| US Credits | UK Credits |
| From this list you must take one Level 4 course and two courses from Level 5/6 | | |
- PSYC 4101 Introduction to Psychology
This course introduces students to the major areas within the psychology discipline, through current empirical research and theoretical debate. Students discover how psychological research is conducted and how research findings can be applied to understanding human behaviour. Topics include scientific methodology in psychology, and key contemporary areas of research, such as biopsychology, brain functioning; sensation and perception; evolutionary theory, development, personality, memory, consciousness, stress, psychological disorders, language, learning and social psychology. | 4 | 16 |
- PSYC 4102 Conceptual and Historical Issues in Psychology
This course engages students in an overview of the main philosophical, scientific and social ideas that formulated psychology as we know it today. We will cover conceptual and methodological positions underlying different paradigms and research trends in the study of human behaviour. We will examine the following questions: what is science and to what extend is psychology permeated by the characteristics of science; what is the extent of social and cultural construction in psychology; is or can psychology be morally or politically neutral; what can we learn from the history of psychology so far? In addition, this course will address the issues involved in acquiring knowledge through various scientific methodologies, the critique of traditional methods in psychology, the relationship between facts and values and the significance of the standpoint from which values are understood. Finally, we will discuss ethical issues in psychology, their origins, the moral underpinnings of theory, research and practice and how psychologists construct ethically responsible practices within a social environment. | 4 | 16 |
- PSYC 4301 Introduction to Sport Psychology
This course enables students to understand the relevance of psychological issues in sport and sports coaching. The influence of the social context on sports participation and performance is emphasised as fundamental in the study of sport and sport psychology. The development of the discipline and current thinking concerning sporting performance and the sports performer is studied and related to students’ personal experiences. The theoretical underpinnings of sport engagement and optimal performance are also explored using case studies, projects, and group interactions. The course examines practical implications and applications of sport psychology via personal experience and use of examples in the media where appropriate to demonstrate theory into practice. An overarching theme of the course is a focus on the use of psychological strategies and interventions to optimize sport experiences, health, well-being and performance of athletes. | 4 | 16 |
- PSYC 4302 Biological Basis of Human Behaviour
Exposes students to the relationship between biology and behavior. Students are expected to assess critically the extent to which biological explanations can be used to understand or explain human behavior. Topics covered include the nervous system, brain, emotion, vision, attention, sleep and motivational behavior, as well as psychopathology (for example language, eating, perceptual and memory disorders). In addition, the course also looks at discusses ethical issues in psychological research related to neuroscience. | 4 | 16 |
- PSYC 5101 Developmental Psychology
Developmental Psychology explores the child’s developing experience of the world. Major theories and issues in development from conception to adolescence are examined with a particular emphasis on the nature-nurture issue and cross-cultural studies. Topics covered include fetal development, physical development, cognitive development, social development and personality development. Students are encouraged to actively participate in class discussion and use their own experiences to help understand theoretical issues. | 4 | 16 |
- PSYC 5103 Mind and Language
This is an interdisciplinary course that introduces students to current research and debates in the areas of language and communication. Whereas similar courses have focused on the relationship between language and mind, this course aims to address a relat ively neglected aspect of psychology: the relationship between language and self. Beginning with an overview of the biological basis of language and a review of the developmental research on language acquisition, the course will also examine the relation b etween gesture and language. Clinical models of communication will be covered, focusing on pathological forms of communication such as schizophrenia and autism. The second part of the course will examine structuralist and poststructuralist approaches to language, linguistic interpretations of psychoanalytic theory, narrative communication and narrative identity, as well as theories of reading and writing. | 4 | 16 |
- PSYC 6101 Clinical Psychology
Combines lectures, case studies, and audiovisual sessions to introduce students to the field of clinical psychology, psychiatry, and mental health work. An examination of the symptoms and treatment options for a range of mental and emotional disorders, including anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia, raising several important issues for discussion. These include cultural variations in the definition and diagnosis of disordered states; the social psychological problems of the move from asylums to community care; and criticisms of the medical model of abnormality. This course will explore how modern Clinical Psychology implements evidence-based treatments to improve psychologically based distress or dysfunction and promote subjective and behavioural well-being and personal development. | 4 | 16 |
- PSYC 6102 Developmental Psychopathology
The course examines the psychological forces that divert development from its typical channels and either sustain the deviation or foster a return to typical development. Using a comparative developmental framework, the psychopathologies to be covered will be arranged in chronological order from infancy to childhood and adolescence. Thus autism, insecure attachment and oppositional-defiant disorder will be examined in relation to typical development in infancy and early childhood, while ADHD and learning disabilities will be studied in the context of the preschool years. Other topics include anxiety disorders in middle childhood, child, and adolescent suicide, conduct and eating disorders, as well as the risks incurred by brain damage, child maltreatment and social victimisation. The course will also cover alternative models of child psychopathology, assessment procedures and approaches to intervention and prevention. Students will have the opportunity to do in-depth research on a topic of their choice and to think critically about case material. | 4 | 16 |
- PSYC 6103 Psychology of Happiness and Wellbeing
Positive psychologists argue that traditional psychology has tended to focus on dysfunction and unhappiness and that balance needs to be restored by research into what makes life go well. This course focuses on the science of happiness and wellbeing, integrating findings from Positive Psychology studies and theories. During this course, students will critically evaluate the teaching of Positive Psychology as a means of enhancing happiness and understand the difference between weaknesses and strengths, and how positive psychology emphasises the latter in contrast to traditional psychology’s emphasis on the former. Students will appreciate some of the factors that lead to happiness and learn how to capitalise on these factors in order to achieve lasting happiness, especially by getting to know their own strengths; students will also understand and use a variety of techniques and interventions designed to enhance happiness and wellbeing. | 4 | 16 |
- PSYC 6104 Health Psychology
Although nowadays people live longer and are currently ‘healthier’ than in the past, not everyone has a sense of improved health or wellbeing. Health Psychology analyses the biopsychosocial factors which contribute to and maintain illness/disease in contem porary society. Health Psychology aims to improve wellbeing by applying psychological theories, methods and research to the promotion of health; prevention and treatment of illness and disability; analysis and improvement of the health care system and; health policy formation. | 4 | 16 |
| Minor Requirements | 12 | 48 |
