Postgraduate Course: Individual Differences in Mental Health (CLPS11055)
Course Outline
| School | School of Health in Social Science |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | This course provides a critical overview of theories and research on individual differences and differential psychology. The course is composed of five x 2.5-hour lectures introducing students to a range of theories of individual differences that have direct application to understanding mental health and illness. |
| Course description |
The course is structured around 5 x 2.5-hour lectures and supportive materials. The lectures will be structured as follows:
Week 1: Personality (ML)
This lecture will include personality measurement, trait theory, personality stability and change.
Week 2: Personality (continued) & Intelligence (ML)
Part 1: Continuing with personality, we learn how normal variation in personality relates to personality disorder and to subjective wellbeing.
Part 2: This part will include the measurement of intelligence and introduce the hierarchical model.
Week 3: Intelligence (ML)
Continuing with intelligence, we learn about its stability and change over the lifespan, and its relationship with developmental disorders, such as reading impairment.
Week 4: Intelligence and personality: influences on health (ML)
This lecture highlights the important relationships that personality traits and intelligence each have with mental and physical health.
Week 5: Environmental and genetic influences on mental health (ML)
This lecture introduces the methods used to study environmental and genetic factors influencing behaviour, and focusses on the findings for several mental illnesses and subjective wellbeing.
The course is a core component of the MSc Psychology of Mental Health (Conversion) but will be open to others at the discretion of the course organiser.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2019/20, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 200 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
| Course Start Date |
24/02/2020 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 12.5,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
85 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
100 %,
Coursework
0 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Summative assessment will be a 2-hour exam worth 100% of the mark Example questions are:
What mechanisms might underlie the finding that people who score higher on intelligence tests in youth tend to live longer?
Describe the trait approach to personality. How has it been applied to psychopathology, and discuss its usefulness in this area.
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| Feedback |
Formative feedback will be given in the third week on an on-line multiple-choice quiz on topics already covered in the course
Summative feedback will be given on the exam. |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
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| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | Individual Differences in Mental Health | 2:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate an In-depth knowledge and critical understanding of individual differences and differential psychology.
- Demonstrate psychological literacy in all aspects of students' lives.
- Demonstrate critical reflection on how differential psychology perspectives can aid our understanding of mental health and illness.
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Reading List
Deary, I.J. (2001). Intelligence: A Very short introduction. Oxford: OUP.
Funder, D.C. The Personality Puzzle (7th Edition). Norton
Deary I.J. (2013). Intelligence, Current Biology, 23, 673-676.
Butcher, J.N., Mineka, S. & Hooley, J.M. (2013). Abnormal Psychology (15th Education). Pearson International Edition. Allyn and Bacon.
Detterman, D.K. (2008). The science of human intelligence, on LEARN
Matthews, G., Deary, I.J. & Whiteman, M.C. (2009) Personality Traits (3rd Edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chamorro-Premuzic, T., vonStumm, S. & Furnham, A. (Eds. 2011). The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Individual Differences. Wiley-Blackwell.
Cromby, J. Harper, D., & Reavey, P. (2013). Psychology, Mental Health and Distress. Palgrave Macmillan.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Develop your research knowledge that will enable you to discuss, share, present and analyse data and information in various formats and from a range of sources
Develop your research methods and data analysis skills
Develop your critical reflection and writing skills |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Michelle Luciano
Tel: (0131 6)50 3603
Email: michelle.luciano@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Timothy Abbot
Tel: (0131 6)50 8498
Email: Tim.Abbot@ed.ac.uk |
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