Undergraduate Course: Human Personality (PSYL10157)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The course covers key topics in personality science including (but not limited to) its overarching goals and mission within psychology, measurement, development and prediction of real world outcomes. The courses uses a combination of lectures and group discussions. |
| Course description |
The course will cover the following topics: the scope and mission of personality science (psychology's Big Questions); the units and structure of personality; personality perception and assessment; the tension between understanding people in general versus predicting an individual¿s behaviour; how you can understand yourself better; personality traits associations with life outcomes; age, gender, cultural and regional variation in personality; genetic and environmental influences on personality; main principles of development; and personality as a unifying model for psychopathology and its assessment.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
Students MUST have passed:
Psychology 2A (PSYL08011) AND
Psychology 2B (PSYL08012)
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Psychology Honours courses are strictly only available to students in Y3 or Y4 of a Single or Joint Honours Degree in Psychology, Cognitive Science students, or medical students who are intercalating at Psychology. Visiting undergraduate students should check with the Visiting Student Office. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should be studying Psychology as their degree major, and have completed at least 3 Psychology courses at grade B or above. These courses should include an introductory course on individual differences and/ or personality.
We will only consider University/College level courses. Applicants should note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission. **Please note that upper level Psychology courses are high-demand, meaning that they have a very high number of students wishing to enrol in a very limited number of spaces.** These enrolments are managed strictly by the Visiting Student Office, in line with the quotas allocated by the department, and all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. It is not appropriate for students to contact the department directly to request additional spaces. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
70 %,
Coursework
30 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Midterm:Coursework (30%): Group debate
Final: Exam (70%): MCQs + short answers |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Minutes |
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| Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | Human Personality Exam | 120 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Understand and describe the main concepts and goals of personality psychology.
- Understand and describe the main ways of representing and measuring personality.
- Understand and describe the main relations between personality traits and other constructs and life outcomes.
- Understand and describe the main principles of personality development.
- Understand how ¿normal¿ personality variation and functioning intersects with psychopathology.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Research and enquiry skills: independent literature search and synthesis; digital literacy and numeracy skills
Intellectual skills: thinking critically, independently and creatively; distinguishing between important regularities and less relevant details
Personal management skills: establishing goals and effectively using resources to achieve these; managing complexity and self-direction
Communication skills: preparing and presenting coherent verbal and written arguments; listening and respectfully responding to others arguments |
| Keywords | Differential,Developmental,Biological-Behaviour Genetics,Methodology-Psychometrics |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Rene Mottus
Tel: (0131 6)50 3410
Email: rene.mottus@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Fiona Thomson
Tel:
Email: fthomso3@ed.ac.uk |
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