Psychology

Course summary

Psychology is the scientific study of human thought, emotion and behaviour. The topics studied include: • Social influence - conformity, obedience, resistance and the role of social influence in social change • Memory - the multi-store model, long-term and working memory, factors affecting eye witness testimony • Attachment - types and stages of attachment, the influence of early attachment on childhood and adult relationships • Psychopathology - definitions of abnormality, the behavioural, emotional and cognitive characteristics and explanations of phobias, depression and obsessivecompulsive disorder • Approaches in psychology - learning, cognitive, biological, psychodynamic and humanistic • Biopsychology - central nervous system, synaptic transmission, endocrine system, biological rhythms • Research methods - scientific processes, data handling mand analysis, inferential testing • Year 2 Options in psychology - forensic psychology, gender development and schizophrenia, studying the causes of criminality, causes of masculinity and feminine behaviour, in addition to causes, diagnosis and treatment of schizophrenia • Contemporary debates in psychology - gender and culture, free will and determinism, nature/nurture, holism and reductionism, idiographic and nomothetic approaches, ethical implications • Brain Day - where Professor Guy Sutton dissects a sheep’s brain and introduces students to groundbreaking research into neuroscience.