| Unit name | Foundations of Psychology |
|---|---|
| Unit code | PSYC10004 |
| Credit points | 40 |
| Level of study | C/4 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Farrell |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
Registered on Single Honours Psychology |
| Co-requisites | |
| School/department | School of Psychological Science |
| Faculty | Faculty of Life Sciences |
This unit covers the four main content areas of biological, cognitive, developmental and social psychology. These are the core areas of psychology providing the foundation for students’ degree programmes in psychology as required for accreditation by the professional body, the British Psychological Association. Each of these four areas is covered in turn throughout the year. Thus, the aims of the unit are to introduce the students to the foundation areas of psychology.
Biological: On completion of this area, you will have acquired a good understanding of how the biological and mental explanations of behaviour are complementary and how these have been developed in a comparative context. You will learn how the Central Nervous System (CNS) is organised and how groups of neurons can process information. Also, you will appreciate how specific and general biological processes contribute to the limitation and versatility of behaviour with an introduction to behavioural genetics. Such information is vital to understanding how some people become functionally damaged and so the unit will cover neuropsychology as well as new techniques such as neuroimaging. You will also gain a broad understanding of classical and instrumental conditioning, and will appreciate the importance of contemporary research investigating phenomena in associative learning. Cognitive: On completion of this area, you will have acquired a conceptual understanding of the basic cognitive processes of perception, attention, memory, thinking, language and consciousness. You will learn how these various cognitive mechanisms are integrated and what happens when thought processes are compromised by task demands or impairments. Developmental: On completion of this area, you will have: 1. Acquired a general understanding of the major theoretical perspectives taken in developmental psychology 2. Acquired a general understanding of the unique methodologies and techniques, for studying young children. 3. Acquired a general understanding of sensory, perceptual, cognitive and social development. You will cover life-span development from infancy through to adulthood addressing issues of social and cultural contexts. Social: This area provides an introduction to social psychology. It focuses on behaviour in the context of social interaction, with emphasis on experimental findings. Study of such topics as social perception and cognition, conformity, interpersonal attraction, attribution, aggression, happiness, pro-social behaviour, prejudice, cultural variations, gender, consumer behaviour and the psychology of morality. On completion of this area, you will know about how social psychologists think, how they do research, and what the results of the research mean in the real world.
There are 12 lectures plus an overview/revision lecture for each of the four areas, with two forms of assessment – coursework essays, and a one-hour MCQ examination paper. In summary, 48 lectures (minimum of 2 per week) with an associated 7 hours per lecture of independent study plus four revision lectures with an associated 2 hours in preparation for the coursework and the examinations and four 1 hour examinations.
Each of the four areas is examined by coursework (one essay), and MCQ examinations. Final Grade: based on the four courseworks (50%), and the four MCQ examinations (50%).
Schacter, D. l., Gilbert, D. T., Wegner, D. M. & Hood, B. (2011). Psychology. Houndmills: Palgrave MacMillan.
