Undergraduate Course: Psychology 2A (PSYL08011)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course aims to develop an integrated understanding of modern approaches to some of the core areas of psychology such as individual differences and abnormal, developmental and social psychology (the remaining core areas will be covered in Psychology 2B). Students are also presented with a broader conceptual and methodological framework of psychological research (this topic will be continued throughout Psychology 2B), as well as its ethical dimensions. Besides this, students are taught transferable skills such as identifying and summarizing key literature. |
| Course description |
The course will cover four core areas of psychology, building on the introductory lectures to many topics addressed in Psychology 1A and Psychology 1B.
The course will consist of four thematic lecture blocks of six lectures each, grouped into two double-blocks. Before each double-block, there will be two to three lectures covering broader conceptual and methodological topics that cut across multiple areas of psychology (observational and qualitative approaches to psychology, literature search and summarizing and meta-analysis, and ethical issues in research and publishing).
Each thematic lecture block will be accompanied by a lecture content-oriented small-group tutorial and a lab that teaches and enhances a general research-related or transferable skill (literature search, psychological testing, study design).
Halfway through the course, in week 6, is Activity Week, when typical lectures, labs and tutorials are suspended. The Activity Week consists of group-based hands-on activities that illustrate the course content as well as teach transferable skills. The Activity week activities are not assessed.
Additional Information (Assessment)
60% exam: 40% multiple-choice exam; 2 x 10% short essays
20% 500-word literature summary (drafts can be submitted before final submission and tutors will provide feedback on the drafts)
20% practical assessments in labs and tutorials
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should usually have at least one introductory level Psychology course at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this) for entry to this course. We will only consider University/College level courses |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2017/18, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 240 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 30,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 4,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 8,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
154 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
60 %,
Coursework
20 %,
Practical Exam
20 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
60% exam: 40% multiple-choice exam; 2 x 10% short essays.
20% 500-word literature summary (drafts can be submitted before final submission and tutors will provide feedback on the drafts).
20% practical assessments in labs and tutorials.
|
| Feedback |
Feedback on participation and performance in tutorials and labs.
Feedback in literature summary report draft and submitted final summary.
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| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | | 2:00 | | | Resit Exam Diet (August) | Psychology 2A Resit | 2:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Show knowledge of the key concepts, research areas, methods and empirical findings in the four core areas of psychology (individual differences and abnormal, developmental and social psychology).
- Demonstrate a basic understanding of how the core areas relate to one another: what are their similarities and differences in terms of conceptual and empirical approaches.
- Show basic knowledge of key issues and skills in doing literature search.
- Can succinctly summarize the state of art in a specific research problem.
- Demonstrate a basic understanding of the main ethical issues in psychological research.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Independent learning skills.
Be prepared to look for connections in the material covered in different parts of the curriculum, and look beyond the presented material.
Database use skills.
Efficiently identify key research papers on particularity topics (e.g., using keywords) and identify specific papers based on limited information.
Writing skills
Write your texts in a well-structured and succinct way that enables a clear and coherent message to build up; write in APA style.
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| Keywords | Psychology,individual differences,social,developmental,abnormal,database,literature search |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Caroline Watt
Tel: (0131 6)50 3382
Email: Caroline.Watt@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Catherine Renton
Tel: (0131 6)50 3602
Email: crenton2@ed.ac.uk |
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