Undergraduate Course: Critical Social Psychology (PSYL10018)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | Should social psychology be a science and what does it mean to claim that it is? Should social psychologists do experiments? Why do we think scientific knowledge is 'better' than other kinds of knowledge? Is social psychology really social? Why does current social psychological theory focus on cognitive processes to explain social phenomena? What are the implications for our understanding of self? Drawing on ideas from philosophy, history, sociology and linguistics, we examine the nature of social psychological knowledge and how it affects individuals' lives; our assumptions about the nature of self and mind; the often hidden values in and politics of research; and the role of language in all this. Are there other ways of doing social psychology? Do we need a (new) theory of self? Could there be a non-cognitive social psychology? This course aims to discuss, and answer, all these questions. This course includes lectures, in-class and online discussions, and debates about key issues.
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| Course description |
Not entered
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Degree major in Psychology and passes in Psychology courses at least to the equivalent of Junior Honours level in Edinburgh. Prior agreement with the 4th Year Honours Course Organiser |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2014/15, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Block 1 (Sem 1) |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 10,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
86 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
80 %,
Coursework
20 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
(1) 80% exam and (2) a choice of two out of the three following course work options (20%): (i) essay plan (max. 300 words); (ii) critical summary of a key article (300 words); and (iii) group presentation write-up (max. 500 words)
Visiting Student Variant Assessment (100%)
Essay (3000 words) to be set by the course organiser and due 4pm, Thursday 11 December. |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
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| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | | 1:30 | |
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| Academic year 2014/15, Part-year visiting students only (VV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Block 1 (Sem 1) |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 10,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
88 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
(1) 80% exam and (2) a choice of two out of the three following course work options (20%): (i) essay plan (max. 300 words); (ii) critical summary of a key article (300 words); and (iii) group presentation write-up (max. 500 words)
Visiting Student Variant Assessment (100%)
Essay (3000 words) to be set by the course organiser and due 4pm, Thursday 11 December. |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
You should be able to do at least three of the following:
- Describe and assess social psychology's claim to be a science, and evaluate its use of experiments.
- Discuss social psychology's paradigm, conceptual and moral/political crises.
- Apply arguments from science studies, Foucault's work, and 'the turn to language' to evaluate psychology's methods.
- Describe psychology's contribution to the 'government of individuals'.
- Assess efforts to reconstruct social psychology's practice and/or subject.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Sue Widdicombe
Tel: (0131 6)50 3411
Email: S.Widdicombe@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Fiona Graham
Tel: (0131 6)50 3440
Email: F.Graham@ed.ac.uk |
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