits
This is an optional module for Level 6 students who wish to expand their knowledge about child development. The module will cover a broad range of issues in developmental psychology including both examples of typical and atypical development, such as reading development and dyslexia, children's relationships and bullying, language in typical and atypical populations, sensory impairment, children's understanding of number and dyscalculia, children with Williams Syndrome, among other themes. The module will involve a combination of keynote lectures, interactive lectures and guided independent study during which current theories, methodologies and research will be discussed and critically evaluated. In addition, transferable skills will be fostered through student led interactive discussions and tasks.
Neuropsychology and Neuro-rehabilitation
30 credits
There are two main streams in this module: Part I - Neuropsychology. The module will place a particular emphasis on understanding the effects of brain activity on cognitive and social aspects of human behaviour (and vice-versa). In addition, the module will address the effects of brain injury and neurological impairments with a view to understand models of normal cognitive and social functioning. Video material will be used to illustrate clinical cases when available. Part II – Neuro-rehabilitation. The module will introduce students to modern techniques for the diagnosis of neurological disorders and their neuropsychiatric implications. Interventions for the treatment and management of neurological disorders will be evaluated. Students' effort and engagement will be essential for a successful and rewarding experience. This will include active participation in lectures and the reading of the indicated material.
Critical Social Psychology: Memory, Narrative and Representation
30 credits
This module explores the nature and origins of social knowledge and critically evaluates the basis for claims to ‘absolute reality'. The module will be of interest to students who wish to examine contemporary beliefs and assumptions about the world on a range of political, philosophical, psychological and moral issues. In the second semester, earlier theoretical knowledge is applied to the study of collective memory (the memory of people across generations) – a foundational form of social knowledge involved in the construction of identity. The study of social/collective memory raises some political issues. For example, in the aftermath of conflict, competing versions of the past are often a barrier to reconciliation. Understanding the nature and content of collective memory therefore becomes important. Students should have an interest in the history and politics of conflict including human rights although detailed historical knowledge is not a pre-requisite. Course material comprises film and television documentary, which will broaden and deepen existing knowledge of 20th century events.
The Psychology of Health and Well Being
30 credits
The module will engage students with the main themes of contemporary health psychology and positive psychology with a particular focus on theory, research, intervention, and application. The students will gain an understanding of the importance of psychological processes in the experience of health and illness, and explore the role of behaviour and emotion in current trends of mortality and morbidity. In addition, students will gain an understanding of the role of positive emotions, optimism, spirituality, flourishing relationships, and community engagement in promoting health, well-being, and happiness. They will also become aware of the crucial roles health psychology and positive psychology have to play in the development and evaluation of physical and psychological health promotion interventions.
Psychology of Art and Film
30 credits
"Creating new circuits in art means creating them in the brain too".
Gilles Deleuze
The aesthetic experience relates not only to natural beauty but also to works of art which can be seen as cultural manifestations of the human mind. For centuries artists have used a varied number of media—from pigments to pixels—to evoke a multitude of perceptions and sensory effects able to trigger powerful rational and emotional responses. Psychology of Art and Film is a young field of study and encompasses a multitude of branches of Psychology. The module will broadly focus on the question: If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, what is it about the human experience that enables us to appreciate it? The focus will be on art in the form of paintings, films, photography and ‘installations'.
The module will be divided in three core areas: I. The ‘self‘: cognitive aspects modulating the aesthetic experience; II. The ‘environment': social and cultural aspects modulating the aesthetic experience; and III. Workshops: include talks by invited artists/lecturers and independent visits to Museums, Galleries and Cinemas.
Introduction to Forensic Psychology
30 credits
This module will introduce students to major areas of investigation within forensic psychology with special emphasis on how these link to core areas of the discipline (social, biological and developmental psychology and approaches to personality/individual differences). Students will also be introduced to related topics in law, court procedures and forensic science. The module will also provide some insight into the training and career pathways for forensic psychologists.
Psychotherapeutic Psychology and Mental Health: from Theory to Practice
30 credits
This module examines how psychology is applied in psychotherapeutic work in mental health contexts. It is relevant to students who are interested in Counselling Psychology, Clinical Psychology, psychotherapy, counselling and/or in mental health service provision more generally.The module begins with a consideration of how common forms of psychological distress and disorder are conceptualised within mainstream classification systems. After psychotherapeutic approaches are placed in historical context, the module considers the theory and practice of various psychotherapeutic approaches. Attention is given to how specific mental health issues can be addressed in therapy, how therapy can respond creatively and ethically to diversity issues, and how therapeutic impact or effectiveness might best be evaluated. By completing this module, students will develop a critical understanding of the nature of psychotherapeutic practice and of some key aspects of its complexity and challenges. The module will consider the principles and challenges of psychotherapeutic practice but students will not engage in any form of psychotherapeutic practice during the module, nor will it qualify them to do so afterwards. However it will help inform students' decision-making about careers in the psychotherapeutic and mental health fields.
Social Intersections: Gender, Race and Class
30 credits
This module explores the social intersections between gender, race and class. It begins by examining historical conceptualisations of these terms and intersections, and the social and civil movements that challenged how these terms were considered in both women's and men's lives.
From the beginning, the module will introduce you to a wide range of feminist approaches in order to make sense of various intersections of gender, race and class. In this module you will consider how such categories and intersections contribute to identity constructions and contestations. You will reflect on these elements within contemporary examples of everyday life – for example, consumption, families and intimacies, education and sport. Upon completion of this module you will have expanded your skills in critical reflection and analysis of social intersections and inequalities.
Migration and Social Transformation
30 credits
Global migration has intensified rapidly since 1960, with the UNPD estimating an increase from 80 to 210 million by 2009. It has become a contentious political topic with far-reaching consequences for contemporary societies, and arguably for established sociological paradigms (e.g. methodological nationalism).
The module will equip students to understand and investigate in depth the social dynamics of migration and its consequences, and enable them to offer informed and critical comment on contemporary debates (e.g. media coverage of migration, on the economics of migration, and on migration's consequences for social solidarity).
It offers students the opportunity to build on interests and skills developed at Level 5 (e.g. in International Perspectives and Sociological Approaches), and broadens the department's offering at Level 6 to a new area of contemporary social relevance.
The Politics of Crime in the Black Atlantic
30 credits
The module studies the role played by race in all aspects of the criminal justice systems in the United States and United Kingdom. It takes as its point of departure Professor Paul Gilroy's 1993 concept of the ‘Black Atlantic' as a cultural-political ‘space of hybridity' involving Africa, America, Britain and the Caribbean, and we use that concept to examine the extent to which crime and the criminal justice system have been politicised.
The module concerns itself with the shifting politics of race within the criminal justice system. Among other topics, it explores historical representations of race and crime; press and media depictions of black male offenders; racial profiling and the ‘othering' of female offenders; and the commodification of prison that has led to the United States having the highest incarceration rates in the world.
Other focal areas include racial disparities within the criminal justice system, the politics of punishment and sentencing, and empirical, theoretical, practical and policy issues. The module addresses issues of representation, the production of knowledge, the historical contexualisation of minority experiences in theoretical perspectives, and the ethical duties of criminologists working within minority experiences.
The module includes a field trip to Bristol to explore the history of immigration and emigration as it relates to crime.
Crimes of the Powerful: Corporations, the State and Human Rights
30 credits
This module takes a critical look at the concepts of crime, power and class in the contemporary world, and the impact of 'crimes of the powerful' on the struggle for human rights and social justice. The gaze of many political scientists and criminologists tends to be focused firmly 'downwards', towards analysing the misdemeanours of the poor, the dispossessed, the underclass. This module, in contrast, will focus 'upwards', in an attempt to understand and explain deviant actions by states, corporations, and the ruling class more broadly. Through the use of case studies, presented by the teaching team but also generated by students, we will examine issues such as war crimes, torture, corruption, global supply chains, police abuses, and state terrorism.
